Kirsten J. Childs is an American playwright,

librettist A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major ...

, and former actress.

Early life and performing career

Childs was born in

Los Angeles, California 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, ...

. Her parents were schoolteachers. Her younger brother is the jazz musician

Billy Childs William Edward Childs (born March 8, 1957) is an American composer, jazz pianist, arranger and conductor from Los Angeles, California, United States. Early life When he was 16, Childs attended the Community School of the Performing Arts sponsored ...

. She began her theatrical career in the late 1970s as a

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

performer. In 1977,

Bob Fosse Robert Louis Fosse (; June 23, 1927 – September 23, 1987) was an American choreographer, dancer, filmmaker, and stage director. Known for his work on stage and screen, he is arguably the most influential figure in the field of jazz dance in th ...

cast her in the lead role of Velma Kelly in the first national tour of the musical ''

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

''. She went on to appear in productions of ''

Dancin' ''Dancin'' is a musical revue created, directed, and choreographed by Bob Fosse and originally produced on Broadway in 1978. The plotless, dance-driven revue is a tribute to the art of dance, and the music is a collection of mostly American ...

'', ''

Jerry's Girls ''Jerry's Girls'' is a musical revue based on the songs of composer/lyricist Jerry Herman. Production history Created by Herman and Larry Alford in 1981, the show originated as a modest presentation at Onstage, a nightclub located in the Theater ...

'', and ''

Sweet Charity ''Sweet Charity'' is a musical with music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields, and book by Neil Simon, based on the screenplay for the 1957 Italian film '' Nights of Cabiria''. It was directed and choreographed for Broadway by Bob Fosse sta ...

'' in the 1980s. Primarily a stage actress, her one major film role was the 1989 comedy ''

See No Evil, Hear No Evil The are a Japanese pictorial maxim, embodying the proverbial principle "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil". The three monkeys are * , covering his eyes * , covering his ears * , covering his mouth. Lafcadio Hearn refers to them as the ...

'', in which she played Adele, the long-suffering sister of

Richard Pryor Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor Sr. (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Known for reaching a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style, he is widely regarded ...

's character.

Later writing career

Childs subsequently turned to writing her own theatrical productions, beginning with the semi-autobiographical work ''The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin'' (2000), an

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 tha ...

musical that received an

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after th ...

. Her other musicals include ''Miracle Brothers'' (2005), ''Funked Up Fairy Tales'' (2007), and '' Bella: An American Tall Tale'' (2016), a winner of the Weston Playhouse New Musical Award. Childs has also served as an assistant professor in

New York University Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic, and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, as the School of the Arts at New York University, Tisch ...

' Graduate Musical Theatre Writing program.

References

External links

New York University Tisch School of the Arts
– Profile
Broadway World
– Profile * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Childs, Kirsten Living people 20th-century African-American actresses 20th-century American actresses 21st-century African-American actresses 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights Actresses from Los Angeles African-American dramatists and playwrights American film actresses American stage actresses American women dramatists and playwrights Tisch School of the Arts faculty Writers from Los Angeles Year of birth missing (living people)