My parents had both minored in theater in college, so they were big fans, and they took us to see a lot of productions when I was young.

JUSTIN SANDERS: Where are you from originally, Doug, and how did you get into playwriting?ĭOUG WRIGHT: I grew up in Dallas, Texas. “But in the same breath, it was a mentorship with one of the great comic minds of our age, and one of the most politically astute and engaged minds that I had ever encountered.”Ĭlearly, as evidenced by the following conversation, Doug Wright was taking notes. “The things we worked on together did not move forward,” Wright remembered. The future Wright would subsequently command is very much still in progress, a decades-long career of astonishing scope and prowess that has ranged from a dramatic reimagining of the final days of the Marquis de Sade ( Quills) to the Tony®- and Pulitzer-winning I Am My Own Wife, which tells the true story of a transgender woman who survived the Nazi and Communist regimes in East Berlin.Īlong the way, Wright has written the books for hit Broadway musicals such as The Little Mermaid and War Paint, earned a Golden Globe® nomination for the screenplay adaptation of Quills, and served as president of the Dramatists Guild of America.Īs insightful and engaging an interviewee as we could ever hope to talk to, Wright spoke to us about his own struggles to establish himself in the business, why he disagrees with the phrase “write what you know”, and what it was like to work under the wing of legendary television producer Norman Lear. And, in his recent interview with CreativeFuture, it was but one of many hyper-eloquent turns of phrase dropped as casually as a pair of jeans by the endlessly engaging playwright, screenwriter, and librettist Doug Wright. It’s as stirring a testament to the noble pursuit of playwriting as one could imagine – the kind of inspirational aphorism that might be etched in the halls of our finest theatrical institutions. But to write, all you need is an idea and a pen and some blank paper and you can command your own future.” “To act, someone needs to give you a great role.

Quills by doug wright