Laurence Klavan

Photo by Leslie Hassler

BIOGRAPHY

I got two Drama Desk nominations for the book and lyrics to "Bed and Sofa," the musical produced by the Vineyard Theater in New York. It also received two Obie Awards, five other Drama Desk nominations (including Best Musical), and an Outer Critics Circle nomination for Best Musical. It was published by Dramatists Play Service, recorded by Fynesworth Alley, and subsequently produced by the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia, where it won two Barrymore Awards.

My full-length play, "The Magic Act," was produced by Ensemble Studio Theater (NY) and published by Dramatists Play Service. I was featured in "Miami Stories: Bellow, Malamud, and Klavan," produced by the American Jewish Theater (NY). My one-acts, including "Sleeping Beauty," "The Show Must Go on," "If Walls Could Talk," and "Gorgo's Mother," have been produced by the Ensemble Studio Theater (NY), Manhattan Punch Line (NY), Working Theater (NY), Actors Theatre of Louisville (KY), People's Light & Theater Co. (PA), Philadelphia Festival Theater for New Plays, "Brave New World: American Theater Responds to 9/​11" (NY), "Speakeasy" from the Fire Dept. (NY), "Hurricane Season" at the Eclectic Company Theater (CA), "Battle of the Bards" at the Partial Comfort Co. (NY), among others, and published by Dramatists Play Service. My one-act, "The Summer Sublet," produced in the EST Marathon, is included in Applause Books' Best American Short Plays 2000-2001. I've been awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and received commissions from the Actors Theater of Louisville, Vineyard Theater and the Wilma Theater, where I wrote the musical, "Embarrassments," with composer Polly Pen. It was developed at the O'Neill Music Theater Conference and premiered at the Wilma in December, 2003. It is published by Dramatists Play Service.

My novel, "The Cutting Room," was published by Ballantine Books in 2004 and its sequel, "The Shooting Script," came out in 2005. My novel, "Mrs. White," co-written under a pseudonym, won the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America and was made into the film "White of the Eye." My novel, "I Watch Lois," was published by Pinnacle Books and my short work has been published or is forthcoming in such print and online journals as The Alaska Quarterly, The Literary Review, Conjunctions, Louisville Review, Natural Bridge, Gargoyle, The Dirty Goat, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Playgirl, The Forward, New Theater Review, Straylight, Skive, Foliate Oak, Killing The Buddha, Cafe Irreal, SN Review, Brink, Pank, Hamilton Stone Review, and Conte. My story, "Alert," published in Sliptongue, will be included in Best New Erotica 2010.

My graphic novels, "City of Spies" and "Brain Camp," both co-written with Susan Kim, will be published in 2010 by First Second Books at Macmillan.

I wrote the teleplay, "Me and Jezebel," for American Movie Classics and the screenplay, "Disobedience," with director Tony Gerber for Killer Films. My screenplays, "One Bedroom" and "The Un-usual Suspects" were written for Tri-Star and Warner Brothers and "Mr. Nice Guy" optioned by Viacom. My work for children's TV includes "Corduroy" for USA Network and the syndicated "Adventures of Superboy." I was featured in the "HBO New Writers Project."

Selected Works

BOOKS
CITY OF SPIES
In New York City, during the summer of 1942, eleven-year-old Evelyn Weiss will grow up, find a new family, and, in the process, save the world.
THE CUTTING ROOM
CLICK TITLE TO READ AN EXCERPT! Movie geek-turned-detective Roy Milano chases the long-lost complete print of Orson Welles' "The Magnificent Ambersons."
THE SHOOTING SCRIPT
Roy returns to look for Jerry Lewis' notorious, never-released film, "The Day the Clown Cried."
FULL-LENGTH PLAYS
BED AND SOFA
Written with composer Polly Pen, a musical based on a notorious Russian silent film.
EMBARRASSMENTS
The newest collaboration with Polly Pen musicalizes novelist Henry James' disastrous foray into theater writing.
THE MAGIC ACT
Lonely, mixed-up Mona Kale is accused of killing the two "perfect lovers" of her high school years.
ONE-ACT COMEDIES
SLEEPING BEAUTY
Every potential lover Louise might ever have had shows up at her apartment one day.
THE SHOW MUST GO ON
A suburban family must read from scripts--until they meet a woman who wants to improvise.
IF WALLS COULD TALK
At his grandfather's deathbed, the ghosts of Gilbert's relatives arrive to debunk the old man's myth.
GORGO'S MOTHER
A harsh but compassionate comedy, set in a recession, about four people pursuing the wrong partners.
NO TIME
Yuppie Randolph Hackmeat sees his entire life go by in one dizzying day.