Buddy Sheffield

Last updated

Morris Taylor "Buddy" Sheffield is an American comedy writer, producer and composer. He is probably best known as Emmy-nominated head writer on Fox TV's breakthrough sketch comedy series, In Living Color , having written such favorites as "Homey Claus", "Homeboy Shopping Network", "This Old Box" and "Men on Books". Sheffield, who is white and was raised in the rural south, won an NAACP Image Award for his work on the show. Prior to that he had spent 10 years writing for dozens of performers ranging from Dolly Parton to the Smothers Brothers.

Sheffield co-created the teen hit Roundhouse on Nickelodeon in the 1990s, often cited as revolutionary for its frenetically paced staging and sophisticated satire involving real teen issues. [1] Roundhouse was shot in real-time before a live audience and was described by one critic as "like seeing all the high points of a smash Broadway show in half an hour." [2] Sheffield created the show with his former wife, Rita Hester, with whom he had founded a children's theatre company when they were students at The University of Southern Mississippi. That venture, Sheffield Ensemble Theatre, lasted 13 years and had become the number one touring children's theatre in the country prior to going bankrupt as a major contractor to the failed New Orleans World's Fair. Sheffield paid off his cast and crew and moved to Los Angeles. His years in live theatre are apparent in "Roundhouse" and all his work. In 2016 Nick began rerunning episodes of Roundhouse to the delight of fans.

In 1982, his musical Cleavage, for which he had written book, music and lyrics, opened on Broadway. [3] Though it had been playing successfully in New Orleans, it closed after one performance. One day after it closed it received a favorable review from the NY Times.

Sheffield is again targeting Broadway with a musical send-up of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! called IDAHO! for which he also wrote book, music and lyrics (with additional music and arrangements by long-time friend and collaborator Keith Thompson). IDAHO! premiered at the NY Musical Festival winning several awards including the "Best of Fest" Audience Prize for best-received show. In July 2016 IDAHO! will be presented on the main stage at the magnificent Smith Center in Las Vegas.

In 2007, Sheffield sued Disney for breach of implied contract over a musical sitcom called "Rock and Roland" that he pitched to the Disney Channel in late 2001. Sheffield's detailed pitch was about a junior high kid with a widowed parent who is a regular kid by day and secretly a pop superstar by night. The lawsuit claims that Disney executives showed great interest, requested more material, passed on the project and then misappropriated it. [4] The lawsuit also claimed Disney did little more than switch the genders of all the main characters, an option Sheffield gave them during the pitch. Disney went on to produce the show under the name Hannah Montana and it became a worldwide mega-hit generating millions for the company. [5] An August 26, 2008 court date was set in Los Angeles Superior Court, but prior to that date the case was quietly settled. [6]

Related Research Articles

Tom Bosley American actor

Thomas Edward Bosley was an American actor, television personality and entertainer. Bosley is best known for portraying Howard Cunningham on the 1970s ABC sitcom Happy Days, and the title character on the NBC/ABC series Father Dowling Mysteries. He also was featured in a recurring role on Murder, She Wrote. He originated the title role of the Broadway musical Fiorello!, earning the 1960 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical.

David Adam Javerbaum is an American comedy writer and lyricist. Javerbaum has won 13 Emmy Awards in his career, 11 of which he received for his work on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He runs the popular Twitter account @TheTweetOfGod, an account known for its anti-established-religion tweets. which as of December 2020 has 6.2 million followers, and which served as the basis for his play An Act of God, which opened on Broadway in the spring of 2015 starring Jim Parsons, and again in the spring of 2016 starring Sean Hayes.

Miles Millar British screenwriter

Miles Millar is a British screenwriter and producer. Millar is best known for co-developing and writing the long-running Superman prequel television series Smallville, alongside his writing partner Alfred Gough.

Alfred Gough American screenwriter and producer

Alfred Gough III is an American screenwriter and producer.

<i>Sister Act</i> 1992 movie directed by Emile Ardolino

Sister Act is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Emile Ardolino and written by Paul Rudnick, with musical arrangements by Marc Shaiman. It stars Whoopi Goldberg as a lounge singer forced to join a convent after being placed in a witness protection program. It also features Maggie Smith, Kathy Najimy, Wendy Makkena, Mary Wickes, and Harvey Keitel.

Benny Hester

Benny Ray Hester is an American musician, singer, songwriter and recording artist. He is perhaps best known for his songs "When God Ran" and "Nobody Knows Me Like You", and for producing the groundbreaking tween/teen music-driven sketch comedy and dance television series Roundhouse on Nickelodeon. Hester received a television Cable Ace Award for the song "I Can Dream" and a collection of nominations for writing and producing a featured original song for each weekly episode of Roundhouse during its successful four-year run. He has written and recorded more than 25 number one and top ten songs.

Corbin Bleu American actor

Corbin Bleu Reivers, known professionally as Corbin Bleu, is an American actor, model, dancer, film producer and singer-songwriter. He performed in the High School Musical film series (2006–2008). Songs from the films also charted worldwide, with the song "I Don't Dance" peaking inside the Top 70 of the Billboard Hot 100. During this time, he also starred in the Disney Channel Original Movie Jump In! (2007). His first lead role was in the film Catch That Kid (2004). He has since appeared in the Discovery Kids drama series Flight 29 Down (2005–2007), as well as the film To Write Love on Her Arms (2015). He competed in the 17th season of Dancing with the Stars, partnered with professional dancer Karina Smirnoff.

<i>Hannah Montana</i> American teen sitcom

Hannah Montana is an American teen sitcom that was created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll, and Barry O'Brien, and aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between March 2006 and January 2011. The series centers on Miley Stewart, a teenage girl living a double life as famous pop singer Hannah Montana, an alter ego she adopted so she could maintain her anonymity and live a normal life as a typical teenager. Episodes deal with Miley's everyday struggles to cope with the social and personal issues of adolescence while maintaining the added complexities of her secret identity, which she sustains by wearing a blonde wig. Miley has strong relationships with her brother Jackson and her best friends Lilly Truscott and Oliver Oken, who also become aware of her secret. Cyrus's father, singer-songwriter Billy Ray Cyrus, plays Miley Stewart's father and manager Robby Ray. Overarching themes include a focus on family and friendships, and the importance of music and discovering one's identity.

Jason Earles

Jason Daniel Earles is an American actor and comedian, known for his role as Jackson Stewart in the Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana and his role as Rudy Gillespie in the Disney XD series Kickin' It.

Mitchel Musso American actor, singer, songwriter

Mitchel Tate Musso is an American actor, singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his three Disney Channel roles as Oliver Oken in Hannah Montana; Jeremy Johnson in the animated series Phineas and Ferb; and his Disney XD role as King Brady on Pair of Kings. He was the host of Disney Channel's PrankStars.

Scott Rudin is an American film, television and theater producer.

Barry OBrien

Barry O'Brien is an American television writer and producer best known as the co-creator of Disney Channel Original Series Hannah Montana. His credits include Happy Days, Perfect Strangers, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, Judging Amy, and CSI: Miami.

"Start It Up" is the pilot episode of the American television series Shake It Up, a female buddy-show with a dance concept, starring Bella Thorne and Zendaya. As the series' opening episode, it introduces the main characters in the series, and follows Rocky and CeCe as they try out for "Shake It Up Chicago", after being encouraged by Deuce and Ty. Also in this episode, Flynn tries to avenge CeCe and Rocky for his breakfast.

Skylar Astin American actor

Skylar Astin Lipstein is an American actor and singer. He became known for portraying Jesse Swanson in the musical films Pitch Perfect (2012) and Pitch Perfect 2 (2015). He was also in the original cast of the Broadway musical Spring Awakening, and has since appeared in films such as Hamlet 2 (2008), Taking Woodstock (2009), Cavemen (2013), and 21 & Over (2013). He played the role of Greg Serrano on the last season of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, a role originally played by Santino Fontana. His most recent role is as Max in the musical dramedy Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (2020).

John Crane (writer) American writer and actor

John Rene Crane is an American writer and actor, best known as the head writer, executive producer and occasional performer on Fox's Saturday late night sketch comedy program, MADtv, and as the Dad from Nickelodeon’s Roundhouse.

<i>Hannah Montana: The Movie</i> 2009 Walt Disney Pictures musical comedy-drama film directed by Peter Chelsom

Hannah Montana: The Movie is a 2009 American teen musical comedy-drama film based on the Disney Channel television series of the same name. It is the second theatrical film based on a Disney Channel Original Series, after The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003), it was directed by Peter Chelsom and written by Daniel Berendsen. The film stars series regulars Miley Cyrus, Billy Ray Cyrus, Emily Osment, Moises Arias, Mitchel Musso and Jason Earles, as well as Lucas Till, Vanessa Williams, Margo Martindale, and Melora Hardin.

Steven Christopher Parker is an American actor, writer, and director. Onscreen, he is best known for his role as "Sledgehammer" Big Wes, a middle school basketball team player in the 2005 film Rebound starring Martin Lawrence. More recently, Parker has co-written and directed spoof Broadway musicals including one based on the TV series Lost and another parodying Game of Thrones.

<i>Shake It Up</i> (American TV series)

Shake It Up is an American sitcom that originally aired on Disney Channel from November 7, 2010, to November 10, 2013. Created by Chris Thompson and starring Bella Thorne and Zendaya, the show follows the adventures of CeCe Jones and Rocky Blue (Zendaya) as they star as background dancers on a local show, Shake It Up Chicago. It also chronicles their misadventures on and off-set and their troubles and rising social status at school. Davis Cleveland, Roshon Fegan, Adam Irigoyen, Kenton Duty, and Caroline Sunshine also are other main cast members in the series. The show's original concept was for Disney to create a female buddy comedy with a dance aspect.

Ryan Jerome McCartan is an American actor and singer. As an actor, he is known for playing Jason "J.D." Dean in the original off-Broadway production of Heathers: The Musical (2014) and for playing Brad Majors in the 2016 Fox musical television film The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again. McCartan is also known as half of the former pop duo The Girl and the Dreamcatcher. McCartan played the recurring role of Diggie Smalls on the Disney Channel sitcom Liv and Maddie. He also played Fiyero, the main love interest, in the Broadway production of Wicked. He was also the final Hans in the Broadway production of Frozen.

Robert Horn is a playwright, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the Tony-winning book writer for Broadway musicals Tootsie and 13 and the screenwriter for Disney Channel Original Movies Teen Beach Movie, Teen Beach 2, Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure, and The Suite Life Movie.

References

  1. ↑ "Raucous comedy brings down the 'Roundhouse'" Matt Roush, USA Today, November 16, 1993
  2. ↑ "Skit Parade – 'Roundhouse gives youths a whirlwind-paced world view'" Ken Tucker, Entertainment Weekly, July 9, 1993
  3. ↑ Internet Broadway Database: www.ibdb.com – "Cleavage"
  4. ↑ "Lawsuit Claims 'Hannah Montana' idea stolen" Gina Keating for Reuters, August 24, 2007
  5. ↑ "Writer Claims 'Hannah Montana' Was His Idea". Archived from the original on March 13, 2008. Retrieved March 24, 2008.
  6. ↑ "Writer Claims 'Hannah Montana' a Rip-off". Archived from the original on June 16, 2009. Retrieved March 24, 2008.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.