Kirsten Childs

Last updated
Kirsten Childs
Born Los Angeles, California, U.S.
OccupationPlaywright, librettist
NationalityAmerican
Notable worksThe Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin;
Bella: An American Tall Tale
Relatives Billy Childs (brother)

Kirsten J. Childs is an American playwright, librettist, and former actress. [1]

Contents

Early life and performing career

Childs was born in Los Angeles, California. [2] Her parents were schoolteachers. [3] Her younger brother is the jazz musician Billy Childs. [4] [5] She began her theatrical career in the late 1970s as a Broadway performer. In 1977, Bob Fosse cast her in the lead role of Velma Kelly in the first national tour of the musical Chicago . She went on to appear in productions of Dancin' , Jerry's Girls , and Sweet Charity in the 1980s. Primarily a stage actress, her one major film role was the 1989 comedy See No Evil, Hear No Evil , in which she played Adele, the long-suffering sister of Richard Pryor's character. [3] [6]

Later writing career

Childs subsequently turned to writing her own theatrical productions, beginning with the semi-autobiographical work The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin (2000), [7] [8] an off-Broadway musical that received an Obie Award. [9] Her other musicals include Miracle Brothers (2005), [10] Funked Up Fairy Tales (2007), [11] and Bella: An American Tall Tale (2016), a winner of the Weston Playhouse New Musical Award. [12] [13]

Childs has also served as an assistant professor in New York University Tisch School of the Arts' Graduate Musical Theatre Writing program. [14]

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References

  1. ↑ "Artist Interview: Kirsten Childs". Playwrights Horizons. Archived from the original on 18 June 2017. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  2. ↑ Aaron Dobbs; Lily Oei (11 August 2005). "Kirsten Childs, Musical Theater Writer". Gothamist . Archived from the original on 21 October 2016.
  3. 1 2 Mandell, Jonathan (18 June 2000). "Theater: Beyond Black, Just Herself". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 29 December 2016.
  4. ↑ Nesti, Robert (16 November 2006). "Kirsten Childs on "Bubbly Black Girl"". EDGE Media Network. Archived from the original on 31 August 2017.
  5. ↑ Luppi, Kathleen (17 October 2014). "Tapping the 'Treasure' of singer-songwriter Laura Nyro". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on 31 August 2017.
  6. ↑ Klein, Alvin (15 July 1979). "When 'Chicago' Is in Trouble, It Goes Into a Dance". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 18 June 2017.
  7. ↑ Brantley, Ben (21 June 2000). "Theater Review: Wearing Perkiness That's Cut on the Bias". The New York Times.
  8. ↑ Billington, Michael (8 February 2017). "The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin review – witty, vivacious musical". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 28 March 2017.
  9. ↑ "2001 Obie Awards". Obie Awards . Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  10. ↑ Brantley, Ben (19 September 2005). "Dolphins Turn Human and Trouble Ensues". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 29 May 2015.
  11. ↑ Rizzo, Frank (10 August 2007). "Funked Up Fairy Tales". Variety. Archived from the original on 28 January 2018.
  12. ↑ Murray, Larry (29 January 2016). "Kirsten Childs' "Bella: An American Tall Tale" wins Weston Playhouse New Musical Award". Berkshire on Stage. Archived from the original on 18 December 2016.
  13. ↑ Brantley, Ben (12 June 2017). "Review: In 'Bella,' an Indomitable Heroine Goes West". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 17 June 2017.
  14. ↑ "Kirsten J. Childs - Adjunct Assistant Professor". NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
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