Douglas Parker
Encyclopedia
Douglas M. Parker is a playwright
best known for biographical and reality-based plays. His works include Thicker Than Water (2004), a drama based on the Andrea Yates
murders; BESSIE: The Life and Music of Bessie Smith
(2005), a play with music about the rise and fall of the great American blues singer; Life on the Mississippi (2006), a play about the young Samuel Clemens leaving home to learn about steamboat piloting, adapted from Mark Twain's
autobiographical book of the same title; and Declarations (2007), a one-act play drawn from the letters of John
and Abigail Adams
from their earliest courtship through the summer of 1776.
Working as librettist and lyricist, Parker adapted his play Life on the Mississippi into a musical with composer Denver Casado. In October, 2008, Life on the Mississippi was named by the National Alliance for Musical Theatre as one of their Five Shows You Should Know. In January, 2009, Goodspeed Opera House presented the musical as one of three shows in their Festival of New Artists. In January, 2010, a shorter, young audience version of Life on the Mississippi premiered at the Coterie Theatre in Kansas City to positive reviews. In June, 2010, the full-length version premiered with a ten-week run at American Folklore Theatre in Wisconsin, where it received strong reviews.
Other works as librettist and lyricist with Denver Casado include an in-progress musical and two songs in the musical Everything About a Family.
Mr. Parker's works have been produced in theaters across the country. He is an alumnus of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop
, and a member of ASCAP and the Dramatists Guild of America
.
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...
best known for biographical and reality-based plays. His works include Thicker Than Water (2004), a drama based on the Andrea Yates
Andrea Yates
Andrea Yates is a former Houston, Texas resident who killed her five children on June 20, 2001 by drowning them in the bathtub in her house. She had been suffering for some time with very severe postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis...
murders; BESSIE: The Life and Music of Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith was an American blues singer.Sometimes referred to as The Empress of the Blues, Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s...
(2005), a play with music about the rise and fall of the great American blues singer; Life on the Mississippi (2006), a play about the young Samuel Clemens leaving home to learn about steamboat piloting, adapted from Mark Twain's
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
autobiographical book of the same title; and Declarations (2007), a one-act play drawn from the letters of John
John Adams
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
and Abigail Adams
Abigail Adams
Abigail Adams was the wife of John Adams, who was the second President of the United States, and the mother of John Quincy Adams, the sixth...
from their earliest courtship through the summer of 1776.
Working as librettist and lyricist, Parker adapted his play Life on the Mississippi into a musical with composer Denver Casado. In October, 2008, Life on the Mississippi was named by the National Alliance for Musical Theatre as one of their Five Shows You Should Know. In January, 2009, Goodspeed Opera House presented the musical as one of three shows in their Festival of New Artists. In January, 2010, a shorter, young audience version of Life on the Mississippi premiered at the Coterie Theatre in Kansas City to positive reviews. In June, 2010, the full-length version premiered with a ten-week run at American Folklore Theatre in Wisconsin, where it received strong reviews.
Other works as librettist and lyricist with Denver Casado include an in-progress musical and two songs in the musical Everything About a Family.
Mr. Parker's works have been produced in theaters across the country. He is an alumnus of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop
BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop
The BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop is a workshop in New York for musical theatre composers, lyricists and librettists.-History:The BMI Workshop was founded in 1961 by Lehman Engel and the performing rights organization BMI ....
, and a member of ASCAP and the Dramatists Guild of America
Dramatists Guild of America
The Dramatists Guild of America is a professional organization for playwrights, composers, and lyricists working in the U.S. theatre market.Membership as an Associate Member is open to any person having written at least one stage play. Active Members are playwrights who have had at least one play...
.