Christopher Durang, a Tony Award-winning playwright who specialized in a particular form of brainy and absurdist comedy, has died. He was 75. The cause was complications from a form of dementia known as logopenic primary progressive aphasia, according to his husband John Augustine.
Durang was best known for writing 1979’s “Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You,” a popular dissection of Catholic doctrine that was frequently staged, drawing occasional protests for its iconoclastic take on religion. A film version, starring Diane Keaton as the title character, aired on Showtime in 2001.
Another Durang play, 1981’s “Beyond Therapy,” which looked at Manhattanites who cope with romantic neurosis with the help of their psychiatrists, was also adapted for the screen by Robert Altman. Despite having a cast that included Glenda Jackson and Jeff Goldblum, critics excoriated the 1987 film as flat and unfunny. It was an opinion shared by Durang, who described it as...
Durang was best known for writing 1979’s “Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You,” a popular dissection of Catholic doctrine that was frequently staged, drawing occasional protests for its iconoclastic take on religion. A film version, starring Diane Keaton as the title character, aired on Showtime in 2001.
Another Durang play, 1981’s “Beyond Therapy,” which looked at Manhattanites who cope with romantic neurosis with the help of their psychiatrists, was also adapted for the screen by Robert Altman. Despite having a cast that included Glenda Jackson and Jeff Goldblum, critics excoriated the 1987 film as flat and unfunny. It was an opinion shared by Durang, who described it as...
- 4/3/2024
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Christopher Durang, one of American’s most acclaimed and accomplished playwrights whose works like Beyond Therapy, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You and the Tony-winning Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike were as incisive as they were absurdly comic, died Tuesday night at his home in Pipersville, Pa., in Bucks County. He was 75.
His agent, Patrick Herold, confirmed that Durang died as a result complications of his 2016 diagnosis with logopenic primary progressive aphasia (Ppa), a form of Alzheimer’s disease that impedes the ability to process language. He remained out of the public spotlight since his condition was made public in 2022. In February, New York’s Dramatists Guild announced that the playwright would receive its 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award on May 6, placing Durang on a prestigious roster alongside such past awardees as John Guare, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Miller.
Born Christopher Ferdinand Durang on January 2, 1949, Durang soared to...
His agent, Patrick Herold, confirmed that Durang died as a result complications of his 2016 diagnosis with logopenic primary progressive aphasia (Ppa), a form of Alzheimer’s disease that impedes the ability to process language. He remained out of the public spotlight since his condition was made public in 2022. In February, New York’s Dramatists Guild announced that the playwright would receive its 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award on May 6, placing Durang on a prestigious roster alongside such past awardees as John Guare, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Miller.
Born Christopher Ferdinand Durang on January 2, 1949, Durang soared to...
- 4/3/2024
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Tina Howe, the celebrated playwright whose works included the oft-staged Painting Churches and Coastal Disturbances, died yesterday of natural causes after a short illness due to complications from a hip fracture sustained in a recent fall. The two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist was 85.
Her death was announced by her longtime agent Patrick Herold.
A New York City native, Howe attended Sarah Lawrence College, Teacher’s College at Columbia University and Chicago Teachers College and studied philosophy at Sorbonne University in Paris before her mainstream stage breakthrough in 1981 with the production of Painting Churches at Second Stage Off Broadway. Set in the Beacon Hill area of Boston, the play, about the relationship between an artist and her aging parents, was a major success, winning an Obie Award, moving to Broadway in 1983 and becoming a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Howe had actually made her professional New York stage debut 11 years prior to Painting Churches,...
Her death was announced by her longtime agent Patrick Herold.
A New York City native, Howe attended Sarah Lawrence College, Teacher’s College at Columbia University and Chicago Teachers College and studied philosophy at Sorbonne University in Paris before her mainstream stage breakthrough in 1981 with the production of Painting Churches at Second Stage Off Broadway. Set in the Beacon Hill area of Boston, the play, about the relationship between an artist and her aging parents, was a major success, winning an Obie Award, moving to Broadway in 1983 and becoming a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Howe had actually made her professional New York stage debut 11 years prior to Painting Churches,...
- 8/29/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Patrick Herold, who served as Partner and Head of Theater at ICM Partners for nearly two decades, has moved to UTA as an agent in the Theatre division. He will be based in New York and report to Partner & Head of Theatre, Mark Subias. Herold is the latest ICM agent to leave following the agency’s acquisition by CAA.
Herold brings with him a stellar roster of long-term clients including the estates of Arthur Miller, Eugene O’Neill and Sam Shepard; writers Lisa Kron and Doug Wright; composers Cyndi Lauper and Stephen Trask; and directors Christopher Ashley, Michael Greif and Julie Taymor.
Additionally, his clients, all of whom are expected to join him at UTA, include the estates of Horton Foote, Moss Hart and Wendy Wasserstein; theater luminaries Athol Fugard and John Guare; playwrights Richard Nelson and Paul Rudnick; composers and lyricists Rosanne Cash, Scott Frankel and Michael Korie; directors Walter Bobbie,...
Herold brings with him a stellar roster of long-term clients including the estates of Arthur Miller, Eugene O’Neill and Sam Shepard; writers Lisa Kron and Doug Wright; composers Cyndi Lauper and Stephen Trask; and directors Christopher Ashley, Michael Greif and Julie Taymor.
Additionally, his clients, all of whom are expected to join him at UTA, include the estates of Horton Foote, Moss Hart and Wendy Wasserstein; theater luminaries Athol Fugard and John Guare; playwrights Richard Nelson and Paul Rudnick; composers and lyricists Rosanne Cash, Scott Frankel and Michael Korie; directors Walter Bobbie,...
- 8/15/2022
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Dramatists Play Service, the theatrical licensing and publishing agency formed in 1936 that represents scores the stage’s most prominent playwrights, has been acquired by Broadway Licensing in what the companies are calling a landmark agreement.
Broadway Licensing, a full-service theatrical licensing partner specializing in the development, production and worldwide distribution of new and established theatrical properties, will now house Dps under its slate of brands. Among the dramatists now represented under this newly formed umbrella are Ayad Akhtar, Edward Albee, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Christopher Durang, Horton Foote, Richard Greenberg, Katori Hall, Beth Henley, George S. Kaufman, Tracy Letts, Martyna Majok, Donald Margulies, Terrence McNally, Arthur Miller, Lynn Nottage, Eugene O’Neill, Susan-Lori Parks, John Patrick Shanley, Alfred Uhry, Paula Vogel, Wendy Wasserstein, Tennessee Williams, Lanford Wilson, and Doug Wright.
The deal was announced today by Sean Cercone, CEO/President, Broadway Licensing, and David J. Moore, Acting President, Dramatists Play Service.
Broadway Licensing, a full-service theatrical licensing partner specializing in the development, production and worldwide distribution of new and established theatrical properties, will now house Dps under its slate of brands. Among the dramatists now represented under this newly formed umbrella are Ayad Akhtar, Edward Albee, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Christopher Durang, Horton Foote, Richard Greenberg, Katori Hall, Beth Henley, George S. Kaufman, Tracy Letts, Martyna Majok, Donald Margulies, Terrence McNally, Arthur Miller, Lynn Nottage, Eugene O’Neill, Susan-Lori Parks, John Patrick Shanley, Alfred Uhry, Paula Vogel, Wendy Wasserstein, Tennessee Williams, Lanford Wilson, and Doug Wright.
The deal was announced today by Sean Cercone, CEO/President, Broadway Licensing, and David J. Moore, Acting President, Dramatists Play Service.
- 3/23/2021
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
On the eve of the Tony Awards, ICM Partners has added Kate Pines to its theater department. Her appointment was announced by co-heads Patrick Herold and Di Glazer, to whom she will report.
Pines, who most recently served as the Literary Director of The Playwrights Realm, comes to the agency following a 15-year career in directing and new play development. During her tenure at The Playwrights Realm, she ran the company’s artist development programs and shepherded world premieres of several ICM-represented plays, including Sarah Delappe’s The Wolves and The Great Leap by Lauren Yee, as well as works by Anna Ziegler, Mfoniso Udofia, Donja Love, Ione Lloyd and others.
Prior to her tenure at Playwrights Realm, Pines served on the artistic staffs of Women’s Project Theater and The Public Theater.
ICM Partners has 13 Tony Award nominations across categories, including actors Nathan Lane, Tony Shalhoub, Condola Rashad and Michael Cera,...
Pines, who most recently served as the Literary Director of The Playwrights Realm, comes to the agency following a 15-year career in directing and new play development. During her tenure at The Playwrights Realm, she ran the company’s artist development programs and shepherded world premieres of several ICM-represented plays, including Sarah Delappe’s The Wolves and The Great Leap by Lauren Yee, as well as works by Anna Ziegler, Mfoniso Udofia, Donja Love, Ione Lloyd and others.
Prior to her tenure at Playwrights Realm, Pines served on the artistic staffs of Women’s Project Theater and The Public Theater.
ICM Partners has 13 Tony Award nominations across categories, including actors Nathan Lane, Tony Shalhoub, Condola Rashad and Michael Cera,...
- 6/8/2018
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
ICM Partners has promoted 11 agents to partner, bringing its leadership group to 38, the agency announced on Monday. Those 11 all gain equity in the agency, which morphed into a partnership after buying out private equity firm Rizvi Traverse and former CEO Jeff Berg last May. The new partners are motion picture literary co-chief Doug MacLaren, publishing agents Kris Dahl and Jennifer Joel, talent agents Hildy Gottlieb and Brian Mann, theater head Patrick Herold, head of global branded entertainment Carol Goll, Mark Siegel and Chris Smith from the concert division, international TV’s Lori York and motion picture production’s Dan...
- 10/21/2013
- by Lucas Shaw
- The Wrap
ICM Partners has promoted 11 agents to partners, the agency announced Monday. The agents from the departments of talent, motion picture literary, television, publishing, theater, concerts global branded entertainment and motion picture production in the New York and Los Angeles office join the now 38-person partnership of agents. The 11 agents are: co-head of motion picture literary Doug MacLaren, publishing agents Kris Dahl and Jennifer Joel, Hildy Gottlieb and Brian Mann from the agency’s talent department, theater head Patrick Herold, concerts’ Mark Siegel and Chris Smith, head of global branded entertainment Carol Goll, motion picture production’s Dan Baime,
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- 10/21/2013
- by Rebecca Ford
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
This is the first elevation of agents to the partner level since ICM Partners completed its management buyout in 2012 and brings the number of partners to 38. The promotions come from both coasts and represent the departments of talent, motion picture literary, television, publishing, theater, concerts, global branded entertainment, and motion picture production. The new partners are co-head of motion picture literary Doug MacLaren, publishing agents Kris Dahl and Jennifer Joel, Hildy Gottlieb and Brian Mann from the agency’s talent department, theater head Patrick Herold, concerts’ Mark Siegel and Chris Smith, head of global branded entertainment Carol Goll, motion picture production’s Dan Baime, and international television and media’s Lori York. “Since the formation of our partnership, we have made significant and strategic changes that have elevated our business to the benefit of our partners, associates and clients”, the agency said in a statement. “The culture of professionalism, collegiality...
- 10/21/2013
- by THE DEADLINE TEAM
- Deadline TV
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