Stuart Ostrow
Encyclopedia
Stuart Ostrow is an American
theatrical producer
and director, professor
, and author
.
Born in New York City
, Ostrow began his career as an apprentice of Frank Loesser
and eventually became Vice-President and General Manager of Frank Music Corporation and Frank Productions, Incorporated, the co-producers of the Broadway
productions The Most Happy Fella
, The Music Man
, Greenwillow
, and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
.
Ostrow's first solo project was as producer and director of Meredith Willson
's Here's Love
, the 1963 musical
stage adaptation of the classic film Miracle on 34th Street
. Subsequent producing credits include The Apple Tree
, 1776
, Pippin
, M. Butterfly
, and La Bête
, which won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy.
In 1973, Ostrow established the Stuart Ostrow Foundation’s Musical Theatre Lab, a non-profit, professional workshop for original musical theatre, the first of its kind. Since its inception, the MTLab has presented thirty-two experimental new works, including The Robber Bridegroom
by Alfred Uhry
and Robert Waldman
, Really Rosie
by Maurice Sendak
and Carole King
, and Up From Paradise
by Arthur Miller
and Stanley Silverman.
Ostrow has served on the Board of Governors of The League of New York Theatres, the Advisory Committee of The New York Public Library, the Board of Directors of the American National Theater and Academy
, and the Pulitzer Prize
Drama Jury, and was a founding member of the Opera-Musical Theatre Program of the National Endowment for the Arts
.
Ostrow presently is the Distinguished University Professor of Theatre at the University of Houston
. He is the author of A Producer’s Broadway Journey, Thank You Very Much (The Little Guide To Auditioning For The Musical Theatre), and Present At The Creation, Leaping In The Dark and Going Against The Grain: 1776, Pippin, M. Butterfly, La Bête & Other Broadway Adventures.
Among his other achievements, Ostrow is a trained musician, choral conductor-arranger, and clarinetist.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
theatrical producer
Theatrical producer
A theatrical producer is the person ultimately responsible for overseeing all aspects of mounting a theatre production. The independent producer will usually be the originator and finder of the script and starts the whole process...
and director, professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
, and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
.
Born in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Ostrow began his career as an apprentice of Frank Loesser
Frank Loesser
Frank Henry Loesser was an American songwriter who wrote the lyrics and scores to the Broadway hits Guys and Dolls and How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, among others. He won separate Tony Awards for the music and lyrics in both shows, as well as sharing the Pulitzer Prize for...
and eventually became Vice-President and General Manager of Frank Music Corporation and Frank Productions, Incorporated, the co-producers of the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
productions The Most Happy Fella
The Most Happy Fella
The Most Happy Fella is a 1956 musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Frank Loesser. The story, about a romance between an older man and younger woman, is based on the play They Knew What They Wanted by Sidney Howard...
, The Music Man
The Music Man
The Music Man is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to naive townsfolk before skipping town with...
, Greenwillow
Greenwillow
Greenwillow is a musical with a book by Lesser Samuels and Frank Loesser and music and lyrics by Loesser.Based on the novel by B. J. Chute, the fantasy is set in the magical town of Greenwillow, where the eldest in each generation of Briggs men must obey the "call to wander," while the women they...
, and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert, based on Shepherd Mead's 1952 book of the same name....
.
Ostrow's first solo project was as producer and director of Meredith Willson
Meredith Willson
Robert Meredith Willson was an American composer, songwriter, conductor and playwright, best known for writing the book, music and lyrics for the hit Broadway musical The Music Man...
's Here's Love
Here's Love
Here's Love is a musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson.Based on the classic film Miracle on 34th Street, it tells the tale of a skeptical little girl who doubts the existence of Santa Claus. When the real Kris Kringle inadvertently is hired to represent jolly St...
, the 1963 musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
stage adaptation of the classic film Miracle on 34th Street
Miracle on 34th Street
Miracle on 34th Street is a 1947 Christmas film written by George Seaton from a story by Valentine Davies, directed by George Seaton and starring Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Natalie Wood and Edmund Gwenn...
. Subsequent producing credits include The Apple Tree
The Apple Tree
The Apple Tree is a series of three musical playlets with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and a book by Bock and Harnick with contributions from Jerome Coopersmith...
, 1776
1776 (musical)
1776 is a musical with music and lyrics by Sherman Edwards and a book by Peter Stone. The story is based on the events surrounding the signing of the Declaration of Independence...
, Pippin
Pippin (musical)
Pippin is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Roger O. Hirson. Bob Fosse, who directed the original Broadway production, also contributed to the libretto...
, M. Butterfly
M. Butterfly
M. Butterfly is a 1988 play by David Henry Hwang loosely based on the relationship between French diplomat Bernard Boursicot and Shi Pei Pu, a male Peking opera singer....
, and La Bête
La Bête
La Bête is a comedy by American playwright, David Hirson. Written in rhymed couplets of iambic pentameter, the Molière-inspired story, set in 17th century France, pits dignified, stuffy Elomire, the head of the royal court-sponsored theatre troupe, against the foppish, frivolous street entertainer...
, which won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy.
In 1973, Ostrow established the Stuart Ostrow Foundation’s Musical Theatre Lab, a non-profit, professional workshop for original musical theatre, the first of its kind. Since its inception, the MTLab has presented thirty-two experimental new works, including The Robber Bridegroom
The Robber Bridegroom (musical)
The Robber Bridegroom is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alfred Uhry and music by Robert Waldman. The story is based on the 1942 novella by Eudora Welty of the same name, with a Robin Hood-like hero; the adaptation placed it in a late 18th century American setting...
by Alfred Uhry
Alfred Uhry
Alfred Fox Uhry is an American playwright, screenwriter, and member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He is one of very few writers to receive an Academy Award, Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize for dramatic writing....
and Robert Waldman
Robert Waldman
Robert Waldman is an American composer, musical arranger, and orchestrator.Waldman has collaborated with Alfred Uhry twice, on Here's Where I Belong, the disastrous 1968 adaptation of John Steinbeck's East of Eden that closed on opening night, and the considerably more successful The Robber...
, Really Rosie
Really Rosie
Really Rosie is a musical with a book and lyrics by Maurice Sendak and music by Carole King. The musical is based on Sendak's books Chicken Soup with Rice, Pierre, One was Johnny, Alligators All Around , and The Sign on Rosie's Door...
by Maurice Sendak
Maurice Sendak
Maurice Bernard Sendak is an American writer and illustrator of children's literature. He is best known for his book Where the Wild Things Are, published in 1963.-Early life:...
and Carole King
Carole King
Carole King is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. King and her former husband Gerry Goffin wrote more than two dozen chart hits for numerous artists during the 1960s, many of which have become standards. As a singer, King had an album, Tapestry, top the U.S...
, and Up From Paradise
Up from Paradise
Up from Paradise is a musical with a book and lyrics by Arthur Miller and music by Stanley Silverman.In 1972, Miller's comedy The Creation of the World and Other Business closed after only twenty performances...
by Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
and Stanley Silverman.
Ostrow has served on the Board of Governors of The League of New York Theatres, the Advisory Committee of The New York Public Library, the Board of Directors of the American National Theater and Academy
American National Theater and Academy
The American National Theatre and Academy is a non-profit theatre producer and training organization that was established in 1935 to be the official United States national theatre that would be an alternative to the for-profit Broadway houses of the day....
, and the Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
Drama Jury, and was a founding member of the Opera-Musical Theatre Program of the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
.
Ostrow presently is the Distinguished University Professor of Theatre at the University of Houston
University of Houston
The University of Houston is a state research university, and is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1927, it is Texas's third-largest university with nearly 40,000 students. Its campus spans 667 acres in southeast Houston, and was known as University of...
. He is the author of A Producer’s Broadway Journey, Thank You Very Much (The Little Guide To Auditioning For The Musical Theatre), and Present At The Creation, Leaping In The Dark and Going Against The Grain: 1776, Pippin, M. Butterfly, La Bête & Other Broadway Adventures.
Among his other achievements, Ostrow is a trained musician, choral conductor-arranger, and clarinetist.
Broadway awards and nominations
- 1991 Drama Desk AwardDrama Desk AwardThe Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
for Outstanding New Play (La Bête, nominee) - 1988 Tony AwardTony AwardThe Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Play (M. Butterfly, winner) - 1988 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play (M. Butterfly, winner)
- 1973 Tony Award for Best Musical (Pippin, nominee)
- 1969 Tony Award for Best Musical (1776, winner)
- 1967 Tony Award for Best Musical (The Apple Tree, nominee)