John Patrick Shanley

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
John Patrick Shanley
JohnPatrickShanley-2011.jpg
Born (1950-10-13) October 13, 1950 (age 73)
The Bronx, New York, USA
Occupation Playwright and Screenwriter
Nationality United States
Alma mater New York University
Spouse Jayne Haynes
Information
Debut works Welcome to the Moon (1982)
Women of Manhattan (1986)
Awards Academy Award (1988), Pulitzer Prize for Drama (2005), Tony Award (2005)

John Patrick Shanley (born October 13, 1950) is a Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award–winning American playwright, an Oscar winning screenwriter, and a theatre and film director.[1][2][3]

Early life

Shanley was born into an Irish-American family in The Bronx, New York City. His mother worked as a telephone operator, and his father was a meat-packer. The neighborhood Shanley grew up in was considered very rough.[1]

His academic career did not begin well, but ultimately he graduated from New York University with honors.[4] In his program bio for the Broadway production of Doubt: A Parable, he mentions that he was "thrown out of St. Helena’s kindergarten, banned from St. Anthony’s hot lunch program and expelled from Cardinal Spellman High School."[5]

While at Cardinal Spellman High School he saw two school productions that had an impact on him. The Miracle Worker and Cyrano de Bergerac.[6]

After his Freshman year at New York University, he was put on academic probation. He then enlisted in the United States Marines, serving in a stateside post during the Vietnam War.[1] Following his military service, he wrote a novel, then burned it, and returned to the university with the help of the G.I. Bill, and by supporting himself with a series of jobs: elevator operator, house painter, furniture mover, locksmith, bartender. He graduated from New York University as valedictorian in 1977.[4][7]

Career

Shanley is the author of more than 23 plays, which have been translated and performed around the world, including 80 productions a year in North America. He has often directed his own productions.[1]

He has also written for film; his second film, Moonstruck (1987), stars Nicolas Cage and Cher, and won three Academy Awards, including one for his screenplay.[8] In 1990, Shanley directed his script of Joe Versus the Volcano. Shanley also wrote two songs for the movie: "Marooned Without You" and "The Cowboy Song."[9] He wrote the screenplay for the film Congo (1995), which was based on the Michael Crichton book.[10]

His play Doubt: A Parable ran on Broadway from March 31, 2005 to July 2, 2006 and won four 2005 Tony Awards (including Best Play),[11] the Drama Desk Award (including Outstanding Play)[12] and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.[13] Shanley directed the 2008 film version, which starred Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and Viola Davis.[14] The screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award, and the film won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.[15]Doubt: A Parable, is featured in The Fourth Wall, a book of photographs by Amy Arbus for which Shanley also wrote the foreword.

In 2012, Shanley wrote the libretto for an opera version of Doubt: A Parable, which premiered at the Minnesota Opera in January 2013, with music by Douglas J. Cuomo. Until then, his experience with opera was not extensive; he had attended a few performances and had listened to recordings. As he worked on the libretto, using many lines that come directly from the play, he describes that his enthusiasm for the form grew.[16] Also in 2012, his play Storefront Church ran Off-Broadway in a production by the Atlantic Theater Company. The play concerns Bronx residents "whose lives become tangled in unexpected ways when a mortgage goes sour".[17] Storefront Church was also put up by San Francisco Playhouse in San Francisco in December 2013 where it was very well received.[18]

His new play, Outside Mullingar, opened on Broadway at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club, on January 3, 2014 (in previews) and officially on January 23, 2014. The play is directed by Doug Hughes and stars Debra Messing and Brían F. O'Byrne.[19] The play is set in the Irish countryside.[20]

Personal life

He is a graduate of New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development with a degree in Educational Theatre, and is a member of the Ensemble Studio Theatre.[21]

Today, Shanley resides in New York.

Work

Awards, nominations and honors

In 2002 Shanley was inducted into the Bronx Walk of Fame.[42]

Awards
Nominations

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Witchel, Alex. "The Confessions of John Patrick Shanley" The New York Times, November 7, 2004
  2. IMDB
  3. McKinley, Jesse. "'Spamalot' and 'Doubt' Win the Top Tony Awards". New York Times. June 6, 2005
  4. 4.0 4.1 Saito, Stephen. "IFC Interview: John Patrick Shanley on 'Doubt'" ifc.com, December 12, 2008
  5. Doubt playbillvault.com, March 31, 2005
  6. Hodges, Benjamin A. editor. The Play that Changed My Life: America's Foremost Playwrights on the Plays that Influenced Them. 2009. Applause Theatre and Cinema Books. 2009. p. 129
  7. Bourque-Sheil, Brendan. Interview with John Patrick Shanley. Comedycongloverate’s Blog. January 9, 2012. [1]
  8. " 'Moonsruck' Awards" tcm.com, accessed January 3, 2014
  9. Joe Versus the Volcano tcm.com, accessed January 3, 2014
  10. Maslin, Janet. "Movie Review. 'Congo'" The New York Times, June 9, 1995
  11. Jones, Kenneth. " 'Doubt' Is Best Play, 'Spamalot' Best Musical; Butz, Irwin, Clark, Jones, Nichols Win 2005 Tonys" playbill.com, June 5, 2005
  12. Jones, Kenneth and Ku, Andrew. " 'Doubt', 'Spamalot', 'Twelve Angry Men', 'La Cage' Win 2005 Drama Desk Awards" playbill.com, May 23, 2005
  13. Simonson, Robert. "John Patrick Shanley's 'Doubt' Wins 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Drama" playbill.com, April 4, 2005
  14. " 'Doubt' Listing" tcm.com, accessed January 3, 2014
  15. Doubt imdb.com
  16. Dobrzynski, Judith H. "A Re-'Doubt'-able Effort" Wall Street Journal (online.wsj.com), January 16, 2013
  17. Isherwood, Charles. "Theater Review. 'Storefront Church,' by John Patrick Shanley" The New York Times, June 11, 2012
  18. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. Gans, Andrew. "Debra Messing Is 'Outside Mullingar', Beginning Jan. 3 on Broadway" playbill.com, January 3, 2014
  20. Isherwood, Charles. "Theater Review. 'Outside Mullingar,' by John Patrick Shanley, Opens" The New York Times, January 23, 2014
  21. Shanley topics.nytimes.com
  22. Rich, Frank. "The Stage: 'Welcome To The Moon'" The New York Times, November 24, 1982
  23. " Danny and the Deep Blue Sea Listing" lortel.org, accessed January 4, 2014
  24. "The Dreamer Examines His Pillow Listing" lortel.org, accessed January 4, 2014
  25. " Women of Manhattan Listing" lortel.org, accessed January 4, 2014
  26. "Stage: 2D Bill Of New One-Act Plays" The New York Times (webcache.googleusercontent.com), May 20, 1987
  27. " 'The Big Funk' Listing" lortel.org, accessed January 4, 2014
  28. " Beggars in the House of Plenty Listing" lortel.org, accessed January 5, 2014
  29. Gussow, Mel. "Review/Theater; Giving One-Act Plays Fairest Shot at Success" The New York Times, May 5, 1992
  30. " Four Dogs and a Bone Listing" lortel.org, accessed January 4, 2014
  31. " 'Missing/Kissing' Listing" lortel.org, accessed January 4, 2014
  32. Jones, Kenneth and Simonson, Robert. "John Patrick Shanley's 'Where's My Money?' Ends Jan. 13 at MTC" January 13, 2002
  33. Bacalzo, Dan."Reviews. 'Dirty Story'" March 5, 2003
  34. Hernandez, Ernio. "Part 1 of 3: John Patrick Shanley's 'Sailor's Song' Opens Off-Broadway, Nov. 7" playbill.com, November 7, 2004
  35. Brantley, Ben. Theater Review. 'Romantic Poetry'" The New York Times, October 29, 2008
  36. Jones, Kenneth. "Charlotte Parry, Ivan Hernandez Featured in John Patrick Shanley's 'Pirate', Starting July 21" playbill.com, July 21, 2010
  37. Canby, Vincent. "Movie Review. 'Five Corners' (1987)" The New York Times, January 22, 1988
  38. Canby, Vincent. Movie Review. 'January Man' (1989) The New York Times, January 13, 1989
  39. Maslin, Janet. "Movie Review. 'Alive' (1993)" The New York Times, January 15, 1993
  40. Maslin, Janet. Movie Review. 'We re Back A Dinosaur s Story' (1993)" The New York Times, November 24, 1993
  41. " 'Live from Baghdad' Cast and Crew" tcm.com, accessed January 4, 2014
  42. Bronx Walk of Fame Inductees, 2004 ilovethebronx.com
  43. Simonson, Robert. "Shanley, Hughes, Culkin, Marvel, O'Connell Among 2005 Obie Winners" playbill.com, May 26, 2005
  44. " 'Live from Baghdad' Awards and Nominations" imdb.com, accessed January 5, 2014
  45. " 'Live from Baghdad' Awards, Won and/or Nominated" The New York Times, accessed January 5, 2014
  46. Simonson, Robert. Hawke, Azaria, Applegate, Turner Among Presenters at Drama Desk Award" playbill.com, May 16, 2005

External links