Walter Willison
Encyclopedia
Walter Willison is an American stage actor. He received a Tony Award
nomination and Theatre World Award
for his Broadway
musical debut in Richard Rodgers
' and Martin Charnin
's Biblical musical Two by Two
.
at the California Theatre
in San Bernardino, California
, in 1964.
He started on Broadway's
musical debut of Richard Rodgers
' and Martin Charnin's Two by Two, directed by Joe Layton
, as Japheth
, youngest son of Noah
. When Willison first emerged on the Broadway scene as a romantic young leading man, he was fortunate to have the honor of costarring and sharing the Broadway stage with his theatrical idols in such historic galas as A Celebration of Richard Rogers with Mary Martin
and other veterans of Rodgers' shows.
Willison has also starred on Broadway in Bob Fosse
's award winning staging of Steve Schwartz
's Pippin
in the title role, Wild and Wonderful, and Norman, Is That You?
directed by George Abbott
, starring Maureen Stapleton
and Lou Jacobi
. More recently he has been seen in the original cast of Tommy Tune
's acclaimed musical Grand Hotel
by Robert Wright
, George Forrest
, Luther Davis
and Maury Yeston
and in the original cast of A Christmas Carol
at Madison Square Garden
, with music and lyrics by Alan Menken
and Lynn Ahrens
, directed and staged by Mike Ockrent
and Susan Stroman
.
He was The Celebrant in Leonard Bernstein's
Mass, the inaugural production at Washington, D.C.
's Kennedy Center
.
He returned to Two by Two
in 2002, this time to direct and star as Noah
(the role originated by Danny Kaye
) opposite Pat Suzuki
in The Jewish Repertory Theatre's Two by Two: The Richard Rodgers Centennial Concert, and on June 12, 2006, an SRO crowd filled the Bruno Walter Auditorium, and several hundred people had to be turned away, as he and fellow original cast members Joan Copeland
, Michael Karm, and Martin Charnin
(via cell phone over loudspeaker) reunited for Two by Two: A Musical Reunion.
's Emmy Award winning ZIEGFELD: THE MAN AND HIS WOMEN, directed by Buzz Kulik
, for which he was personally selected by Irving Berlin
to play Ziegfeld
star Frank Carter, and croon Berlin's classic "A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody"; HARRY AND WALTER GO TO NEW YORK, directed by Mark Rydell
with uncredited musical staging for the operetta sequences, in which Willison appears opposite Lesley Ann Warren
, by his Broadway mentor Joe Layton
; THE INITIATION, SOMEBODY HELP ME, EDWARD II, and he wrote the lyrics, to music by Jeffrey Silverman, for the four songs he sings in the "cult classic" FANTASIES, directed by John Derek
, which marked Bo Derek
's screen debut in 1980 and was released on DVD in 2005.
's McDuff, the Talking Dog
, the hit series in which he starred during 1976-1977, Clyde Griffiths in Theodore Dreiser
's An American Tragedy
episode of The Great Novelists series on PBS
, and Dr. George "Buck" Wheaton on Days of our Lives
. He has also guest starred on The Today Show, The David Frost Show, Celebrity Revue, The Dating Game
, NBC'S Sunshine Saturday, and many other talk shows and telethons.
); YOUR OWN THING at San Diego's Old Globe Theatre
. He wrote the book & lyrics, directed and costarred in two musical revues which received rave reviews from the critics, one for each coast: FRONT STREET GAIETIES: DODGE CITY'S HOTTEST REVUE, starring Susan Watson and Charles Ward, which had its World Premiere at The Mayfair Theatre in Santa Monica, California in 1980, and BROADWAY SCANDALS OF 1928: THE NEW SPEAKEASY MUSICAL, starring Shelley Bruce, which had its World Premiere Off-Broadway at Upstairs O'Neal's Times Square in 1982, both with music by Jeffrey Silverman. He wrote the lyrics for WONDERFUL LIFE!: THE MUSICAL, with music by John Kroner and a book by Douglas Holmes, commissioned by Beef & Boards Theatre in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1987, and which had been presented annually around the US since then. He also collaborated with Mr. Holmes on the new book for the critically acclaimed 1997 revisal of Frank Loesser
's GREENWILLOW: THE MUSICAL FOLKTALE [which Variety
headlined was "redeemed by its new book"], and also directed the World Premiere tryout at in Sarasota, Florida. In 2005 he contributed the book and staged the West Coast touring production of HOLLYWOOD CANTEEN: THE NEW 1940s MUSICAL REVUE, which featured musical arrangements by Jeffrey Silverman and choreography by A Chorus Line's Kay Cole.
Twenty years after winning Broadway's coveted Theatre World Award, Mr. Willison was honored to collaborate with John Willis
as Associate Editor for seven books; three editions of his legendary Theatre World
books, chronicling each years theatre season on Broadway and around the US: volumes #42, 43, and 44, and four volumes of Screen World, which cover each year in films: #37, 38, 39, and 40.
in June, 2005, starring such TWA luminaries as Lucie Arnaz
, John Cullum
, Tim Daly, Pat Suzuki
, and he directed The 62nd Annual Theatre World Awards at Studio 54
in June, 2006, starring Lucie Arnaz, Harry Connick, Jr.
, Ralph Fiennes
, Harry Groener
, Andrea McArdle
, Ken Page
, John Rubinstein
, and contributed special material for guest star Liza Minnelli
.
, UNSUNG SONDHEIM, LOST IN BOSTON I, LOST IN BOSTON II, UNSUNG IRVING BERLIN; producing and performing on Robert Wright & George Forrest's ANASTASIA: THE MUSICAL and PREMIERE RECORDINGS OF WRIGHT & FORREST SONGS FROM GRAND HOTEL*AT THE GRAND*BETTING ON BERTIE & KEAN (Judy Kaye, Len Cariou
, Regina Resnik, Walter Willison, George Lee Andrews, Steve Barton, Simon Jones, Marcia Lewis, Donna Lee Marshall, Eric Riley and others), A BAG OF POPCORN AND A DREAM: AN INTIMATE BIGSCREEN REVUE (Karen Akers, Lucie Arnaz, Jeff Calhoun, Geoffrey Holder
, Simon Jones, Judy Kaye, Marcia Lewis
, Kathi Moss, Karen Murphy, Ashley Rose Orr
, Walter Willison and others), BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: A GOTHIC MUSICAL (starring Robert Cuccioli, Melly Garcia, Brooks Almy, Bryan Batt, Timothy Jerome, Walter Willison, Christine Boger, Bonnie Simmons; and as producer, MARCIA LEWIS: NOWADAYS, Maltby & Shire's restored CYRANO & THE GRAND TOUR, and NEVA SMALL: MY PLACE IN THE WORLD. Willison also wrote booklet notes for the above CDs which he produced, and has contributed notes for several other booklets, as well, including those for Martin Charnin
's MATA HARI and Bob Merrill
's BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S.
Willison continues to develop new projects as a writer, to direct, to perform, and to appear on tour with Heather MacRae
in concerts and clubs around the US, in NIGHT OF YOUR NIGHTS: A CELEBRATION OF BROADWAY'S GOLDEN AGE.
Willison is proud to serve on The National Advisory Board of The Annual William Inge Festival, an event he helped to create, along with playwright Jerome Lawrence
and founder Margaret Goheen, more than a quarter of a century ago. Since 1982, IngeFest, which takes place in the late playwright William Inge's hometown of Independence, Kansas, has honored our greatest living American playwrights and theatre composers and lyricists. In 2006, he appeared in "PENN AVENUE TO BROADWAY: A 25 YEAR RETROSPECTIVE" created and directed by Mike Wood; in 2007, in "TO LIFE!: A TRIBUTE TO JERRY BOCK AND SHELDON HARNICK" created and directed by Peter Ellenstein. In 2008, he returned to celebrate honoree Christopher Durang, and to present a seminar on his most recent work-in-progress, WILLIAM INGE: THE INTERVIEW—A PLAY ON REALITY based on interviews with and writings of William Inge
. In 2009 he returned to IngeFest to celebrate the careers of William Inge Distinguished Achievement in The American Theatre Award winners, Broadway Legends and creators of The Fantasticks
, Tom Jones
and Harvey Schmidt
.
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...
nomination and Theatre World Award
Theatre World Award
The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
for his Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical debut in Richard Rodgers
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
' and Martin Charnin
Martin Charnin
Martin Charnin is an American lyricist, writer, and theatre director. Charnin's best-known work is as conceiver, director and lyricist of the hit musical Annie....
's Biblical musical Two by Two
Two by Two (musical)
Two By Two is a Broadway musical with a book by Peter Stone, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and music by Richard Rodgers.Based on Clifford Odets's play The Flowering Peach, it tells the story of Noah's preparations for the Great Flood and its aftermath....
.
Career
Willison made his theatre debut in the show Here's LoveHere's Love
Here's Love is a musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson.Based on the classic film Miracle on 34th Street, it tells the tale of a skeptical little girl who doubts the existence of Santa Claus. When the real Kris Kringle inadvertently is hired to represent jolly St...
at the California Theatre
California Theatre (San Bernardino)
The California Theatre is a performing arts venue located in the historic Downtown area of San Bernardino, California. Originally a part of the Fox Theatre chain, it opened in 1928 and still houses its original Wurlitzer Style 216 pipe organ...
in San Bernardino, California
San Bernardino, California
San Bernardino is a city located in the Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area , and serves as the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States...
, in 1964.
He started on Broadway's
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical debut of Richard Rodgers
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
' and Martin Charnin's Two by Two, directed by Joe Layton
Joe Layton
Joe Layton was an American director and choreographer known primarily for his work on Broadway.-Biography:Born Joseph Lichtman in Brooklyn, New York, Layton began his career as a dancer in Wonderful Town , and he appeared uncredited in the ensemble of the original live TV production of Rodgers and...
, as Japheth
Japheth
Japheth is one of the sons of Noah in the Abrahamic tradition...
, youngest son of Noah
Noah
Noah was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The biblical story of Noah is contained in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the flood by constructing an ark...
. When Willison first emerged on the Broadway scene as a romantic young leading man, he was fortunate to have the honor of costarring and sharing the Broadway stage with his theatrical idols in such historic galas as A Celebration of Richard Rogers with Mary Martin
Mary Martin
Mary Virginia Martin was an American actress and singer. She originated many roles over her career including Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria in The Sound of Music. She was named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1989...
and other veterans of Rodgers' shows.
Willison has also starred on Broadway in Bob Fosse
Bob Fosse
Robert Louis “Bob” Fosse was an American actor, dancer, musical theater choreographer, director, screenwriter, film editor and film director. He won an unprecedented eight Tony Awards for choreography, as well as one for direction...
's award winning staging of Steve Schwartz
Stephen Schwartz (composer)
Stephen Lawrence Schwartz is an American musical theatre lyricist and composer. In a career spanning over four decades, Schwartz has written such hit musicals as Godspell , Pippin and Wicked...
's Pippin
Pippin (musical)
Pippin is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Roger O. Hirson. Bob Fosse, who directed the original Broadway production, also contributed to the libretto...
in the title role, Wild and Wonderful, and Norman, Is That You?
Norman, Is That You?
Norman, Is That You? is a 1970 play in two acts by American playwrights Ron Clark and Sam Bobrick about a Jewish couple coming to terms with their son's homosexuality. The work is notably the first play written by both writers. After 19 preview performances, the play officially opened on Broadway...
directed by George Abbott
George Abbott
George Francis Abbott was an American theater producer and director, playwright, screenwriter, and film director and producer whose career spanned more than nine decades.-Early years:...
, starring Maureen Stapleton
Maureen Stapleton
Maureen Stapleton was an American actress in film, theater and television.-Early life:Stapleton was born Lois Maureen Stapleton in Troy, New York, the daughter of Irene and John P. Stapleton, and grew up in a strict Irish American Catholic family...
and Lou Jacobi
Lou Jacobi
Louis Harold "Lou" Jacobi was a Canadian character actor.-Life and career:Jacobi was born Louis Harold Jacobovitch in Toronto, Ontario to Joseph and Fay Jacobivitch...
. More recently he has been seen in the original cast of Tommy Tune
Tommy Tune
Thomas James "Tommy" Tune is an American actor, dancer, singer, theatre director, producer, and choreographer. Over the course of his career, he has won nine Tony Awards and the National Medal of Arts.-Early years:...
's acclaimed musical Grand Hotel
Grand Hotel (musical)
Grand Hotel is a musical with a book by Luther Davis and music and lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest, with additional lyrics and music by Maury Yeston....
by Robert Wright
Robert Wright (writer)
Robert [Craig] Wright was an American composer-lyricist for Hollywood and the musical theatre best known for the Broadway musical and musical film Kismet, for which he and his professional partner George Forrest adapted themes by Alexander Borodin and added lyrics...
, George Forrest
George Forrest (author)
George Forrest was a writer of music and lyrics for musical theatre best known for the show Kismet, adapted from the works of Alexander Borodin.-Biography:...
, Luther Davis
Luther Davis
Luther Davis was an American play- and screenwriter. He attended Culver Academies, received a BA from Yale and rose to the rank of major in the US Air Force...
and Maury Yeston
Maury Yeston
Maury Yeston is an American composer, lyricist, educator and musicologist.He is known for writing the music and lyrics to Broadway musicals, including Nine in 1982, and Titanic in 1997, both of which won Tony Awards for best musical and best score. He also won a Drama Desk Award for Nine...
and in the original cast of A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 17 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of...
at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
, with music and lyrics by Alan Menken
Alan Menken
Alan Menken is an American musical theatre and film composer and pianist.Menken is best known for his numerous scores for films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. His scores for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Pocahontas have each won him two Academy Awards...
and Lynn Ahrens
Lynn Ahrens
Lynn Ahrens is an American writer and lyricist for the musical theatre, television and film. She has collaborated with Stephen Flaherty for many years...
, directed and staged by Mike Ockrent
Mike Ockrent
Mike Ockrent was a British stage director, well-known both for his Broadway musicals and smaller niche plays. He was educated at Highgate School. Through directing Educating Rita and Follies, he became an established figure in London theatre...
and Susan Stroman
Susan Stroman
Susan Stroman is an American theatre director, choreographer, film director, and performer. She has won the Tony Award for both her choreography and direction, notably for the stage musical The Producers.-Early years:...
.
He was The Celebrant in Leonard Bernstein's
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
Mass, the inaugural production at Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
's Kennedy Center
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center located on the Potomac River, adjacent to the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C...
.
He returned to Two by Two
Two by Two
Two by Two, two by two or the abbreviated 2×2 or 2by2 may refer to:* Dimensional lumber, specifically a timber measuring 2 by 2 inches of any given length* Two-wheel drive, a designation of motor vehicle...
in 2002, this time to direct and star as Noah
Noah
Noah was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The biblical story of Noah is contained in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the flood by constructing an ark...
(the role originated by Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye was a celebrated American actor, singer, dancer, and comedian...
) opposite Pat Suzuki
Pat Suzuki
Pat Suzuki is an American popular singer and actress, who is best known for her role in the original Broadway production of the musical Flower Drum Song, and her performance of the song "I Enjoy Being a Girl" in the show.-Career:Suzuki is a Nisei or second-generation Japanese American...
in The Jewish Repertory Theatre's Two by Two: The Richard Rodgers Centennial Concert, and on June 12, 2006, an SRO crowd filled the Bruno Walter Auditorium, and several hundred people had to be turned away, as he and fellow original cast members Joan Copeland
Joan Copeland
Joan Copeland is an American actress and the younger sister of celebrated playwright Arthur Miller. She began her career appearing in theatre in New York City during the mid 1940s. She moved into television and film during the 1950s while still maintaining an active stage career...
, Michael Karm, and Martin Charnin
Martin Charnin
Martin Charnin is an American lyricist, writer, and theatre director. Charnin's best-known work is as conceiver, director and lyricist of the hit musical Annie....
(via cell phone over loudspeaker) reunited for Two by Two: A Musical Reunion.
Selected Appearances
- Norman, Is That You?Norman, Is That You?Norman, Is That You? is a 1970 play in two acts by American playwrights Ron Clark and Sam Bobrick about a Jewish couple coming to terms with their son's homosexuality. The work is notably the first play written by both writers. After 19 preview performances, the play officially opened on Broadway...
- Two by TwoTwo by Two (musical)Two By Two is a Broadway musical with a book by Peter Stone, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and music by Richard Rodgers.Based on Clifford Odets's play The Flowering Peach, it tells the story of Noah's preparations for the Great Flood and its aftermath....
- Norman, Is That You?Norman, Is That You?Norman, Is That You? is a 1970 play in two acts by American playwrights Ron Clark and Sam Bobrick about a Jewish couple coming to terms with their son's homosexuality. The work is notably the first play written by both writers. After 19 preview performances, the play officially opened on Broadway...
- Wild and Wonderful
- A Celebration of Richard Rodgers
- PippinPippin (musical)Pippin is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Roger O. Hirson. Bob Fosse, who directed the original Broadway production, also contributed to the libretto...
- A Gala Tribute to Joshua LoganJoshua LoganJoshua Lockwood Logan III was an American stage and film director and writer.-Early years:Logan was born in Texarkana, Texas, the son of Susan and Joshua Lockwood Logan. When he was three years old his father committed suicide...
- A Celebration of George AbbottGeorge AbbottGeorge Francis Abbott was an American theater producer and director, playwright, screenwriter, and film director and producer whose career spanned more than nine decades.-Early years:...
- South PacificSouth Pacific (musical)South Pacific is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story draws from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific, weaving together characters and elements from several of its...
: A 25th Anniversary Concert - It's a Musical World: A Tribute To BricusseLeslie BricusseLeslie Bricusse is an English composer, lyricist, and playwright.Although best known for his partnership with Anthony Newley, Bricusse has worked with many other composers. He was educated at University College School in London and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge...
and NewleyAnthony NewleyAnthony George Newley was an English actor, singer and songwriter. He enjoyed success as a performer in such diverse fields as rock and roll and stage and screen acting.-Early life:... - Front Street Gaities: Dodge City's Hottest Revue
- They Say It's Wonderful
- Broadway Scandals OF 1928: The New Speakeasy Musical
- Options
- Carnival
- CarouselCarousel (musical)Carousel is the second stage musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II . The work premiered in 1945 and was adapted from Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom, transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine coastline...
- Oklahoma!
- 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...
: The First International Japan Tour - Starting Here, Starting NowStarting Here, Starting NowStarting Here, Starting Now is a musical revue with lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr. and music by David Shire. With a cast of three and three musicians, the revue explores a variety of romantic relationships....
- Grand Hotel: The MusicalGrand Hotel (musical)Grand Hotel is a musical with a book by Luther Davis and music and lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest, with additional lyrics and music by Maury Yeston....
- A Christmas CarolA Christmas CarolA Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 17 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of...
at Madison Square GardenMadison Square GardenMadison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the... - Anyone Can WhistleAnyone Can WhistleAnyone Can Whistle is a musical with a book by Arthur Laurents and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The story concerns a corrupt mayoress, an idealistic nurse, a man who may be a doctor, and various officials, patients and townspeople, all fighting to save a bankrupt town...
: Live At Carnegie HallCarnegie HallCarnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park.... - Wall to Wall Richard Rodgers at Symphony SpaceSymphony SpaceSymphony Space is a multi-disciplinary performing arts organization at 2537 Broadway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Performances take place in the 760-seat Peter Jay Sharp Theatre or the 160-seat Leonard Nimoy Thalia theater. Programs include music, dance, theater, film, and literary readings...
- Kean: The MusicalKean (musical)Kean is a musical with a book by Peter Stone and music and lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest.Using material by Jean-Paul Sartre and Alexandre Dumas, père as its source, it centers on the adventures of Edmund Kean, considered the greatest Shakespearean actor of the 18th century, focusing...
In Concert 2000 - Two by TwoTwo by Two (musical)Two By Two is a Broadway musical with a book by Peter Stone, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and music by Richard Rodgers.Based on Clifford Odets's play The Flowering Peach, it tells the story of Noah's preparations for the Great Flood and its aftermath....
: The Richard Rodgers Centennial Concert 2002 - Penn Avenue To Broadway: A Celebration of the 25th Annual William IngeWilliam IngeWilliam Motter Inge was an American playwright and novelist, whose works typically feature solitary protagonists encumbered with strained sexual relations. In the early 1950s, he had a string of memorable Broadway productions, and one of these, Picnic, earned him a Pulitzer Prize...
Festival - Night of Your Nights: The Golden Age of Broadway in Concert starring Walter Willison & Heather MacRaeHeather MacRaeHeather MacRae is an American stage, film and television actress, perhaps best known for her role in the Woody Allen 1972 comedy film Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* ....
- Two by TwoTwo by Two (musical)Two By Two is a Broadway musical with a book by Peter Stone, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and music by Richard Rodgers.Based on Clifford Odets's play The Flowering Peach, it tells the story of Noah's preparations for the Great Flood and its aftermath....
: A Musical Reunion at Lincoln Center - To Life!: A Celebration of Sheldon HarnickSheldon HarnickSheldon Harnick is an American lyricist best known for his collaborations with composer Jerry Bock on hit musicals such as Fiddler on the Roof....
and Jerry BockJerry BockJerrold Lewis "Jerry" Bock was an American musical theater composer. He received the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama with Sheldon Harnick for their 1959 musical Fiorello! and the Tony Award for Best Composer and Lyricist for the 1964 musical Fiddler on the Roof with...
at the 26th Annual William Inge Festival - Remember and Celebrate: Honoring Tom JonesTom Jones (writer)Tom Jones is a lyricist of musical theatre. His best known work is The Fantasticks, which ran off-Broadway from 1960 until 2002, and the hit song from the same, Try to Remember. Other songs from "The Fantasticks" include "Soon It's Gonna Rain", "Much More" and "I Can See It"...
and 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:...
at the 28th Annual William Inge Festival
Director
- Your Own ThingYour Own ThingYour Own Thing is a rock-styled musical comedy loosely based on Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare. It premiered off-Broadway in early 1968. The music and lyrics are by Hal Hester and Danny Apolinar with the book adaptation by Donald Driver, who also directed the original production...
[ Old Globe TheatreOld Globe TheatreThe Old Globe is a professional theatre company located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It produces about 15 plays and musicals annually in summer and winter seasons...
, San Diego] - The Grass Harp: The Musical [Produced by AMA, West Coast Premiere]
- Front Street Gaieties: Dodge City's Hottest Revue
[ Mayfair Theatre, Santa MonicaSanta MônicaSanta Mônica is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.-References:...
, CA] - Broadway Scandals OF 1928: The New Speakeasy Musical [Upstairs at O'Neil's Times Square, New York]
- A Tribute to Robert Anderson [The 2nd Annual William Inge Festival]
- A Tribute to William GibsonWilliam Gibson (playwright)William Gibson was an American playwright and novelist. He graduated from the City College of New York in 1938.He was of Irish, French, German, Dutch and Russian ancestry...
[The 3rd Annual William IngeWilliam IngeWilliam Motter Inge was an American playwright and novelist, whose works typically feature solitary protagonists encumbered with strained sexual relations. In the early 1950s, he had a string of memorable Broadway productions, and one of these, Picnic, earned him a Pulitzer Prize...
Festival] - The 2005 Theatre World AwardsTheatre World AwardThe Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
at Studio 54, New York [Theatre World Awards, Inc.] - Two by TwoTwo by Two (musical)Two By Two is a Broadway musical with a book by Peter Stone, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and music by Richard Rodgers.Based on Clifford Odets's play The Flowering Peach, it tells the story of Noah's preparations for the Great Flood and its aftermath....
: The Richard Rodgers 2002 Centennial Concert [Produced by The Jewish Repertory Theatre, New York] - Minnie's Boys: The Marx Brothers Musical In ConcertMinnie's BoysMinnie's Boys is a musical with a book by Arthur Marx and Robert Fisher, music by Larry Grossman, and lyrics by Hal Hackady.It provides a behind-the-scenes look at the early days of the Marx Brothers and their relationship with their mother, the driving force behind their ultimate success.After an...
[Produced by The Jewish Repertory Theatre, New York] - The 2006 Theatre World AwardsTheatre World AwardThe Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
at Studio 54, New York [Theatre World Awards, Inc.] - Hollywood Canteen: The New 1940s Revue, choreographed by Kay Cole [West Coast Tour]
- A Rockette's Tail by Joanna Rush
[ Off-BroadwayOff-BroadwayOff-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
, New York]
- Over the years has written, directed and/or supervised various and sundry nightclub acts and concerts for artists including Horace Heidt, Jr., Judy KayeJudy KayeJudy Kaye is an American singer and actress. She has appeared in stage musicals, plays, and operas. Kaye has been in long runs on Broadway in the musicals The Phantom of the Opera, Ragtime and Mamma Mia!-Biography:...
, Diane J. Findlay, Heather MacRaeHeather MacRaeHeather MacRae is an American stage, film and television actress, perhaps best known for her role in the Woody Allen 1972 comedy film Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* ....
and others.
Films
Willison's films include Ricky McKay's BROADWAY: BEYOND THE GOLDEN AGE, for release in 2011; Mike FrankovichMike Frankovich
Mitchell John “M.J.” Frankovich was an American film producerFrankovich was born in Bisbee, Arizona. He played football for UCLA and was inducted into UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame in 1986...
's Emmy Award winning ZIEGFELD: THE MAN AND HIS WOMEN, directed by Buzz Kulik
Buzz Kulik
Buzz Kulik was an American film director and producer. He directed 72 films and television shows, including several episodes of The Twilight Zone.-Selected filmography:* The Explosive Generation...
, for which he was personally selected by Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
to play Ziegfeld
Florenz Ziegfeld
Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. , , was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, the Ziegfeld Follies , inspired by the Folies Bergère of Paris. He also produced the musical Show Boat...
star Frank Carter, and croon Berlin's classic "A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody"; HARRY AND WALTER GO TO NEW YORK, directed by Mark Rydell
Mark Rydell
Mark Rydell is an American actor, film director and producer.-Career:Rydell's initial training was in music. As a youth, he wanted to be a conductor. He began his career as an actor and first became known for his role as Walt Johnson on The Edge of Night and as Jeff Baker on As the World Turns,...
with uncredited musical staging for the operetta sequences, in which Willison appears opposite Lesley Ann Warren
Lesley Ann Warren
Lesley Ann Warren is an American actress and singer. She has been nominated once for an Academy Award and Emmy Awards and five times for Golden Globe, winning one....
, by his Broadway mentor Joe Layton
Joe Layton
Joe Layton was an American director and choreographer known primarily for his work on Broadway.-Biography:Born Joseph Lichtman in Brooklyn, New York, Layton began his career as a dancer in Wonderful Town , and he appeared uncredited in the ensemble of the original live TV production of Rodgers and...
; THE INITIATION, SOMEBODY HELP ME, EDWARD II, and he wrote the lyrics, to music by Jeffrey Silverman, for the four songs he sings in the "cult classic" FANTASIES, directed by John Derek
John Derek
John Derek was an American actor, director and photographer.-Career:His matinee-idol good looks quickly got him supporting roles, most notably as Broderick Crawford's son in All the King's Men , but he also enjoyed leads such as "Nick Romano" in Knock on Any Door opposite Humphrey Bogart John...
, which marked Bo Derek
Bo Derek
Mary Cathleen Collins , better known as Bo Derek, is an American film and television actress, model, and sex symbol, known for her role as Jenny Hanley in the 1979 comedy film 10. However, Derek's film career soon faltered; her later films, including, Bolero and Ghosts Can't Do It , were poorly...
's screen debut in 1980 and was released on DVD in 2005.
Television
On television, he played Dr. Calvin Campbell in NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's McDuff, the Talking Dog
McDuff, the Talking Dog
McDuff, The Talking Dog was a Saturday morning live action television program that aired on NBC in 1976. The show centered around the ghost of a 100-year-old sheepdog who used to live in the home now owned by a veterinarian, Dr. Calvin Campbell . McDuff could talk not only to the other animals,...
, the hit series in which he starred during 1976-1977, Clyde Griffiths in Theodore Dreiser
Theodore Dreiser
Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm moral code, and literary situations that more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of...
's An American Tragedy
An American Tragedy
-Plot summary:The ambitious but immature Clyde Griffiths, raised by poor and devoutly religious parents who force him to participate in their street missionary work, is anxious to achieve better things. His troubles begin when he takes a job as a bellboy at a local hotel. The boys he meets are...
episode of The Great Novelists series on PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
, and Dr. George "Buck" Wheaton on Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives is a long running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday in the United States since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around...
. He has also guest starred on The Today Show, The David Frost Show, Celebrity Revue, The Dating Game
The Dating Game
The Dating Game is an ABC television show that first aired on December 20, 1965 and was the first of many shows created and packaged by Chuck Barris from the 1960s through the 1980s...
, NBC'S Sunshine Saturday, and many other talk shows and telethons.
Writing and directing
Also active as a writer and director, his many credits include directing the West Coast Premiere of THE GRASS HARP (starring Broadway's Susan Watson and introducing a then six-year-old Christina ApplegateChristina Applegate
Christina Applegate is an American actress. She is best known for playing Kelly Bundy on the Fox sitcom Married... with Children. Since then, she has established a film and television career, winning a Primetime Emmy and earning Tony and Golden Globe nominations...
); YOUR OWN THING at San Diego's Old Globe Theatre
Old Globe Theatre
The Old Globe is a professional theatre company located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It produces about 15 plays and musicals annually in summer and winter seasons...
. He wrote the book & lyrics, directed and costarred in two musical revues which received rave reviews from the critics, one for each coast: FRONT STREET GAIETIES: DODGE CITY'S HOTTEST REVUE, starring Susan Watson and Charles Ward, which had its World Premiere at The Mayfair Theatre in Santa Monica, California in 1980, and BROADWAY SCANDALS OF 1928: THE NEW SPEAKEASY MUSICAL, starring Shelley Bruce, which had its World Premiere Off-Broadway at Upstairs O'Neal's Times Square in 1982, both with music by Jeffrey Silverman. He wrote the lyrics for WONDERFUL LIFE!: THE MUSICAL, with music by John Kroner and a book by Douglas Holmes, commissioned by Beef & Boards Theatre in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1987, and which had been presented annually around the US since then. He also collaborated with Mr. Holmes on the new book for the critically acclaimed 1997 revisal of Frank Loesser
Frank Loesser
Frank Henry Loesser was an American songwriter who wrote the lyrics and scores to the Broadway hits Guys and Dolls and How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, among others. He won separate Tony Awards for the music and lyrics in both shows, as well as sharing the Pulitzer Prize for...
's GREENWILLOW: THE MUSICAL FOLKTALE [which Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
headlined was "redeemed by its new book"], and also directed the World Premiere tryout at in Sarasota, Florida. In 2005 he contributed the book and staged the West Coast touring production of HOLLYWOOD CANTEEN: THE NEW 1940s MUSICAL REVUE, which featured musical arrangements by Jeffrey Silverman and choreography by A Chorus Line's Kay Cole.
Twenty years after winning Broadway's coveted Theatre World Award, Mr. Willison was honored to collaborate with John Willis
John A. Willis
John Alvin Willis was an American theatre and film book editor, theatre awards producer, actor, and educator. He is best known for editing the long-running annual publications Theatre World and Screen World....
as Associate Editor for seven books; three editions of his legendary Theatre World
Theatre World
Theatre World is the oldest , pictorial and statistical record of American theatre, including Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, and regional theatre, as well as a complete national theatrical awards section and obituaries...
books, chronicling each years theatre season on Broadway and around the US: volumes #42, 43, and 44, and four volumes of Screen World, which cover each year in films: #37, 38, 39, and 40.
Currently
Willison served as Vice-President of Theater World Awards Board of Directors from 2004 to 2006, directed The 61st Annual Theatre World Awards at Studio 54Studio 54
Studio 54 was a highly popular discotheque from 1977 until 1991, located at 254 West 54th Street in Manhattan, New York, USA. It was originally the Gallo Opera House, opening in 1927, after which it changed names several times, eventually becoming a CBS radio and television studio. In 1977 it...
in June, 2005, starring such TWA luminaries as Lucie Arnaz
Lucie Arnaz
Lucie Désirée Arnaz is an American actress, singer, dancer and producer. She is the daughter of actors Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, and is the sister of actor Desi Arnaz, Jr..- Early life :...
, John Cullum
John Cullum
John Cullum is an American actor and singer. He has appeared in many stage musicals and dramas, including On the Twentieth Century and Shenandoah , winning the Tony Awards for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for each...
, Tim Daly, Pat Suzuki
Pat Suzuki
Pat Suzuki is an American popular singer and actress, who is best known for her role in the original Broadway production of the musical Flower Drum Song, and her performance of the song "I Enjoy Being a Girl" in the show.-Career:Suzuki is a Nisei or second-generation Japanese American...
, and he directed The 62nd Annual Theatre World Awards at Studio 54
Studio 54
Studio 54 was a highly popular discotheque from 1977 until 1991, located at 254 West 54th Street in Manhattan, New York, USA. It was originally the Gallo Opera House, opening in 1927, after which it changed names several times, eventually becoming a CBS radio and television studio. In 1977 it...
in June, 2006, starring Lucie Arnaz, Harry Connick, Jr.
Harry Connick, Jr.
Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. is an American singer, big-band leader/conductor, pianist, actor, and composer. He has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with...
, Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes is an English actor and film director. He has appeared in such films as The English Patient, In Bruges, The Constant Gardener, Strange Days, The Duchess and Schindler's List....
, Harry Groener
Harry Groener
Harry Groener is a German-born American actor and dancer, perhaps best known for playing Mayor Wilkins in Buffy the Vampire Slayer .-Early life:...
, Andrea McArdle
Andrea McArdle
Andrea McArdle is an American singer and actress best known for playing Annie in the Broadway musical Annie, as well as for her alto range and strong vocal belt.-Career:She was born in Philadelphia...
, Ken Page
Ken Page (actor)
Ken Page is an American cabaret singer and actor from St. Louis, Missouri, best known as the voice of the evil bag of bugs Oogie Boogie in Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas and the Kingdom Hearts series, and for playing Old Deuteronomy in the original Broadway and video cast of Cats.Ken...
, John Rubinstein
John Rubinstein
John Arthur Rubinstein is an American film, Broadway, and television actor, a composer of film and theatre music, and a director in theatre and television.-Early life:...
, and contributed special material for guest star Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli
Liza May Minnelli is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of singer and actress Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli....
.
Recordings
Willison now has over 25 recordings in release on CD, as producer or performer or both. These include performing on the original cast or studio cast recordings of TWO BY TWO, GRAND HOTEL, BROADWAY SCANDALS OF 1928, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, Anyone Can Whistle: Live at Carnegie HallAnyone Can Whistle
Anyone Can Whistle is a musical with a book by Arthur Laurents and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The story concerns a corrupt mayoress, an idealistic nurse, a man who may be a doctor, and various officials, patients and townspeople, all fighting to save a bankrupt town...
, UNSUNG SONDHEIM, LOST IN BOSTON I, LOST IN BOSTON II, UNSUNG IRVING BERLIN; producing and performing on Robert Wright & George Forrest's ANASTASIA: THE MUSICAL and PREMIERE RECORDINGS OF WRIGHT & FORREST SONGS FROM GRAND HOTEL*AT THE GRAND*BETTING ON BERTIE & KEAN (Judy Kaye, Len Cariou
Len Cariou
Leonard Joseph “Len” Cariou is a Canadian actor, best known for his portrayal of Sweeney Todd in the original cast of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street...
, Regina Resnik, Walter Willison, George Lee Andrews, Steve Barton, Simon Jones, Marcia Lewis, Donna Lee Marshall, Eric Riley and others), A BAG OF POPCORN AND A DREAM: AN INTIMATE BIGSCREEN REVUE (Karen Akers, Lucie Arnaz, Jeff Calhoun, Geoffrey Holder
Geoffrey Holder
Geoffrey Richard Holder is a Trinidadian actor, choreographer, director, dancer, painter, costume designer, singer and voice-over artist.-Early life:...
, Simon Jones, Judy Kaye, Marcia Lewis
Marcia Lewis
Marcia Lewis was an American character actress and singer. She has been nominated twice for the Tony Award as Best Featured Actress in a Musical and twice for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical .-Biography:Lewis was born in Melrose, Massachusetts and raised in...
, Kathi Moss, Karen Murphy, Ashley Rose Orr
Ashley Rose Orr
Ashley Rose is an American actress. She is the middle child of four siblings: older sister Jennifer, older brother Michael, and two younger brothers Jordan & Tyler.-Career:...
, Walter Willison and others), BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: A GOTHIC MUSICAL (starring Robert Cuccioli, Melly Garcia, Brooks Almy, Bryan Batt, Timothy Jerome, Walter Willison, Christine Boger, Bonnie Simmons; and as producer, MARCIA LEWIS: NOWADAYS, Maltby & Shire's restored CYRANO & THE GRAND TOUR, and NEVA SMALL: MY PLACE IN THE WORLD. Willison also wrote booklet notes for the above CDs which he produced, and has contributed notes for several other booklets, as well, including those for Martin Charnin
Martin Charnin
Martin Charnin is an American lyricist, writer, and theatre director. Charnin's best-known work is as conceiver, director and lyricist of the hit musical Annie....
's MATA HARI and Bob Merrill
Bob Merrill
Bob Merrill was an American songwriter, theatrical composer, lyricist, and screenwriter.Merrill was born Henry Merrill Levan in Atlantic City, New Jersey and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Following a stint with the Army during World War II, he moved to Hollywood, where he worked as a...
's BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S.
Willison continues to develop new projects as a writer, to direct, to perform, and to appear on tour with Heather MacRae
Heather MacRae
Heather MacRae is an American stage, film and television actress, perhaps best known for her role in the Woody Allen 1972 comedy film Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* ....
in concerts and clubs around the US, in NIGHT OF YOUR NIGHTS: A CELEBRATION OF BROADWAY'S GOLDEN AGE.
Willison is proud to serve on The National Advisory Board of The Annual William Inge Festival, an event he helped to create, along with playwright Jerome Lawrence
Jerome Lawrence
Jerome Lawrence was an American playwright and author.-Life and career:Lawrence was born Jerome Lawrence Schwartz in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Sarah , a poet, and Samuel Schwartz, a printer. He worked for several small newspapers as a reporter/editor before moving into radio as a writer for CBS....
and founder Margaret Goheen, more than a quarter of a century ago. Since 1982, IngeFest, which takes place in the late playwright William Inge's hometown of Independence, Kansas, has honored our greatest living American playwrights and theatre composers and lyricists. In 2006, he appeared in "PENN AVENUE TO BROADWAY: A 25 YEAR RETROSPECTIVE" created and directed by Mike Wood; in 2007, in "TO LIFE!: A TRIBUTE TO JERRY BOCK AND SHELDON HARNICK" created and directed by Peter Ellenstein. In 2008, he returned to celebrate honoree Christopher Durang, and to present a seminar on his most recent work-in-progress, WILLIAM INGE: THE INTERVIEW—A PLAY ON REALITY based on interviews with and writings of William Inge
William Inge
William Motter Inge was an American playwright and novelist, whose works typically feature solitary protagonists encumbered with strained sexual relations. In the early 1950s, he had a string of memorable Broadway productions, and one of these, Picnic, earned him a Pulitzer Prize...
. In 2009 he returned to IngeFest to celebrate the careers of William Inge Distinguished Achievement in The American Theatre Award winners, Broadway Legends and creators of 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...
, Tom Jones
Tom Jones (writer)
Tom Jones is a lyricist of musical theatre. His best known work is The Fantasticks, which ran off-Broadway from 1960 until 2002, and the hit song from the same, Try to Remember. Other songs from "The Fantasticks" include "Soon It's Gonna Rain", "Much More" and "I Can See It"...
and 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:...
.
External links
- IMDB Article on Walter Willison