Justin Tanner (né Stephen Justin Tanner) (born 20th century) is an American

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

, and

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

. Based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, he is the author of ''Wife Swappers'' and ''Oklahomo'' (both staged at the Third Stage Theater in

Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...

, California) and ''Space Therapy'' (at the Zephyr Theater in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

and nominated for an L.A. Stage Alliance

Ovation Award The Ovation Awards were a Southern California award for excellence in theatre, established in 1989. They were given out by the non-profit arts service organization LA Stage Alliance and are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles. Win ...

). He has written and directed numerous plays, including ''Pot Mom'' (which won a Pen West Award), ''Teen Girl'', ''Bitter Women'', ''Tent Show'', and ''Coyote Woman''. Tanner also wrote, with then-partner Andy Daley, ''Zombie Attack'', which ran for ten years at the Cast Theater in Hollywood, and has since had numerous revivals.

Career

Tanner was resident playwright of the Cast Theater which was originally run by the late Ted Schmitt and Dana Gibson. In early 1990s, he took control of the Cast Theater and his association with Gibson ended. A several-month revival of several popular Tanner plays resulted. Tanner left the Cast Theater in late 1999. His many other projects have included doing a weekly late-night live comedy serial called ''The Strip'' starring, among others,

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), '' Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and '' Fe ...

luminary

Mink Stole Nancy Paine Stoll (born August 25, 1947), known professionally as Mink Stole, is an American actress from Baltimore, Maryland. She began her career working for director John Waters, and has appeared in all of his feature films to date (a distin ...

, and being a staff writer on television's ''

Gilmore Girls ''Gilmore Girls'' is an American comedy drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. The show debuted October 5, 2000, on The WB and became a flagship series for the network. The show ran fo ...

'' and the short-lived cult favorite ''

Love Monkey ''Love Monkey'' is an American comedy-drama television series set in New York City starring Tom Cavanagh. The series was created by Michael Rauch, based on the book of the same name, by Kyle Smith. It was a co-production of Paramount Televisi ...

'', and directing the yearly Christmas satire ''Bob's Office Party''. Tanner's play ''Voice Lessons'' opened in 2009, and had an extended run at the Zephyr Theater. The cast included

Laurie Metcalf Laura Elizabeth "Laurie" Metcalf (born June 16, 1955) is an American actress and comedian. Known for her complex and versatile roles across the stage and screen, she has received various accolades throughout a career spanning more than four d ...

French Stewart Milton French-Stewart (born February 20, 1964), known professionally as French Stewart, is an American actor. He played Harry Solomon on the NBC sitcom ''3rd Rock from the Sun'', Inspector Gadget in the superhero comedy film '' Inspector Gadget ...

, and

Maile Flanagan Maile Flanagan (; born May 19, 1965) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known as the voice of Naruto Uzumaki in the English dub of the ''Naruto'' franchise. Other prominent roles include voicing Piggley Winks in '' Jakers! The Adve ...

. It was co-directed with

Bart DeLorenzo Bart DeLorenzo is a Los Angeles-based theater director and producer. He is the founding artistic director of the Evidence Room theater, a contemporary theater productions company. He has directed many local and world premieres at the Evidence Ro ...

, with whom Tanner became acquainted during the run of ''The Strip'' at the Evidence Room, where DeLorenzo was artistic director. A later run of ''Voice Lessons'' at the

Sacred Fools Theater Company The Sacred Fools Theater Company is a Los Angeles–based theatre company and nonprofit organization. Founded in January 1997, the company is a member organization of the LA Stage Alliance. For 18 years the company resided at 660 N. Heliotrope in ...

was nominated for four

Ovation Awards The Ovation Awards were a Southern California award for excellence in theatre, established in 1989. They were given out by the non-profit arts service organization LA Stage Alliance and are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles. Win ...

, including Best Play in an Intimate Theatre (Linda Toliver and Gary Guidinger in Association with Sacred Fools Theater Company), Acting Ensemble for a Play (

and

), Lead Actor in a Play (Stewart as Nate), and Lead Actress in a Play (Metcalf as Virginia). ''Voice Lessons'' received its East Coast premiere at the Mad Horse Theater Company in

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

, opening for a limited run on March 22, 2010.

Personal life

Tanner is openly gay. He stated to ''

The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * The Advocate (magazine), ''The Advocate'' (magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States * ''The Harvard Advocate' ...

'' magazine in 2005 that he was in a relationship with musician

Kristian Hoffman Kristian Hoffman (b. July 10, 1952) is an American musician, record producer and visual artist. As a member of Bleaker St. Incident,alongside Ann Magnuson and Robert Mache,Hoffman spearheaded the Anti-folk music movement. Concurrently, he was in ...

.Hensley, Dennis (October 11, 2005)
"Justin's Time".
''

''. Retrieved January 20, 2015.

References

Primary source – Justin Tanner

External links

* Justin Tanner's Official Websit

* The Playwright's Database guide to the works of Justin Tanne

* Compilation of reviews for Justin Tanner's "Voice Lessons" from Plays 41

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanner, Justin Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century births Living people 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American LGBTQ people 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American male writers American gay writers American LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights American male dramatists and playwrights LGBTQ people from California Writers from Los Angeles