The Playwrights Database
ERIK JACKSON
Nationality: USAemail: Click here to contact Website: n/a
Literary Agent: Abrams Artists Agency
For the theater, Jackson has written three Off Broadway plays and two musicals. The comedy Charlie! (1995) drew unprecedented "listening-room only" audiences to New York's P.S. 122 and the HeRe Theater. His comic thriller Tell-Tale (1997) premiered at P.S. 122 then transferred to the Cherry Lane Theater. It received a GLaDD nomination as best play of the year. Doll (2000), a twisted take on Ibsen's a Doll's House, was produced at P.S. 122 and in Washington D.C. Jackson's comic adaptation of Stephen King's Carrie had a sold-out run at P.S. 122 in 2006. Jackson cowrote the book to Breaking Up is Hard to Do, a musical featuring the songs of Neil Sedaka, which premiered in 2005. Jackson is the playwright-in-residence for New York's Theatre Couture and is a member of the Dramatists Guild. Jackson was a staff writer for season two of Here TV's supernatural series Dante's Cove. He also wrote the screen adaptation of his play Charlie! The movie premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1998 and subsequently screened at festivals around the world. Jackson's poems appeared in the 1997 Showtime film The escape, starring Patrick Dempsey. as a journalist and editor, Jackson's work has appeared in Glamour, InStyle, Town & Country, Time Out New York, W, Real Simple and Show People, among others. He has been an on-air reporter for the TV program Talking Movies on BBC/BBC America; acted as host of aBC's entertainment program The Us Weekly Report; and was a correspondent for aBC's News One radio show. He has appeared as an entertainment expert on a range of networks and shows, including CNN, VH1, entertainment Tonight, The View, The O'Reilly Factor, and, in a moment of shining glory, on MTV's How to Live Like a Celebrity Pet.
Buy Plays with Doollee
Each page of doollee.com has links to play/book outlets, either directly to the Publisher, through Stageplays.com and Amazon to the second hand and 1st editions of AbeBooks. These links will automatically take you to the relevant area obviating the need for further search.AbeBooks.co.uk AbeBooks.com Stageplays.com amazon.com
amazon.co.uk
amazon.ca
whether you are a Playwright who wishes to make their entry definitive, an unlisted Playwright or a User with a tale to tell - we want to hear from you.
download WORD submission template
below is a list of Erik Jackson's plays - click on a Play Title for more information
Breaking Up Is Hard To Do Carrie Charlie! Doll Tell-TaleBreaking Up Is Hard To Do
Synopsis:
Set at a Catskills resort in 1960, Breaking Up Is Hard to Do is the sweetly comic story of Lois and Marge, two friends from Brooklyn in search of good times and romance over one wild Labor Day weekend. The score showcases 19 Neil Sedaka classics including "Where the Boys are," "Sweet Sixteen," "Calendar Girl," and, of course, the chart-topping title song. Bright-eyed bombshell Lois drags the recently jilted Marge to esther's Paradise, where they meet a zany cast of characters: Harvey Feldman, an irrepressible Borscht belt comedian; the slick, handsome headliner, Del Delmonaco; clumsy jack-of-all-trades Gabe Green; and the tough, spunky proprietress herself, esther Simowitz. When Lois's efforts to cheer up Marge collide with Del's attempts to make himself a big star, the result is a case of mistaken identity, misdirected love and a series of hysterical hijinks-all culminating in one unforgettable end-of-summer concert. Before the weekend is over, Marge, Lois and the others will experience a little "Laughter in the Rain," tangle with "Stupid Cupid," and realize that, indeed, "Love Will Keep Us Together."
Notes:
Book by erik Jackson And Ben H Winters, songs by Neil Sedaka; From A concept by Gordon Greenberg & Marsh Hanson
1st Produced:
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Theatrical Rights Worldwide (www.theatricalrights.com), 2007 -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
musical comedy Musical
Parts:
Male: 3 Female: 3 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageCarrie
Synopsis:
Poor Carrie. at home she's abused by her religious fanatic mother. at school, she's the butt of every joke. and to top it all off, she just got her very first period in the locker room showers. Her nasty classmates, including the beautiful but brutal Christine Hargensen think they have the upper hand but Carrie knows revenge and with her ability to move objects using her mind the upcoming prom turns from dream-come-true to nightmare! "Joyously on target. . . Perfectly played! The story's big prom-night finish has never been more fun. . . Clearly, Stephen King has a wonderfully warped sense of humor to have approved this new adaptation of his novel."-The New York Times.
Notes:
comic stage Adaptation of the novel by Stephen King
1st Produced:
Organisations:
Carrie
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
adaptation
Parts:
Male: 3 Female: 6 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageCharlie!
Synopsis:
Consider, please, the eerie and hitherto unremarked significance of variations on the name Charles' in the 1960's and 70's: Charles Manson, Charlie's angels, Charlie the Tuna, not to mention Charly, the eponymous retarded man who became a genius in the movie starring Cliff Robertson. and what about that perky Charlie Girl from the Revlon fragrance ads? They, too, are now on the same stage in erik Jackson's Charlie!,' a frothy little musical about mass murder and brainwashing. . . The links here go deeper than expected, however. Charlie!' turns out to be about nothing less than mind control and the manipulation of images of womanhood. Heaven help you, but you will indeed start seeing parallels among the Svengali-like practices of Mr. Manson, pop television, the advertising industry and medical science. each angel has some sort of obsessive-compulsive disorder, and there's a lot made of what they see in the mirror. The show ends up quoting the philosophy of Marlo Thomas with tongue only half in cheek: we should all be free to be you and me.' -Ben Brantley, The New York Times. a fun-loving, fun-filled leap back into the '70s. . . Fast-paced and chock-a-block with over-ripe attitudes, clever twists and pop references. -The New York Native
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
Organisations:
Theatre Couture
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
musical comedy Musical
Parts:
Male: 3 Female: 4 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageDoll
Synopsis:
a twisted love child of Charles Ludlam, Christopher Durang and Pamela anderson, Doll is an anachronism-strewn comic bastardization of Henrick Ibsen's classic Drama a Doll's House, told in erik Jackson's signature style of heartfelt camp. With a heavy dose of glamour and, of course, a heaping helping of humor, Doll marries two icons of womanhood, Ibsen's indelible character Nora Helmer and the plastic perfection of the Barbie doll. "Hilarious. . . irreverent. . . The most inspired comedy of the season," says the New York Blade, while Citysearch crows, "abounds with jokes, sight gags and double entendres. If Ibsen's rolling over in his grave, it's only to get a better view."
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
Organisations:
Theatre Couture
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
Comedy
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 2 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageTell-Tale
Synopsis:
Lenore Usher is not a well woman. The author of a sensational bestselling book and recently divorced from her rich diet-doctor husband, agorophobic Lenore has sealed herself up in her penthouse overlooking Central Park. apart from her ex-husband's pet raven, Poe, Lenore only has the company of her (seemingly) trusty housekeeper, Cora, who tends to her every need. But nothing here is what it seems. What Lenore doesn't know is that her ex is plotting to kill her to end the alimony drain on his fortune. He hires a hunky young stud to pose as a pizza delivery boy and to get inside Lenore's apartment. Lenore kills him and, in her panic, dismembers him, hiding his body parts throughout her apartment. But his buried pager's incessant beeping begins to drive her mad. Meanwhile, Cora has been having an affair with Lenore's ex-husband and has been plotting against her. Will Lenore be able to outsmart this diabolical duo, or will she fall prey to their murderous mission? When all three converge in the apartment one dark and stormy night, only one of them will emerge alive. The associated Press says Tell-Tale is "an evening of divine outrageousness." In Theater magazine calls it ""an edgar-allan-Poe-meets-Carol-Burnett two-fister that is delightful from start to finish."
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
Organisations:
Theatre Couture
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
comic thriller Thriller
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 2 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of Page