Warren Casey
Encyclopedia
Warren Casey was an American
theatre
composer
, lyricist
, writer
, and actor
. He is best known for being the writer and composer, with Jim Jacobs
of the stage and film musical Grease
.
to Peter L., a steamfitter, and Signe, a nurse, (Ginman) Casey. Casey received his Fine Arts Degree from the Syracuse University
School of Visual and Performing Arts in 1957.
while acting with the Chicago Stage Guild, and the two began collaborating on a play with music about high school life during the golden age of rock 'n' roll
in the 1950s. Entitled Grease, it premiered in 1971 at the Kingston Mines Theater, one of the pioneering companies of Chicago's off-Loop theater movement, in the Lincoln Park section of Chicago. Producers Ken Waissman
and Maxine Fox saw the show and suggested to the playwrights that it might work better as a musical
, and told them if the creative partners were willing to rework it and they liked the end result, they would produce it off-Broadway
. Casey quit his day job as a department store lingerie buyer and the team headed to New York City to collaborate on what would become Grease
, which opened at the Eden Theatre in downtown Manhattan
, moved to Broadway
, and earned him a Tony Award
nomination for Best Book of a Musical. The show went on to become a West End
hit, a hugely successful film (for which he and Jacobs wrote additional songs), and a staple of regional theatre
, summer stock
, community theatre
, and high school drama groups.
's Sexual Perversity in Chicago
in 1974 at the Organic Theater Company. Under Stuart Gordon's direction, Casey created the role of foul-mouthed self-styled makeout artist Bernie Litko, delivering a comically outrageous performance tinged with pathos. In the same year he fronted $1,000 to help start Victory Gardens Theater
in Chicago. In 1976, he wrote Mudgett. He wrote (with Jim Jacobs
) Island of Lost Coeds, a two-act musical, produced at Columbia College Chicago under the direction of Sheldon Patinkin. He also contributed incidental music
to Twelfth Night in 1976 and new lyrics to June Moon
in 1977.
In addition, Casey has worked in the musical Cats
.
-related complications in Chicago at the age of 53. At the time of his death he was writing a musical with the Brazil
ian performer Valucha deCastro
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, lyricist
Lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. He is best known for being the writer and composer, with Jim Jacobs
Jim Jacobs
Jim Jacobs is an American composer, lyricist, and writer for the theatre. He is known for writing the book, lyrics and music, with Warren Casey, for the stage and film musical Grease.-Career:...
of the stage and film musical Grease
Grease (musical)
Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical is named for the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School , follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of love,...
.
Career
Born on April 20, 1935 in Yonkers, New YorkYonkers, New York
Yonkers is the fourth most populous city in the state of New York , and the most populous city in Westchester County, with a population of 195,976...
to Peter L., a steamfitter, and Signe, a nurse, (Ginman) Casey. Casey received his Fine Arts Degree from the Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
School of Visual and Performing Arts in 1957.
Grease
In the mid-1960s, Casey met Jim JacobsJim Jacobs
Jim Jacobs is an American composer, lyricist, and writer for the theatre. He is known for writing the book, lyrics and music, with Warren Casey, for the stage and film musical Grease.-Career:...
while acting with the Chicago Stage Guild, and the two began collaborating on a play with music about high school life during the golden age of rock 'n' roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
in the 1950s. Entitled Grease, it premiered in 1971 at the Kingston Mines Theater, one of the pioneering companies of Chicago's off-Loop theater movement, in the Lincoln Park section of Chicago. Producers Ken Waissman
Ken Waissman
Ken Waissman is a Tony Award-winning American theatre producer.Waissman's first Broadway credit was the 1971 Paul Zindel play And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little with Estelle Parsons and Julie Harris...
and Maxine Fox saw the show and suggested to the playwrights that it might work better as a 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...
, and told them if the creative partners were willing to rework it and they liked the end result, they would produce it off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
. Casey quit his day job as a department store lingerie buyer and the team headed to New York City to collaborate on what would become Grease
Grease (musical)
Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical is named for the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School , follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of love,...
, which opened at the Eden Theatre in downtown Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, moved to 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...
, and earned him a Tony Award
Tony Award
The 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...
nomination for Best Book of a Musical. The show went on to become a West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
hit, a hugely successful film (for which he and Jacobs wrote additional songs), and a staple of regional theatre
Regional theatre in the United States
Regional theaters, or resident theaters, in the United States are professional or semi-professional, theater companies that produce their own seasons. The term regional theatre most often refers to professional theatres outside of New York City...
, summer stock
Summer Stock
For the article about the theatre genre, see Summer stock theatre.Summer Stock is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical made in 1950. The film was directed by Charles Walters and stars Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Eddie Bracken, Gloria DeHaven, Marjorie Main, and Phil Silvers...
, community theatre
Community theatre
Community theatre refers to theatrical performance made in relation to particular communities—its usage includes theatre made by, with, and for a community...
, and high school drama groups.
Later career
Casey's acting credits include the original production of David MametDavid Mamet
David Alan Mamet is an American playwright, essayist, screenwriter and film director.Best known as a playwright, Mamet won a Pulitzer Prize and received a Tony nomination for Glengarry Glen Ross . He also received a Tony nomination for Speed-the-Plow . As a screenwriter, he received Oscar...
's Sexual Perversity in Chicago
Sexual Perversity in Chicago
Sexual Perversity in Chicago is a play written by David Mamet that examines the sex lives of two men and two women in the 1970's. The play is filled with profanity and regional jargon that reflects the working-class language of Chicago. The characters' relationships become hindered by the caustic...
in 1974 at the Organic Theater Company. Under Stuart Gordon's direction, Casey created the role of foul-mouthed self-styled makeout artist Bernie Litko, delivering a comically outrageous performance tinged with pathos. In the same year he fronted $1,000 to help start Victory Gardens Theater
Victory Gardens Theater
Victory Gardens Theater is a theater in Chicago, Illinois dedicated to the development and production of new plays and playwrights. The theater was founded in 1974 when seven Chicago artists, Warren Casey, Cordis Heard, Roberta Maguire, Mac McGuinnes, Cecil O'Neal, June Pyskaček, and David Rasche...
in Chicago. In 1976, he wrote Mudgett. He wrote (with Jim Jacobs
Jim Jacobs
Jim Jacobs is an American composer, lyricist, and writer for the theatre. He is known for writing the book, lyrics and music, with Warren Casey, for the stage and film musical Grease.-Career:...
) Island of Lost Coeds, a two-act musical, produced at Columbia College Chicago under the direction of Sheldon Patinkin. He also contributed incidental music
Incidental music
Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack"....
to Twelfth Night in 1976 and new lyrics to June Moon
June Moon
June Moon is a play by George S. Kaufman and Ring Lardner. Based on the Lardner short story "Some Like Them Cold," about a love affair that loses steam before it ever gets started, it includes songs with words and music by Lardner but is not considered a musical per se.At its center is Fred...
in 1977.
In addition, Casey has worked in the musical Cats
Cats (musical)
Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...
.
Personal life
Casey was gay and he died of AIDSAIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
-related complications in Chicago at the age of 53. At the time of his death he was writing a musical with the Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian performer Valucha deCastro
Valucha deCastro
Valucha deCastro was a Brazilian-born singer, songwriter and artist. Born in Brazil's Minas Gerais state, she grew up in Rio de Janeiro. she was one of the first students of Chicago, Illinois's Old Town School of Folk Music and later a teacher of Brazilian folk music there...
.