Willie Reale is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 playwright and lyricist who often works with his elder brother Robert Reale

Robert Reale

Robert Reale is an American composer with a long list of credits in film, TV and theater. He is also the owner of and . Reale regularly works with younger brother Willie Reale. In 2003 he was nominated for a Tony Award for A Year with Frog and Toad for Best Original Musical Score...

.

He had small acting roles in The Hudsucker Proxy

The Hudsucker Proxy

The Hudsucker Proxy is a 1994 screwball comedy film written, produced, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Sam Raimi co-wrote the script and served as second unit director....

, The Laser Man

The Laser Man (1988 film)

The Laser Man is a 1988 Hong Kong film in the style of a crime drama parody....

, Tales from the Darkside

Tales from the Darkside

Tales from the Darkside is an anthology horror TV series produced by George A. Romero; it originally aired from 1983 to 1988. Similar to Amazing Stories, The Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, The Outer Limits, and Tales From The Crypt, each episode was an individual short story that ended with a plot...

and The Burning. He is also one of the major creative forces behind the 2009 revival of The Electric Company

The Electric Company (2009 TV series)

The Electric Company is an American children's educational series for young children aged 4–8 on PBS, derived from the 1971 series. The series premiered as a four-episode mini-marathon on PBS on January 19, 2009, then became a weekly series with an episode shown each Friday. On September 7, 2009,...

.

52nd Street Project

Reale founded the 52nd Street Project in 1981, an organization that brings inner-city children together with professional theater artists to create works. He served as the artistic director for eighteen years and produced hundreds of plays with the Project, which has been replicated at twelve sites across the United States, using a series of publications called the Kid Theater Kit.

Personal life

Reale is married to producer Jenny Gersten. They have two children, Augustus and Leonardo.

Awards and nominations

• Academy Award for Best Original Song
  Academy Award for Best Original Song
  The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
  
   (with Henry Krieger
  Henry Krieger
  Henry Krieger is an American composer.Krieger wrote the music for the Broadway shows Dreamgirls , The Tap Dance Kid , and Side Show , as well as other works of musical theatre.He was nominated for the Tony Awards for Best Score for both Dreamgirls and Side Show, won a Grammy...
  
  ) for "Patience
  Patience (Dreamgirls song)
  "Patience" is a 2006 song written by Henry Krieger and Willie Reale for the motion picture adaptation of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls...
  
  " from Dreamgirls
  Dreamgirls (film)
  Dreamgirls is a 2006 musical drama film, directed by Bill Condon and jointly produced and released by DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures. The film debuted in three special road show engagements beginning December 15, 2006 before its nationwide release on December 25, 2006...
  
  .
• Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical
  Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical
  The Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical is awarded to librettists of the spoken, non-sung dialogue, and storyline of a musical play. Eligibility is restricted to works with original narrative framework; plotless revues and revivals are ineligible...
  
   (2003) for A Year with Frog and Toad
  A Year with Frog and Toad
  A Year With Frog and Toad is a musical written by brothers Robert and Willie Reale , based on the Frog and Toad children's stories written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel...
  
  .
• Tony Award for Best Original Score
  Tony Award for Best Original Score
  The Tony Award for Best Original Score is the Tony Award given to the composers and lyricists of the best original score written for a musical in that year. The score consists of music and lyrics...
  
   (2003) (with Robert Reale
  Robert Reale
  Robert Reale is an American composer with a long list of credits in film, TV and theater. He is also the owner of and . Reale regularly works with younger brother Willie Reale. In 2003 he was nominated for a Tony Award for A Year with Frog and Toad for Best Original Musical Score...
  
  ) for A Year with Frog and Toad
  A Year with Frog and Toad
  A Year With Frog and Toad is a musical written by brothers Robert and Willie Reale , based on the Frog and Toad children's stories written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel...
  
  .
• Writers Guild of America Award
  Writers Guild of America Award
  The Writers Guild of America Award for outstanding achievements in film, television, and radio has been presented annually by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949...
  
   (2004) (with Mark Palmer
  Mark Palmer
  Robie Marcus Hooker Palmer is a former United States Ambassador to Hungary . He is a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy and the Committee on the Present Danger, Vice Chairman of Freedom House and the Council for a Community of Democracies. He is also the co-founder of the National...
  
  ) for Out There.

In June 1994, he was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in recognition of his ingenuity in creating theater and theater education programs for young people.

Musicals

• "Johnny Baseball (2010 musical)" (American Repertory Theater)
• A Year with Frog and Toad
  A Year with Frog and Toad
  A Year With Frog and Toad is a musical written by brothers Robert and Willie Reale , based on the Frog and Toad children's stories written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel...
  
  (Broadway)—2003
• The Dinosaur Musical
• Once Around the City
• Quark Victory
• Short And Sweet
• Many Happy Returns
• A Little Soul-Searching
• Fast Women

Television

• Haskett's Chance
• Tilt
• The Jury
• Keen Eddie
• Out There
• Deadline
• Homicide: Life on the Street
• Living And Working in Space: the Countdown Has Begun
• The Electric Company (2009 version)
  The Electric Company (2009 TV series)
  The Electric Company is an American children's educational series for young children aged 4–8 on PBS, derived from the 1971 series. The series premiered as a four-episode mini-marathon on PBS on January 19, 2009, then became a weekly series with an episode shown each Friday. On September 7, 2009,...