Billy Aronson
Encyclopedia
Billy Aronson is an American
playwright
and writer best known for coming up with the original concept of the rock opera Rent
(which was based on Puccini's
opera
La bohème
). He also came up with additional lyrics for Rent, and he almost completely wrote "Santa Fe". In addition to Rent he has written many one act play
s such as Of Two Minds, Guilt, Night Rules, and In the Middle of the Night which was performed as part of the Ensemble Studio Theatre
's 2011 Marathon. Other plays by Aronson include Light Years and The News. He also helped create musicals such as No Dogs Allowed, and Flurry. He has written for many popular children shows, such as Postcards from Buster
, Code Name: Kids Next Door, The Upside Down Show, and Courage the Cowardly Dog
. He attended Lower Merion High School
and Princeton University
, and currently lives in New York
with his wife Lisa (whom he married in 1990), and kids Anna and Jake.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
and writer best known for coming up with the original concept of the rock opera Rent
Rent (musical)
Rent is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème...
(which was based on Puccini's
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
). He also came up with additional lyrics for Rent, and he almost completely wrote "Santa Fe". In addition to Rent he has written many one act play
One act play
A one-act play is a play that has only one act, as distinct from plays that occur over several acts. One-act plays may consist of one or more scenes. In recent years the 10-minute play known as "flash drama" has emerged as a popular sub-genre of the one-act play, especially in writing competitions...
s such as Of Two Minds, Guilt, Night Rules, and In the Middle of the Night which was performed as part of the Ensemble Studio Theatre
Ensemble Studio Theatre
The Ensemble Studio Theatre is a membership-based, developmental theatre located in New York City. It has a dual mission of nurturing individual theatre artists and developing new American plays.-Overview:...
's 2011 Marathon. Other plays by Aronson include Light Years and The News. He also helped create musicals such as No Dogs Allowed, and Flurry. He has written for many popular children shows, such as Postcards from Buster
Postcards from Buster
Postcards from Buster is a children's television series for children aged 6-12, containing both animation and live-action that originally aired on Public Broadcasting Service . It is a spin-off of the Arthur cartoon series. The show stars Arthur's best friend, 8-year-old rabbit Buster Baxter...
, Code Name: Kids Next Door, The Upside Down Show, and Courage the Cowardly Dog
Courage the Cowardly Dog
Courage the Cowardly Dog is an American animated television series created by John R. Dilworth for Cartoon Network. Its central plot revolves around a somewhat anthropomorphic dog named Courage who lives with his owners, Muriel and Eustace Bagge, an elderly, married farming couple in the "Middle of...
. He attended Lower Merion High School
Lower Merion High School
Lower Merion High School, is an American public high school in Ardmore, a community on the Pennsylvania Main Line.It is the larger of the two high schools in Lower Merion School District, which serves both Lower Merion Township and the Borough of Narberth. It was ranked among the top 60 U.S. high...
and Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, and currently lives in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
with his wife Lisa (whom he married in 1990), and kids Anna and Jake.