Rick Elice

Last updated
Rick Elice
Born
Eric S. Elice

(1956-11-17) November 17, 1956 (age 67)
New York City, U.S.
Education Cornell University (BA)
Yale University (MFA)
OccupationWriter
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2011;died 2015)​

Rick Elice (born Eric S. Elice; November 17, 1956) is a writer and former stage actor.

Contents

Life

Elice was born in New York City, where he attended public elementary, junior high, and high schools. He was the salutatorian graduate of Francis Lewis High School in Queens, New York (class of 1973).[ citation needed ] He earned a BA from Cornell University, an MFA from the Yale Drama School, and in 1980-81 was a Teaching Fellow at Harvard. He is a charter member of the American Repertory Theater. From 1982–1999, Elice was copywriter, producer, creative director and eventually executive vice president of Serino Coyne, Inc., an entertainment advertising agency in New York. From 1999–2009, he served as creative consultant to Walt Disney Studios. He was in a relationship with British actor Roger Rees for 33 years, during which Rees converted to Elice's Jewish faith. [1] [2] [3] A couple beginning in 1982, they married in 2011 when it became legal to do so, and remained together until Rees' death from brain cancer on July 10, 2015. [4] Elice's memoir of Rees' life and their much-admired partnership of more than thirty years, called Finding Roger: An Improbably Theatrical Love Story, is published by Kingswell.

Work for the stage

Elice with Marshall Brickman wrote the book for the Broadway musical Jersey Boys, which received a Tony Award nomination and a Drama Desk nomination for best book for a musical in 2006. With Roger Rees, he wrote the popular thriller Double Double, which has been translated into 16 languages. [5]

He wrote Leonardo’s Ring (London Fringe, 2003) and Dog and Pony (New York Stage and Film, 2003). Elice was creative director at Serino Coyne, Inc. (1982–2000), where he produced advertising campaigns for more than 300 Broadway shows including A Chorus Line and The Lion King . He was a creative consultant for Walt Disney Studios from 1999–2009.

In 2008, he co-wrote Turn of the Century with Marshall Brickman. The show was directed by Tommy Tune and premiered at The Goodman Theatre in Chicago in September 2008.

Elice collaborated with Brickman once again, this time writing the book for the musical, The Addams Family . After a successful run at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts Oriental Theatre in Chicago, The Addams Family opened on Broadway on April 8, 2010, at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, starring Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth as Gomez and Morticia Addams. [6]

He wrote Peter and the Starcatcher, based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, which opened in California in 2009 and played off-Broadway in 2011. The play moved to Broadway, opening at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on April 15, 2012. Peter and the Starcatcher received nine Tony Award nominations, more than any new American play in the history of the Tony Awards. On June 11, 2012, the play won five Tony Awards. The play enjoyed a successful tour throughout North America in 2013–14.

His most recent collaboration with Brickman was for the film of Jersey Boys , directed by Clint Eastwood and released by Warner Brothers in June 2014. Brickman and Elice wrote the screenplay, adapted from their book for the stage musical.

A new musical, Dog and Pony, with book by Elice and music and lyrics by Michael Patrick Walker, had its world premiere at The Old Globe in San Diego in June 2014, starring Nicole Parker, Jon Patrick Walker, Heidi Blickenstaff, Beth Leavel and Eric William Morris, directed by Rees.

Elice wrote the book for a new musical based on the early life and career of Cher, titled The Cher Show , which opened at the Neil Simon Theatre on Broadway in December 2018, starring Stephanie J. Block, Teal Wicks, Micaela Diamond and Jarrod Spector, directed by Jason Moore. The show received two 2019 Tony Awards, for Best Costume Design (Bob Mackie), and Best Actress in a Musical (Stephanie J. Block). [7]

Jerry Mitchell directed and choreographed Elice's next musical, My Very Own British Invasion, based on the teenage years of Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits fame. The show premiered on February 10, 2019 at Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ.

In 2019, Disney Theatrical Productions announced that Elice and Tony winner Bob Martin would write the book, and Tony winner David Yazbek would write the score, for a musical adaptation of William Goldman's revered novel and cult film, The Princess Bride , for Broadway. [8]

Awards

Source: [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Dale</span> British actor, singer, songwriter (born 1935)

Jim Dale is an English actor, composer, director, narrator, singer and songwriter. In the United Kingdom he is known as a pop singer of the 1950s who became a leading actor at the National Theatre. In British film, he is now one of the last surviving actors to appear in multiple Carry On films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Lippa</span> American composer

Andrew Lippa is an American composer, lyricist, book writer, performer, and producer. He is a resident artist at the Ars Nova Theater in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Rees</span> Welsh actor (1944–2015)

Roger Rees was a Welsh actor and director, widely known for his stage work. He won an Olivier Award and a Tony Award for his performance as the lead in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. He also received Obie Awards for his role in The End of the Day and as co-director of Peter and the Starcatcher. Rees was posthumously inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in November 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disney Theatrical Productions</span> Subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company

Disney Theatrical Productions Limited (DTP), also known as Disney on Broadway, is the stageplay and musical production company of the Disney Theatrical Group, a subsidiary of Disney Entertainment, a major division and business unit of The Walt Disney Company.

<i>Jersey Boys</i> Jukebox musical premiered in 2004

Jersey Boys is a jukebox musical with a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. It is presented in a documentary-style format that dramatizes the formation, success and breakup of the 1960s rock 'n' roll group The Four Seasons. The musical is structured as four "seasons", each narrated by a different member of the band who gives his own perspective on its history and music. Songs include "Big Girls Don't Cry", "Sherry", "December, 1963 ", "My Eyes Adored You", "Stay", "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", "Walk Like A Man", "Who Loves You", "Working My Way Back to You" and "Rag Doll".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Borle</span> American actor (born 1973)

Christian Dominique Borle is an American actor and singer. He is a two-time Tony Award winner for his roles as Black Stache in Peter and the Starcatcher and as William Shakespeare in Something Rotten!. Borle also originated the roles of Prince Herbert, et al. in Spamalot, Emmett in Legally Blonde, and Joe in Some Like It Hot on Broadway. He starred as Marvin in the 2016 Broadway revival of Falsettos. He also starred as Tom Levitt on the NBC musical-drama television series Smash, and Vox in the adult animated musical animated series Hazbin Hotel.

Marshall Brickman is an American screenwriter and director, best known for his collaborations with Woody Allen, with whom he shared the 1977 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Annie Hall. He was previously the head writer for Johnny Carson, writing scripts for recurring characters such as Carnac the Magnificent. He is also known for playing the banjo with Eric Weissberg in the 1960s, and for a series of comical parodies published in The New Yorker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Martin (comedian)</span> Canadian actor (born 1962)

Robert Martin is a television and musical theatre actor and writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brad Oscar</span> American actor

Brad Oscar is an American musical theatre actor, known for his Broadway performances in musicals such as The Producers and Big Fish. He has earned two Tony Award nominations: one for The Producers as Franz Liebkind, and one for Something Rotten! as Thomas Nostradamus.

Michael Patrick Walker is a composer, lyricist, writer, and musician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heidi Blickenstaff</span> American actress (born 1971)

Heidi Blickenstaff is an American actress based in New York City best known for playing a version of herself in the musical [title of show] during its Off-Broadway and Broadway runs, as well as for originating the role of Bea in the 2015 musical Something Rotten!. She co-starred with Cozi Zuehlsdorff in the Disney Channel musical version of Freaky Friday which was broadcast on August 10, 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Timbers</span> American writer and director

Alex Timbers is an American writer and director and the recipient of Tony, Golden Globe, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and London Evening Standard Awards, as well as two OBIE and Lucile Lortel Awards. He also received the 2019 Drama League Founder's Award for Excellence in Directing and the 2016 Jerome Robbins Award for Directing. He was nominated for a 2020 Grammy Award. For his work on Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Timbers won a 2021 Tony Award for Best Director of a Musical.

<i>The Addams Family</i> (musical) Musical Comedy

The Addams Family is a musical comedy with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa and book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. The show is based upon The Addams Family characters created by Charles Addams in his single-panel gag cartoons, which depict a ghoulish American family with an affinity for all things macabre. Although numerous film and television adaptations of Addams' cartoons exist, the musical is the first stage show based on the characters. The Addams Family is also the first show produced by Elephant Eye Theatricals.

Sergio Trujillo is a theater director, choreographer, dancer and actor. Born in Colombia and raised in Toronto, Canada, he is now an American citizen and resides in New York City. Trujillo was the recipient of the 2019 Tony Award for Best Choreography for Ain't Too Proud and the 2015 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Theatre Choreographer for Memphis. He is the first ever Hispanic recipient of the Tony Award for Best Choreography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">65th Tony Awards</span>

The 65th Annual Tony Awards was held on June 12, 2011 to recognize achievement in Broadway productions during the 2010–2011 season. They were held at the Beacon Theatre, ending a fourteen-year tradition of holding the ceremony at Radio City Music Hall. The Awards ceremony was broadcast live on CBS and was hosted by Neil Patrick Harris. The award nominations were announced on May 3, 2011.

Larry Hochman is an American orchestrator and composer. He has won four Emmy Awards for his original music on the TV series Wonder Pets! and a Tony Award for his orchestrations for The Book of Mormon.

<i>Peter and the Starcatcher</i> Play written by Rick Elice

Peter and the Starcatcher is a play based on the 2004 novel Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, adapted for the stage by Rick Elice. The play provides a backstory for the characters of Peter Pan, Mrs Darling, Tinker Bell and Hook, and serves as a prequel to J. M. Barrie's Peter and Wendy. After a premiere in California at the La Jolla Playhouse, the play transferred to Off-Broadway in 2011 and opened on Broadway on April 15, 2012. The show ended its Broadway run on January 20, 2013, and reopened Off-Broadway once again at New World Stages in March 2013, ending in January 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">66th Tony Awards</span>

The 66th Annual Tony Awards was held on June 10, 2012, to recognize achievement in Broadway productions during the 2011–2012 season. The ceremony was held at the Beacon Theatre, and was broadcast live on CBS television,

<i>The Cher Show</i> (musical) 2018 American jukebox musical

The Cher Show is a jukebox musical with a book by Rick Elice that tells the story of the life and career of Cher, using songs that she performed throughout her career. The part of Cher is played by three actresses: one portraying her in the 1950s and 60s, one for the 1970s, and one for the 1980s and 90s. The three interact with each other and help each other out at various points.

References

  1. ↑ Jones, Chad (July 19, 2008). "Interview with Rees". Theaterdogs.net. Retrieved 2013-08-29.
  2. ↑ Marks, Peter (March 25, 2007). "Roger Rees Tests His 'Will'". The Washington Post . Washingtonpost.com. Archived from the original on November 10, 2012. Retrieved 2013-08-29.
  3. ↑ "Actor-director Roger Rees and partner Rick Elice, co-librettist of Jersey Boys.". Broadway.com. January 10, 2008. Retrieved 2013-08-28.
  4. ↑ "Scott Heller on Twitter" . Retrieved 2015-07-11.
  5. ↑ "Conversations with Roger Rees" (Press release). Actors' Equity Association. June 21, 2012. Retrieved 2013-08-29.
  6. ↑ Riedel, Michael (January 30, 2009). "Good Reviews Come from Invitation-Only Reading of The Addams Family Musical". New York Post . Retrieved 2013-08-29.
  7. ↑ McPhee, Ryan. "Micaela Diamond and Teal Wicks Join Stephanie J. Block as Title Role in 'The Cher Show', Full Cast Announced" Playbill, April 17, 2018
  8. ↑ Paulson, Michael (May 14, 2020). "Disney Closes 'Frozen' on Broadway, Citing Pandemic". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved September 28, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Rick Elice > Awards". Internet Broadway Database (The Broadway League). Retrieved June 7, 2017.
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.