Mark Saltzman (Playwright,
Clutter, The True Story of the Collyer
Brothers Who Never Threw Anything Out) began his career in New
York with Jim Henson, writing for the Muppets. His Sesame Street sketches
and songs (including Caribbean Amphibian) earned him seven Emmy
Awards, but behind Kermit's back, Mark was writing cabaret shows and musicals
that played at The Ballroom, Soho Rep, 13th Street Theater, and the Village
Gate, where he co-wrote the long-running revue A, My Name is Alice.
In 1997, his musical play
The Tin Pan Alley Rag opened at the Pasadena Playhouse and was nominated
for five Los Angeles Ovation Awards, including Best Musical. The show continued
on to several theatres around the country, including The Coconut Grove
Playhouse, Goodspeed, and The Cleveland Playhouse. A New York production
is planned for fall of 2004.
For network television, Mark
wrote Mrs. Santa Claus, the holiday musical starring Angela Lansbury,
with songs by Jerry Herman. For the movies, he wrote The Adventures
of Milo and Otis and has written screenplays for Sony, Universal, and
Disney. His television movie, The Red Sneakers, directed by and
starring Gregory Hines, aired on Showtime and was nominated for a Writers
Guild Award. Mark's stage musical, Romeo and Bernadette, played
at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami and New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse.
His play, Mr. Shaw Goes to Hollywood, based on the 1933 visit of
George Bernard Shaw to the MGM studio, premiered at the Laguna Playhouse
in April 2003.
Mark is proud of his ongoing
role as a mentor in the Blank Theatre Company's Young Playwrights' Festival,
held annually in Los Angeles.
2/2004 |
