Christopher Durang Biography (1949-)

Full name, Christopher Ferdinand Durang; born January 2, 1949, in Montclair,NJ; son of Francis Ferdinand (an architect) and Patricia Elizabeth (a secretary) Durang.

Nationality: American
Gender: Male
Occupation: Writer, actor, director
Birth Details: January 2, 1949; Montclair, New Jersey, United States

Famous Works

CREDITS
Stage Appearances
Darryl, Better Dead Than Sorry, New Haven, CT, 1972
I Don't Generally Like Poetry, But Have You Read "Trees"?, Manhattan Theatre Club, New York City, 1973
The Life Story of Mitzi Gaynor; or, Gyp, New Haven, CT, 1973
Alyosha, The Idiots Karamazov, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1974
Bruce, Happy Birthday, Montpelier Pizz-zazz, 1974
Member of chorus, The Frogs, Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven, CT, 1974
Student, The Possessed, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1974
Master of ceremonies, When Dinah Shore Ruled the Earth, Yale Cabaret, New Haven, CT, 1975
Das Lusitania Songspiel, Van Dam Theatre, New York City, 1976 Chelsea Theatre Center, New York City, 1979
George Spelvin and Aloysius Benheim, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains ItAll for You, Playwrights' Horizons Theatre, New York City, 1981
Young cashier, The Hotel Play, New York City, 1981
Wallace, The Birthday Present, Circle Repertory Theatre, New YorkCity, 1983
Matt, The Marriage of Bette and Boo, Public/Newman Theatre, New York City, 1985
Laughing Wild, New York City, 1987 then Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee, WI, 1989-1990 later Tiffany Theatre, Los Angeles, 1990
Ubu's conscience, Ubu Roi, Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre, New York City, 1989
(As Chris Durang) Chris Durang and Dawne (cabaret), Criterion Theatre, New York City, 1990 also produced at Caroline's Comedy Club, the Bay Street Theatre, Williamstown Cabaret, and the Triad Club.
Putting It Together, Manhattan Theatre Club, 1993
Congressman Wilkins, Call Me Madam, City Center Theatre, New YorkCity, 1995
Christopher Durang Explains It All, 14th Street Playhouse, Atlanta, GA, 2000
Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens (benefit performance),Haft Auditorium, Fashion Institute of Technology, New York City, 2001
Also appeared as Rothbart the troll in a children's musical.
Stage Work
Director
'dentity Crisis, Yale Repertory Theatre, 1978
And the Air Didn't Answer, Playwrights' Horizons Theatre, 1989
Naomi in the Living Room, Ensemble Studio Theatre, New York City,1991
Film Appearances
Priest, Heaven Help Us (also known as Catholic Boys), TriStar, 1985
Davis, The Secret of My Success (also known as The Secret of MySucce$s), Universal, 1987
YMCA clerk, Mr. North, Samuel Goldwyn Company, 1988
"Jesus freak," Penn and Teller Get Killed (also known as Dead Funny), Warner Bros., 1989
Ambulance attendant, In the Spirit, Castle Hill, 1990
Convention speaker, A Shock to the System, Corsair Pictures, 1990
Mr. Liddle, The Butcher's Wife, Paramount, 1991
Reverend Lipton, Housesitter, Universal, 1992
Santa, Life with Mikey (also known as Give Me a Break), Buena Vista, 1993
Waiter, The Cowboy Way, Universal, 1994
Boss Clergy, Joe's Apartment, Warner Bros., 1996
Himself, Women in Black, 1999
Gene O'Reilly, Simply Irresistible (also known as Einfach unwiderstehlich), Twentieth Century-Fox, 1999
Paranoid man, The Out-of-Towners, Paramount, 1999
Television Appearances

Series
Reverend Thornhill, Kristin, NBC, 2001
Specials
Laughing psychiatrist, Steven Wright in the Appointments of Dennis Jennings (also known as The Appointments of Dennis Jennings), HBO, 1989
Episodic
"Words on Fire," Alive TV (also known as Alive from Off Center), PBS, 1985
"The Visit," Trying Times, PBS, 1987
Dolores's husband, "Mute Witness to Murder," Tales from the Crypt,HBO, 1990
Voice of Rudy, "The Impossible Dream," Frasier, NBC, 1996
Sebastian Melmoth, "The Seal Who Came to Dinner," Frasier, NBC, 1998
"Gale Gets a Life," LateLine, ABC, 1998
Expert, "Svadharma," LateLine, ABC, 1999
WRITINGS
Plays
Robert, produced in Cambridge, MA, 1971 as 'dentity Crisis,Yale Repertory Theatre, 1978 published in collections of his work.
The Nature and Purpose of the Universe, produced in Northampton, MA, 1971 then Wonder Horse Theatre, New York City, 1979 published by Dramatists Play Service (New York City), 1979
(And lyricist) Better Dead Than Sorry (music by Jack Feldman), produced in New Haven, CT, 1972 then New York City, 1973
(With Albert Innaurato) I Don't Generally Like Poetry, But Have You Read "Trees"?, produced in New Haven, CT, 1972 then Manhattan Theatre Club,1973
(With Albert Innaurato) The Life Story of Mitzi Gaynor; or, Gyp, produced in New Haven, CT, 1973
The Marriage of Bette and Boo, produced at Yale Repertory Theatre,1973 revised version, New York City, 1979 later Los Angeles Theatre Center,Los Angeles, 1989-1990 also produced at the Lillian Theatre, Hollywood, CA, 2000 then Public/Newman Theatre, 1985 published by Dramatists Play Service, 1985
(With Albert Innaurato; and lyricist) The Idiots Karamazov (musicby Jack Feldman), produced at Yale Repertory Theatre, 1974 later at the American Repertory Theatre, Cambridge, MA, 1999-2000 published by Dramatists PlayService, 1981
Titanic, produced in New Haven, CT, 1974 then Van Dam Theatre, 1976 published by Dramatists Play Service, 1983
Death Comes to Us All, Mary Agnes, produced in New Haven, CT, 1975published in collections of his work.
(With Wendy Wasserstein) When Dinah Shore Ruled the Earth, produced at Yale Cabaret, New Haven, CT, 1975
A History of the American Film (music by Mel Marvin), produced atEugene O'Neill Playwrights Conference, Hartford, CT, 1976 then American National Theatre and Academy Theatre, New York City, 1978 published by Avon (New York City), 1978
The Vietnamization of New Jersey, produced at Yale Repertory Theatre, 1976 then New York City, 1978 published by Dramatists Play Service, 1978
(With Sigourney Weaver) Das Lusitania Songspiel (music by Jack Gaughan and Mel Marvin), produced at Van Dam Theatre, 1976 Chelsea Theatre Center, 1979
Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You, produced at EnsembleStudio Theatre, 1979 then Playwrights' Horizons Theatre, 1981 later WestsideArts Theatre, New York City, 1982 published by Dramatists Play Service, 1980published with The Actor's Nightmare, Dramatists Play Service, 1982 also published in various collections of his work.
The Actor's Nightmare, produced at Playwrights' Horizons Theatre,1981 then Westside Arts Theatre, 1982 produced with Melissa Cantrell's Conversations as Act 1 (Squared), Fremont Centre Theatre, Pasadena, CA, 2000 published with Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You, Dramatists Play Service, 1982 also published in various collections of his work.
Beyond Therapy, produced at Phoenix Theatre, New York City, 1981 then Brooks Atkinson Theatre, New York City, 1982 later Gate at the LatchmereTheatre, London, 1983 also at St. Stephen's Theatre, Philadelphia, PA, 1999-2000 then the Bank Street Theatre, New York City, 2000 and published by Doubleday (New York City), 1981 also published in other collections of his work.
Baby with the Bathwater, produced in New York City, 1983 AmericanRepertory Theatre, 1983-1984 then Colchester, England, 1984 and London, 1991published by Dramatists Play Service, 1984 and with Laughing Wild, Grove (New York City), 1989
Sloth, in Faustus in Hell, produced in Princeton, NJ, 1985
Laughing Wild, produced in New York City, 1987 then London, 1988 published with Baby with the Bathwater, Grove, 1989
Cardinal O'Connor and Woman Stand-Up, in Urban Blight (musical revue; based on an idea by John Tillinger; music by David Shire; lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr.), produced in New York City, 1988
(As Chris Durang) Chris Durang and Dawne (cabaret), produced at Criterion Theatre, 1990 also produced at Caroline's Comedy Club, the Bay StreetTheatre, Williamstown Cabaret, and the Triad Club.
Naomi in the Living Room, produced at Ensemble Studio Theatre, 1991
Media Amok, produced in Boston, MA, 1992
Putting It Together, produced at City Center Theatre, New York City, then Manhattan Theatre Club, both 1993
Shaken Not Stirred, produced at Fountainhead Theatre, Los Angeles,1993
Durang, Durang (sixteen short plays; includes For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls and A Stye in the Eye), produced at City Center Stage 2, then Manhattan Theatre Club, both 1994
Sex and Longing, produced at Cort Theatre, New York City, 1996
Betty's Summer Vacation, produced at Playwrights' Horizons Theatre, 1999 then Studio Theatre, Washington, DC, 2000 later produced at the StagesRepertory Theatre, Houston, TX, 2001 published by Grove, 1999
(With Luke J. Taylor) The Actor's Nightmare and Writer's Block, produced by Barrington Stage Company, Consolati Performing Arts Center, Sheffield, MA, 2000
Durang by the Dozen: No Guns, No Sofas (twelve one-act plays; includes Business Lunch at the Russian Tea Room, Canker Sores and OtherDistractions, Entertaining Mr. Helms, Funeral Parlor, The Hardy Boys and the Mystery of Where Babies Come From, Joan and MaryDoe, Kitty the Waitress, Mrs. Sorken, 1-900-Desperate, Woman Stand-Up, and [with Wendy Wasserstein] Medea), produced at Pantheon Theatre, New York City, 2000
Durang vs. Ives (consists of Durang's plays For Whom the Southern Bell Tolls and A Stye of the Eye and David Ives's Foreplay,or: The Art of the Fugue and The Philadelphia), produced at Blue Heron Arts Center, New York City, 2000
Sturm und Durang (one-act plays; includes The Actor's Nightmare, Desire, Desire, Desire, A Stye of the Eye, and [with Wendy Wasserstein] Medea), produced at Secret Rose Theatre, North Hollywood, CA, 2000
Summer Durang ... Some Are Not (ten short plays; includes D.M.V. Tyrant, Nina in the Morning, One Minute Play, Phyllisand Xenophia, and Women in a Playground), produced at Northwest Actors Studio, Seattle, WA, 2000
Wanda's Visit, in Relationship Analysis 101: Sex, Marriage, andRoadkill, produced at Blue Heron Arts Center, New York City, 2001
Play Collections
The Nature and Purpose of the Universe; Death Comes to Us All, Mary Agnes; 'dentity Crisis: Three Short Plays, Dramatists Play Service, 1979
Christopher Durang Explains It All for You (contains The Actor's Nightmare, Beyond Therapy, 'dentity Crisis, The Natureand Purpose of the Universe, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All forYou, and Titanic), Avon, 1983
Collected Works, Smith & Kraus, 1995
Twenty-Seven Short Plays, Smith & Kraus (Lyme, NH), 1995
Complete Full-Length Plays, Smith & Kraus, 1996
Work represented in anthologies, including Plays from Contemporary American Theatre, 1988.
Screenplays
(With Robert Altman) Beyond Therapy (based on Durang's play of thesame name), New World, 1987
Teleplays
Specials
Sister Mary Explains It All (based on his play Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You), Showtime, 2001
Writer for The Carol Burnett Special.
Episodic
Comedy Zone, CBS, 1984
"The Visit," Trying Times, PBS, 1987

Further Reference

OTHER SOURCES

Periodicals

American Drama, spring, 1992, pp. 26-41
American Theatre, December, 1999, p. 37
Horizon, March, 1978
Nation, April 15, 1978
New Republic, April 22, 1978
Newsweek, April 10, 1978
New York, April 17, 1978 January 19, 1981
New York Daily News, March 31, 1978
New Yorker, May 24, 1976 April 10, 1978 January 19, 1981
New York Post, March 31, 1978
New York Times, November 11, 1974 February 13, 1977 March 17, 1977March 31, 1977 May 11, 1977 August 21, 1977 June 23, 1978 December 27, 1978February 24, 1979 December 21, 1979 February 8, 1980 August 6, 1980 January 6, 1981 October 22, 1981
Time, May 23, 1977

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