John Kenrick (theatre writer)

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John Kenrick (born October 3, 1959) is an American author, teacher and theatre and film historian. Kenrick is an adjunct teacher of musical theatre history at New York University, Brind School – University of the Arts (Philadelphia) and The New School, and lectures frequently on the subject elsewhere. His 2008 book Musical Theatre: A History is a comprehensive history of musical theatre from ancient times to the present. Kenrick is the curator of the extensive musical theatre and film website Musicals101.com: The Cyber Encyclopedia of Musical Theatre, TV and Film

New York University private research university in New York, NY, United States

New York University (NYU) is a private research university originally founded in New York City but now with campuses and locations throughout the world. Founded in 1831, NYU's historical campus is in Greenwich Village, New York City. As a global university, students can graduate from its degree-granting campuses in NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU Shanghai, as well as study at its 12 academic centers in Accra, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Florence, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Paris, Prague, Sydney, Tel Aviv, and Washington, D.C.

University of the Arts (Philadelphia) university in Philadelphia, USA

The University of the Arts (UArts) is a university of visual and performing arts based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its campus makes up part of the Avenue of the Arts in Center City, Philadelphia. Dating back to the 1870s, it is one of the oldest schools of art or music in the United States.

The New School university in New York City, located mostly in Greenwich Village

The New School is a private non-profit research university centered in Manhattan, New York City, located mostly in Greenwich Village. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. Since then, the school has grown to house five divisions within the university. These include the Parsons School of Design, the Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, The New School for Social Research, the Schools of Public Engagement, the College of Performing Arts which consists of the Mannes School of Music, the School of Drama, and the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music. In addition, the university maintains the Parsons Paris campus and has also launched or housed a range of institutions, such as the international research institute World Policy Institute, the Philip Glass Institute, the Vera List Center for Art and Politics, the India China Institute, the Observatory on Latin America, and the Center for New York City Affairs.

Contents

Life and career

Kenrick was born and raised in Astoria, New York. He attended Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School and then Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception in Douglaston, New York, studying English and theology. [1]

Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School

Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School is a co-educational Catholic high school located in the East Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens, New York. As of Fall 2012, the school started accepting young women. Founded by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart in 1956, Msgr. McClancy Memorial High School serves the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and provides education for approximately 550 students from grades 9 to 12. Admissions is open to any student of any ethnicity and of any faith, but requires TACHS scores from students entering from the 8th grade, students on other levels contact the school directly. The school was first founded in 1956, dedicated to the memory of Msgr. Joseph V. McClancy, a long time diocesan Superintendent of Schools for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn. The school is chartered by the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York and accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.

Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception is a former minor seminary high school and junior college located in Douglaston, Queens, New York.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Kenrick worked first as a teacher and then in theatrical production and management. [1] Productions on which he worked included the 1994 Broadway revival of Grease and the original 1996 Broadway production of Rent , as well as national tours of Damn Yankees , Crazy for You , Victor/Victoria , Jekyll & Hyde , and the original 1995 touring production of Busker Alley . He wrote the lyrics for the Off-Broadway musical Bats and has written material for various cabaret and comedy acts. He served as Associate Producer for the Celebration '86 Gay Arts Festival. [2] [3]

Broadway theatre class of professional theater presented in New York City, New York, USA

Broadway theatre, commonly known as Broadway, refers to the theatrical performances presented in the 41 professional theatres, each with 500 or more seats located in the Theater District and Lincoln Center along Broadway, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Along with London's West End theatre, Broadway theatre is widely considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world.

<i>Grease</i> (musical) stage musical

Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Named after the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as greasers, the musical is set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School and follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of peer pressure, politics, personal core values, and love. The score borrows heavily from the sounds of early rock and roll. In its original production in Chicago, Grease was a raunchy, raw, aggressive, vulgar show. Subsequent productions sanitized it and toned it down. The show mentions social issues such as teenage pregnancy, peer pressure and gang violence; its themes include love, friendship, teenage rebellion, sexual exploration during adolescence, and, to some extent, class consciousness/class conflict. Jacobs described the show's basic plot as a subversion of common tropes of 1950s cinema, since the female lead, who in many 1950s films transformed the alpha male into a more sensitive and sympathetic character, is instead drawn into the man's influence and transforms into his fantasy.

<i>Rent</i> (musical) American rock musical, based on La Bohème

Rent is a rock musical with music, lyrics, and book by Jonathan Larson, loosely based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La Bohème. It tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists struggling to survive and create a life in Lower Manhattan's East Village in the thriving days of Bohemian Alphabet City, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS.

Kenrick teaches musical theatre history at New York University's Steinhardt School, The Ira Brind School – University of the Arts (Philadelphia) and The New School, and he has also taught the subject at Marymount Manhattan College. [2] He is a frequent lecturer on theatre and film history. Broadway World calls him an "Internationally recognized musical theatre and film authority". [4] He is often cited as an expert in the press. [5] Kenrick has been interviewed about theatre and film on numerous US and UK television and radio programs and in national and foreign newspapers and magazines. [6] He has been interviewed in documentaries concerning showtunes, Jerry Herman, Times Square, haunted theatres, and the history of American burlesque, and he appears in the DVD documentaries for The Busby Berkeley Collection and for the film musicals Three Little Words , Till the Clouds Roll By and It's Always Fair Weather . [7] Among other lecture series, [3] from 2005 to 2007, he gave a three-year "musical conversation" series at York Theatre Company. [4] Kenrick has appeared in several documentaries about musicals. [2]

Marymount Manhattan College private college in Manhattan, New York City

Marymount Manhattan College is a private college in New York City. Enrollment consists of 2,069 undergraduates, with women making up 75% and men 25%.

Jerry Herman American composer and lyricist

Jerry Herman is an American composer and lyricist, known for his work in Broadway musical theater. He composed the scores for the hit Broadway musicals Hello, Dolly!, Mame, and La Cage aux Folles. He has been nominated for the Tony Award five times, and won twice, for Hello, Dolly! and La Cage aux Folles. In 2009, Herman received the Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. He is a recipient of the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors.

Times Square Neighborhood in Manhattan in New York City, New York

Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment center and neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue. It stretches from West 42nd to West 47th Streets. Brightly adorned with billboards and advertisements, Times Square is sometimes referred to as "The Crossroads of the World", "The Center of the Universe", "the heart of The Great White Way", and "the heart of the world". One of the world's busiest pedestrian areas, it is also the hub of the Broadway Theater District and a major center of the world's entertainment industry. Times Square is one of the world's most visited tourist attractions, drawing an estimated 50 million visitors annually. Approximately 330,000 people pass through Times Square daily, many of them tourists, while over 460,000 pedestrians walk through Times Square on its busiest days.

Kenrick is the curator of the extensive musical theatre and film website Musicals101.com: The Cyber Encyclopedia of Musical Theatre, TV and Film. Hundreds of libraries, universities and arts sites link to Musicals101.com. [8]

Writings

International Standard Book Number Unique numeric book identifier

The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier which is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency.

Documentaries

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References

  1. 1 2 Crimmins, Cathy E. How the Homosexuals Saved Civilization (2004) Penguin Group (US) ISBN   1-58542-314-9
  2. 1 2 3 John Kenrick bio Archived 2009-03-30 at the Wayback Machine . at Musicals101.com
  3. 1 2 "Broadway and a Bagel:Jews in the American Theatre" Archived 2007-05-05 at the Wayback Machine .. All About Jewish Theatre, accessed May 29, 2011
  4. 1 2 "Kenrick Continues Conversation Series at York Theatre", Broadway World, August 29, 2007
  5. ↑ See, e.g., this New York Daily News article.
  6. ↑ "York's Conversations with John Kenrick Begin Sept. 9", Broadway World, September 8, 2006
  7. ↑ John Kenrick at the IMDB database
  8. ↑ List of sites linking to Musicals101.com
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