Arthur L. Kopit
Encyclopedia
Arthur Lee Kopit is an American playwright. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize
finalist (Indians
and Wings
) and a three-time Tony Award
nominee: Best Play, Indians
, 1970; Best Play, Wings
, 1979; and Best Book of a Musical, for Nine
, 1982. He won the Vernon Rice Award (now known as the Drama Desk Award) in 1962 for his play Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad
and was nominated for another Drama Desk Award
in 1979 for his play Wings.
Nine
returned to Broadway in 2003 with Antonio Banderas
as Guido and won two Tony Awards, including best revival; in 2009 Rob Marshall directed the film Nine
based on Kopit's script, the principle cast consisting of Daniel Day-Lewis
, Judi Dench
, Nicole Kidman
, Marion Cotillard
, Penélope Cruz
, Sophia Loren
, Kate Hudson
, and Fergie (singer).
Kopit attended Lawrence High School
in Lawrence, Nassau County, New York
.
Kopit attended Harvard University
. His first plays were staged while still an undergraduate at Harvard University.
Later, Kopit taught at Wesleyan University
, Yale University
, and the City College of New York
.
In 2005, Kopit donated his papers to the Fales Library
at NYU.
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
finalist (Indians
Indians (play)
Indians is a play by Arthur Kopit.At its core is Buffalo Bill Cody and his Wild West Show. The play examines the contradictions of Cody's life and his work with Native Americans....
and Wings
Wings (play)
Wings is a 1978 play by American playwright Arthur Kopit. Originating as a radio play, it was later adapted for stage and screen.In 1976, Kopit was commissioned to write an original radio play by the NPR drama project Earplay...
) and a three-time Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nominee: Best Play, Indians
Indians (play)
Indians is a play by Arthur Kopit.At its core is Buffalo Bill Cody and his Wild West Show. The play examines the contradictions of Cody's life and his work with Native Americans....
, 1970; Best Play, Wings
Wings (play)
Wings is a 1978 play by American playwright Arthur Kopit. Originating as a radio play, it was later adapted for stage and screen.In 1976, Kopit was commissioned to write an original radio play by the NPR drama project Earplay...
, 1979; and Best Book of a Musical, for Nine
Nine (musical)
Nine is a musical with a book by Arthur Kopit, music and lyrics by Maury Yeston. The story is based on Federico Fellini's semi-autobiographical film 8½...
, 1982. He won the Vernon Rice Award (now known as the Drama Desk Award) in 1962 for his play Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad
Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad
Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad: A Pseudoclassical Tragifarce in a Bastard French Tradition was the first play written by Arthur L. Kopit. The play opened off-Broadway at the Phoenix Repertory Theatre in New York City in 1962 and moved to the Morosco Theatre...
and was nominated for another Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
in 1979 for his play Wings.
Nine
Nine (musical)
Nine is a musical with a book by Arthur Kopit, music and lyrics by Maury Yeston. The story is based on Federico Fellini's semi-autobiographical film 8½...
returned to Broadway in 2003 with Antonio Banderas
Antonio Banderas
José Antonio Domínguez Banderas , better known as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish film actor, film director, film producer and singer...
as Guido and won two Tony Awards, including best revival; in 2009 Rob Marshall directed the film Nine
Nine (film)
Nine is a 2009 musical-romantic film directed and produced by Rob Marshall. The screenplay, written by Michael Tolkin and Anthony Minghella, is based on Arthur Kopit's book for the 1982 musical of the same name, which was itself suggested by Federico Fellini's semi-autobiographical film 8½...
based on Kopit's script, the principle cast consisting of Daniel Day-Lewis
Daniel Day-Lewis
Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is an English actor with both British and Irish citizenship. His portrayals of Christy Brown in My Left Foot and Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood won Academy and BAFTA Awards for Best Actor, and Screen Actors Guild as well as Golden Globe Awards for the latter...
, Judi Dench
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...
, Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Mary Kidman, AC is an American-born Australian actress, singer, film producer, spokesmodel, and humanitarian. After starring in a number of small Australian films and TV shows, Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm...
, Marion Cotillard
Marion Cotillard
Marion Cotillard is a French actress and singer. She garnered critical acclaim for her roles in films such as La Vie en Rose, My Sex Life... or How I Got Into an Argument, Taxi, Furia and Jeux d'enfants...
, Penélope Cruz
Penélope Cruz
Penélope Cruz Sánchez is a Spanish actress. Signed by an agent at age 15, she made her acting debut at 16 on television and her feature film debut the following year in Jamón, jamón , to critical acclaim...
, Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren, OMRI is an Italian actress.In 1962, Loren won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Two Women, along with 21 awards, becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance...
, Kate Hudson
Kate Hudson
Kate Garry Hudson is an American actress. She came to prominence in 2001 after winning a Golden Globe and receiving several nominations, including a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, for her role in Almost Famous. She then starred in the hit film How to Lose a Guy in 10...
, and Fergie (singer).
Kopit attended Lawrence High School
Lawrence High School (New York)
Lawrence High School is a four-year public high school located in Cedarhurst on Long Island in New York, United States. It is a part of the Lawrence Public Schools, and is the district's only public high school.- Details :...
in Lawrence, Nassau County, New York
Lawrence, Nassau County, New York
Lawrence is a village in Nassau County, New York in the USA. As of the United States 2010 Census, the village population was 6,483.The Village of Lawrence is in the southwest corner of the Town of Hempstead, adjoining the border with the New York City borough of Queens to the west and near the...
.
Kopit attended Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. His first plays were staged while still an undergraduate at Harvard University.
Later, Kopit taught at Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
, Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, and the City College of New York
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
.
In 2005, Kopit donated his papers to the Fales Library
Fales Library
New York University's Fales Library and Special Collections is located on the third floor of the Elmer Holmes Bobst Library at 70 Washington Square South between LaGuardia Place and the Schwartz Plaza, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It houses nearly 200,000...
at NYU.
Works
- Chamber MusicChamber Music (play)Chamber Music is a 1962 one-act play by absurdist playwright Arthur Kopit. The story is set in 1938 and concerns eight famous women from different historical periods who all are interned in the same insane asylum....
(1962 or 1965) -- published in the collection Chamber Music and Other Plays including Chamber music, The questioning of Nick, Sing to me through open windows, The hero, The conquest of Everest, The day the whores came out to play tennis - Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So SadOh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So SadOh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad: A Pseudoclassical Tragifarce in a Bastard French Tradition was the first play written by Arthur L. Kopit. The play opened off-Broadway at the Phoenix Repertory Theatre in New York City in 1962 and moved to the Morosco Theatre...
(1963) - IndiansIndians (play)Indians is a play by Arthur Kopit.At its core is Buffalo Bill Cody and his Wild West Show. The play examines the contradictions of Cody's life and his work with Native Americans....
(1969), simultaneously a review of America's treatment of Native Americans and a critique of the Vietnam War; inspired the 1976 film by Robert Altman, Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History LessonBuffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History LessonBuffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson is a 1976 revisionist Western directed by Robert Altman and based on the play Indians by Arthur Kopit. It stars Paul Newman as William F...
. - WingsWings (play)Wings is a 1978 play by American playwright Arthur Kopit. Originating as a radio play, it was later adapted for stage and screen.In 1976, Kopit was commissioned to write an original radio play by the NPR drama project Earplay...
(1978), a more somber story of a stroke victim's recovery - NineNine (musical)Nine is a musical with a book by Arthur Kopit, music and lyrics by Maury Yeston. The story is based on Federico Fellini's semi-autobiographical film 8½...
(1982), an adaptation of Federico Fellini's film 8½ - Good Help is Hard to Find (1982)
- End of the World with Symposium to Follow (1984),a mordant investigation of the arms race and nuclear destruction.
- Road to Nirvana (1991)
- Success (published in Plays in One Act, Ecco Press, 1991)
- PhantomPhantom (musical)Phantom is a musical with music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and a book by Arthur Kopit. Based on Gaston Leroux's 1910 novel The Phantom of the Opera, the musical was first presented in Houston, Texas in 1991....
(1992), a musical version of The Phantom of the OperaThe Phantom of the OperaLe Fantôme de l'Opéra is a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serialisation in "Le Gaulois" from September 23, 1909 to January 8, 1910...
by Gaston LerouxGaston LerouxGaston Louis Alfred Leroux was a French journalist and author of detective fiction.In the English-speaking world, he is best known for writing the novel The Phantom of the Opera , which has been made into several film and stage productions of the same name, notably the 1925 film starring Lon...
. - Y2K (2000)--Subsequently published under the title BecauseHeCan