Burt Shevelove (September 19, 1915 – April 8, 1982) was an American musical theater playwright, lyricist, librettist, and director.

Biography

Born in Newark,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

, he graduated from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

and

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

(Master's degree). At Brown in 1935, he acted in the first ever Brownbrokers musical titled ''Something Bruin''. After serving as a volunteer ambulance driver in World War II, he began working as a writer, director and producer for radio and television. At the time of his death he had lived in London for many years. His Broadway career started in 1948 with writing material, co-producing and directing for the revue ''Small Wonder.'' Among his successes were ''

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum ''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart. Inspired by the farces of the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman playwright Plautu ...

'' and '' No, No, Nanette'', for which he won the

Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical is an annual award presented by Drama Desk in recognition of achievements in the theatre among Broadway, Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway productions. For two years, in addition to the award f ...

. He died at his apartment in London, where he had been living for about 15 years, on April 8. 1982. He was survived by his mother and a sister.

Work

Libretti

*''

'' 1962, revived 1972, 1996 *'' No, No, Nanette'' revisions made in 1971, from an original libretto by Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel *''

The Frogs ''The Frogs'' ( grc-gre, Βάτραχοι, Bátrakhoi, Frogs; la, Ranae, often abbreviated ''Ran.'' or ''Ra.'') is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It was performed at the Lenaia, one of the Festivals of Dionysus i ...

'' adapted from

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his ...

' play in 1974; in 2004 Nathan Lane further adapted Shevelove's libretto for the work's Broadway premiere *''

Happy New Year The Christmas season or the festive season (also known in some countries as the holiday season or the holidays) is an annually recurring period recognized in many Western and other countries that is generally considered to run from late November ...

'' 1980 *'' Jerome Robbins' Broadway'' 1989; used some of Shevelove's '' Forum'' text

Directing

*'' Small Wonder'' (1948) *'' Hallelujah, Baby!'' (1967) *''Rockefeller and the Red Indians'' (1968) *'' No, No, Nanette'' (1971) *''

'' (1972) *'' Sondheim: A Musical Tribute'' (1973) *''

June Moon ''June Moon'' is a play by George S. Kaufman and Ring Lardner. Based on the Lardner short story "Some Like Them Cold," about a love affair that loses steam before it ever gets started, it includes songs with words and music by Lardner but is no ...

'' (1974 PBS production) *''

Rodgers Rodgers is a patronymic surname of Old English origin derived from the Norman personal name "Roger", with the addition of the genitive suffix "-s" and meaning “son of Roger.” The intrusive “d” in Rodgers is either a Welsh or Scottish ad ...

& Hart'' (1975) *'' So Long, 174th Street'' (1976) *''

'' (1980)

Lyrics

*'' Small Wonder'' 1948

References

External links

* *
Sondheim Guide listingSondheim interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shevelove, Burt 1915 births 1981 deaths American musical theatre librettists American male screenwriters Drama Desk Award winners Tony Award winners 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights American male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers Screenwriters from New York (state) 20th-century American screenwriters Brown University alumni Yale University alumni