Peter Duchan is an American playwright and screenwriter, best known for the film ''

Breaking Upwards ''Breaking Upwards'' is a 2009 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Daryl Wein, starring Zoe Lister-Jones, Wein, Julie White, Peter Friedman, Andrea Martin, and Pablo Schreiber. It explores a 20-something, real-life New York couple bat ...

'' and the musical ''

Dogfight A dogfight, or dog fight, is an aerial battle between fighter aircraft conducted at close range. Dogfighting first occurred in Mexico in 1913, shortly after the invention of the airplane. Until at least 1992, it was a component in every majo ...

.'' He was also personal assistant to actor-director-producer

Bob Balaban Robert Elmer Balaban (born August 16, 1945) is an American actor, author, comedian, director and producer. He was one of the producers nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture for ''Gosford Park'' (2001), in which he also appeared. Balab ...

. He graduated from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

, where he participated in the Creative Writing for Media Program.

''Breaking Upwards''

He was Associate Producer of ''

'', which he co-wrote with director

Daryl Wein Daryl Robert Wein (born December 23, 1983) is an American artist, filmmaker, producer and actor. Early life Born in Los Angeles, California to Jan Sparling and Mitchell Wein, he was raised in Westport, Connecticut. His father worked as a creative ...

and actress Zoe-Lister Jones. The film premiered at the

SXSW Film Festival South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, T ...

(March, 2009) and was released in theaters by

IFC Films IFC Films is an American film production and distribution company based in New York. It is an offshoot of IFC owned by AMC Networks. It distributes mainly independent films under its own name, select foreign films and documentaries under its ...

on April 2, 2010. His short film Unlocked, also a collaboration with Wein, was an Official Selection of numerous festivals, including the Gijon International Film Festival in 2006 and the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was f ...

in 2007.

''Dogfight''

He wrote the book of the stage musical adaptation of ''

'', Nancy Savoca's 1991 film starring

River Phoenix River Jude Phoenix (; August 23, 1970 – October 31, 1993) was an American actor, musician and activist. Phoenix grew up in an itinerant family, as the older brother of Rain Phoenix, Joaquin Phoenix, Liberty Phoenix, and Summer Phoenix. He ...

and

Lili Taylor Lili Anne Taylor (born February 20, 1967) is an American actress. She came to prominence with supporting parts in the films ''Mystic Pizza'' (1988) and '' Say Anything...'' (1989), before establishing herself as one of the key figures of 1990s i ...

. The musical, featuring a score by the team, Pasek and Paul, premiered

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 Second Stage Theatre on July 16, 2012, after previews from June 27. It was directed by

Joe Mantello Joseph Mantello (born December 27, 1962) is an American actor and director known for his work on Broadway productions of ''Wicked'', '' Take Me Out'', and '' Assassins'', having gained notoriety in the 1993 cast of ''Angels in America''. Early l ...

and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli. The production earned two 2013 Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Musical and Outstanding Choreographer ( Christopher Gattelli)."The Piano Lesson, The Whale & Dogfight Honored at 2013 Lucille Lortel Awards"
Broadway.com, May 6, 2011 It was nominated for five 2013

Outer Critics Circle Awards The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. They are presented by the Outer Critics Circle (OCC), the official organization of New York theater writers for out-of-town newspa ...

, including Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical and Outstanding Book of a Musical. Additionally, the show was nominated for

Drama League Award The Drama League Awards, created in 1922, honor distinguished productions and performances both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, in addition to recognizing exemplary career achievements in theatre, musical theatre, and directing. Each May, the awards ...

s for Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical and Distinguished Performance ( Lindsay Mendez), as well as the

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. F ...

for Outstanding Actress in a Musical ( Lindsay Mendez). During its development, the musical was the recipient of the 2011 Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theater given by the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

.Jones, Kenneth
"Musicals by Duchan, Pasek, Paul and Gerle Win 2011 Richard Rodgers Awards for Musical Theater"
''Playbill'', February 14, 2011

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Duchan, Peter Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American male screenwriters