Tom Jones (writer)
Encyclopedia
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
. His best known work is The Fantasticks
The Fantasticks
The Fantasticks is a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones. It was produced by Lore Noto. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the play "The Romancers" by Edmond Rostand, concerning two neighboring fathers who trick their children, Luisa and Matt, into...
, which ran off-Broadway from 1960 until 2002, and the hit song from the same, Try to Remember. Other songs from "The Fantasticks
The Fantasticks
The Fantasticks is a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones. It was produced by Lore Noto. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the play "The Romancers" by Edmond Rostand, concerning two neighboring fathers who trick their children, Luisa and Matt, into...
" include "Soon It's Gonna Rain
Soon It's Gonna Rain
"Soon It's Gonna Rain" is a song from the musical comedy The Fantasticks, with lyrics written by Tom Jones, and music composed by Harvey Schmidt....
", "Much More" and "I Can See It". He also wrote the screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
for the 1995 feature film adaptation
The Fantasticks (film)
The Fantasticks is a 1995 musical film directed by Michael Ritchie. The screenplay by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt is based on their record-breaking off-Broadway production of the same name, which ran for 17,162 performances...
.
Jones is currently acting in a New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
revival of The Fantasticks which he also directed. He plays the part of the Old Actor, which he played when the musical opened in 1960. He is credited as an actor in the show as Thomas Bruce.
Jones is also the author of Making Musicals: An Informal Introduction to the World of Musical Theater, about which Elyse Sommer wrote on January 15, 1998 in CurtainUp, that Jones' book is:
- Extremely well organized and packed with interesting information, the first half of the book deals in broad and general terms with the growth and development of the American musical. The second half focuses on the practical "how-to" of putting together a musical, using Jones' own career and shows he's worked on as a springboard...Since only half the book falls within the category of how-to I'm glad to report that this advice is stick-to-the-ribs solid. No hyperbole. No gratuitous name dropping.
All of Jones' major musicals were written with Harvey Schmidt
Harvey Schmidt
Harvey Lester Schmidt is an American composer for musical theatre. He is best known for composing the music for the longest running musical in history, The Fantasticks, which ran off-Broadway from 1960 - 2002.-Biography:...
, whom he met at the University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
.
Theatre credits
- Shoestring '57 (contributor) (1957)
- Demi-Dozen (contributor) (1958)
- The FantasticksThe FantasticksThe Fantasticks is a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones. It was produced by Lore Noto. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the play "The Romancers" by Edmond Rostand, concerning two neighboring fathers who trick their children, Luisa and Matt, into...
(1960) http://www.beaudry45.webs.com - 110 in the Shade110 in the Shade110 in the Shade is a musical with a book by N. Richard Nash, lyrics by Tom Jones, and music by Harvey Schmidt.Based on Nash's 1954 play The Rainmaker, it focuses on Lizzie Curry, a spinster living on a ranch in the American southwest, and her relationships with local sheriff File, a cautious...
(book by N. Richard NashN. Richard NashN. Richard Nash was a writer and dramatist best known for writing Broadway shows, including The Rainmaker.-Early life:...
, based on his play The RainmakerThe Rainmaker (play)The Rainmaker is a play written by N. Richard Nash in the early 1950s. The play opened on October 28, 1954 at the Cort Theatre in New York and ran for 125 performances. It was directed by Joseph Anthony and produced by Ethel Linder Reiner....
) (1963) - I Do! I Do!I Do! I Do!I Do! I Do! is a musical with a book and lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt which is based on the Jan de Hartog play The Fourposter. The two-character story spans fifty years, from 1895 to 1945, as it focuses on the ups and downs experienced by Agnes and Michael Snow throughout their...
(based on The FourposterThe FourposterThe Fourposter is a 1951 play written by Jan de Hartog. The two-character story spans thirty-five years, from 1890 to 1925, as it focuses on the trials and tribulations, laughters and sorrows, and hopes and disappointments experienced by Agnes and Michael throughout their marriage...
by Jan de HartogJan de HartogJan de Hartog was a Dutch playwright, novelist and occasional social critic who moved to the United States in the early 1960s and became a Quaker.- Early years :...
) (1966) - CelebrationCelebration (musical)Celebration is a musical with a book and lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt.A musical fable set on New Year's Eve, it focuses on four characters: Orphan, an idealistic and cheerfully optimistic young man, in possession of the stained-glass eye of God, who reminds Edgar Allen Rich, a...
(1969) - Colette (1970)
- PhilemonPhilemon (musical)Philemon is a 1975 Off-Broadway musical by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt. The show was produced on Hollywood Television Theatre in 1976 with the original cast and directed by Norman Lloyd...
(1973) - Grover's Corners (based on Our TownOur TownOur Town is a three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder. It is a character story about an average town's citizens in the early twentieth century as depicted through their everyday lives...
) (1987) - Mirette (book by Elizabeth Diggs, based on the children's book Mirette on the High WireMirette on the High WireMirette on the High Wire is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully. Published in 1992, the book tells the story of Mirette, a French girl who learns to walk on the tightrope. McCully won the 1993 Caldecott Medal for her illustrations.-Plot summary:Mirette lives in...
by Emily Arnold McCullyEmily Arnold McCullyEmily Arnold McCully is a children's author who was born in Galesburg, Illinois, in 1939, but grew up in Garden City, New York. She attended Brown University and Columbia University.Among the awards she has won, Ms...
) (1996) - Harold and Maude (2004; music by Joseph Thalken, based on the film)
- Roadside (book by Jones, based on the play of the same name by Lynn Riggs, with music by Harvey SchmidtHarvey SchmidtHarvey Lester Schmidt is an American composer for musical theatre. He is best known for composing the music for the longest running musical in history, The Fantasticks, which ran off-Broadway from 1960 - 2002.-Biography:...
.) - The Game of Love (music by Offenbach with arrangements and additional music by Nancy Ford, based on the AnatolAnatolAnatol is the name given by the German Weather Service to a powerful winter storm that hit Denmark, Southwest Sweden, and Northern Germany on December 3, 1999. The storm had sustained winds of 146 km/h and wind gusts of up to 184 km/h, equivalent to an intense category 1 hurricane, which...
plays by Arthur SchnitzlerArthur SchnitzlerDr. Arthur Schnitzler was an Austrian author and dramatist.- Biography :Arthur Schnitzler, son of a prominent Hungarian-Jewish laryngologist Johann Schnitzler and Luise Markbreiter , was born in Praterstraße 16, Leopoldstadt, Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian...
).
External links
- Tom Jones Downstage Center XM radio interview at American Theatre WingAmerican Theatre WingThe American Theatre Wing is a New York City-based organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre," according to its mission statement...
, September 2006 - The Guide to Musical Theatre - Philemon
- The Guide to Musical Theatre - Roadside