Bill Russell (born 1949) is an American librettist and

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's incom ...

. Among his stage musicals are '' Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens'' and ''

Side Show In North America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, carnival, fair, or other such attraction. Types There are four main types of classic sideshow attractions: *The Ten-in-One offers a program of ten seq ...

'', which was nominated for the

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

as Best Musical.

Career

Russell's first musical to be produced is ''Fortune'', which ran

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

at the Actors' Plahouse from April 27, 1980 to November 23, 1980. Ronald Melrose wrote the music, with Russell writing the book and lyrics. The musical director and arranger was Janet Hood; they have gone on to write several musicals together. The musical concerned four performers who were headed to be stars. According to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reviewer, John Corry, it "marked the maturity of the gay musical", and he commended the "literate" lyrics. Russell wrote the book and lyrics for the song cycle '' Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens'', with music by Janet Hood, which originally ran Off-Off-Broadway in 1990 and in the West End in 1993. It played a benefit concert in 2001. He wrote the book and lyrics for the musical ''Pageant'' with Frank Kelly; the music is by Albert Evans, and conception by

Robert Longbottom Robert Longbottom (born March 1957) is a New York City-based director, choreographer and director, primarily for theatre and opera. Early life Longbottom was born and raised in Portland, Maine. He made his professional theatrical debut at age ...

. The musical, which has an all-male cast that plays beauty queens premiered

at the Blue Angel in 1991, and subsequently ran Off-Broadway at New World Stages in 2013, as well as engagements in London (2000) and Australia. He wrote the concert adaptation of the musical '' Call Me Madam'' for the New York City Center

Encores! Encores! is a Tony-honored concert series dedicated to performing rarely heard American musicals, usually with their original orchestrations. Presented by New York City Center since 1994, Encores! has revived shows by Irving Berlin, Rodgers & ...

staged concert series, which was presented in February 1995 and starred Tyne Daly. Russell write the book and lyrics for the musical ''

'' (music by Henry Krieger), which ran on Broadway in 1997. He wrote the book and lyrics for the musical ''Up in The Air'', with music by Henry Krieger, conceived and directed by Amon Miyamoto. It premiered at the Kennedy Center in February 2008. The musical is suggested by a Japanese story, about Boonah, the tree-climbing frog. He wrote the lyrics and book with

Jeffrey Hatcher Jeffrey Hatcher is an American playwright and screenwriter. He wrote the stage play ''Compleat Female Stage Beauty'', which he later adapted into a screenplay, shortened to just ''Stage Beauty'' (2004). He also co-wrote the stage adaptation of ' ...

for the musical ''Lucky Duck'', with music by Henry Krieger. It premiered Off-Broadway at the New Victory Theater in March 2012. The musical starts where the fairy tale "The Ugly Duckling" ends, "showing what happens once one becomes beautiful." It premiered at TheatreWorks, Palo Alto, California, in 2000, then called ''Everything's Ducky''. He wrote the book and lyrics for the musical '' The Last Smoker in America'', with music by Peter Melnick. The musical opened Off-Broadway in August 2012. Russell and Janet Hood have teamed again to write the musical ''Unexpected Joy'', which received private readings in March 2012. The musical is the story of four women and was directed by Sheryl Kaller.

Honors and awards

Russell received a 1998 Tony nomination for ''Side Show'' for Best Book and shared a nomination with composer Henry Krieger for Best Score. The show was nominated as Best Musical. ''Everything's Ducky'' received the Will Glickman Award for Best New Play (in the San Francisco Bay Area) in 2001 and Garland Awards (presented by "Backstage West") for Best Score, Set and Costumes. He has also received two Commendation Awards from the

Gilman & Gonzalez-Falla Theatre Foundation ''Gilman & Gonzalez-Falla Theatre Foundation'' give awards to new songwriters and book writers. The foundation was created by American Theatre Wing Board Member, Sondra Gilman, and Texas Art Commissioner, Celso Gonzalez-Falla. The Musical Theatre ...

(one in 2000). He received an honorary degree of doctor of humane letters from Morningside College in 2003 and from the Boston Conservatory in May 2007.

Personal

Russell was born in

Deadwood, South Dakota Deadwood ( Lakota: ''Owáyasuta''; "To approve or confirm things") is a city that serves as county seat of Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. It was named by early settlers after the dead trees found in its gulch. The city had ...

and raised in Spearfish, South Dakota. His grandparents were cattle ranchers. He attended Morningside College,

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County ...

for two years with a major in theater before transferring to the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

. He came out in an interview with the Rapid City Journal. He married Bruce Bossard in 2009, and they had been a couple for 30 years before that.Russell, Bill
" 'The Biggest Freak in the World' – Side Show's Bill Russell on Coming Out Among the Cowboys"
playbill.com, June 10, 2014

References

External links

*
Internet Off-Broadway Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Bill American musical theatre librettists American musical theatre lyricists 1949 births Living people People from Deadwood, South Dakota People from Spearfish, South Dakota