The Playwrights Database
JACK SHARRAR
Nationality: USA
email: Click here to contact Website: n/a
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photo Cynthia SMalley. Jack Sharrar is Director of Academic Affairs for the American Conservatory Theater, where he teaches in the M.F.A. program and received the Managing Director's Award for 2003. He has served as a Theater panelist for the National Foundation for Advancement of the Arts, has taught both university and secondary Theater Arts for over 30 years, and is a member of Actors' Equity and the Screen Actors Guild. His performance credits include roles at Michigan Repertory Theater, Mountainside Theater, the BoarsHead Theatre, Theatre 40, Pioneer Theatre Company, American Conservatory Theater studios, numerous media roles, and direction of over 50 plays and musicals. He is author of Avery Hopwood, His Life and Plays (UMI Press); contributor to Oxford University Press's the American National Biography, and the Gay and Lesbian theatrical Heritage: A Biographical Dictionary of Major Figures in American Stage History in the Pre-Stonewall Era (UMI Press); co-editor (with Craig Slaight) of numerous award-winning volumes of scenes and monologues for young actors published by Smith & Kraus, and Up In Avery's Room, a play. His play the Debutante is published with Playscripts, Inc. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan, and holds a Ph.D. in Theater history and Dramatic literature from the University of Utah.
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below is a list of Jack Sharrar's plays - click on a Play Title for more information
Better Angels Debutante, The Doctor Faustus Fair and Warmer Just for Tonight Up in Avery's RoomBetter Angels
Synopsis:
Better Angels is a dramatization from the Civil War writings of Louisa May Alcott and Walt Whitman, who served in the rough and ready hospitals of Washington as care givers to the sick, wounded, and dying soldiers-North and South. Through period songs, Whitman's stirring and rich imagery, and Alcott's vivid characterizations, Better Angels depicts a full range of human experience, from deep pathos, horrific reality, heroism and, often, gentle humor-using language that is authentic, eloquent, and profound. In remembrance of those who have sacrificed before us, Better Angels honors those who have sacrificed in our own time.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
American Conservatory Theater Mfa Program
01 Jan 2012
Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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Genre:
One-Act drama
Parts:
Male: 2 Female: 2 Other: 1 musician
Further Reference:
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Top of PageDebutante, The
Synopsis:
F. Scott Fitzgerald's original one-act play is given new life in this tale of a bittersweet romance between wealthy debutante Rosalind and handsome Armory Blaine. Though Armory may be the love of her life, Rosalind finds it impossible to be with a man who cannot provide for her in the style to which she is accustomed. Will Amory convince Rosalind to marry him, or will her spoiled nature keep her from true love? Set in his beloved Jazz age, this poignant, dreamily melancholic adaptation creatively preserves Fitzgerald's distinct narrative voice.
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1st Produced:
American Conservatory Theater (Mfa Program) (San Francisco, Ca, United States)
2008
Organisations:
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1st Published:
Playscripts, Inc - New York -
Music:
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To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
50-55 min Romance
Parts:
Male: 4 Female: 3 Other: 4 males, 3 females
Further Reference:
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Top of PageDoctor Faustus
Synopsis:
It is written that actual devils once appeared upon the stage at the first performance of Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, and drove spectators to madness at the fearful site. Here is the classic tale of good versus evil and the man who sells his soul to Lucifer in exchange for the power of all knowledge and wealth. In this adaptation, that struggle is intensified and sharply focused, as Lucifer's messenger, great Mephistophilis, tempts Faustus with the Seven Deadly Sins and leads him through a world of magic and ancient heroes to Helen, whose beauty "launch'd a thousand ships,/ And burnt the topless towers of Ilium." But when the clock strikes twelve, the reckoning is at hand and Faustus is called to account for the choices he's made.
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
A.C.T. M.F.A. Program
1st Published:
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Music:
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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
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Genre:
70 min tragedy
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: 10 M or 10 F, or a combination
Further Reference:
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Top of PageFair and Warmer
Synopsis:
Fair and Warmer is a comedy of Temperament and Temperature by Avery Hopwood, adapted by Jack Sharrar. Johnny, a mild-mannered banker, gets his heart broken when his wife, Janet, requests a divorce. It's not that he's been a bad husband; in fact, it's just the opposite -- he's too nice and annoyingly predictable. Desperate to win back his wife's affection, Johnny follows the ill-advice of his friend and neighbor, Ralph, to make Janet question his fidelity. Unfortunately for Ralph, Ralph's own wife is the one who volunteers to help Johnny with his scheme. From compromising situations on a bearskin rug to the staggering effects of the "Green Elevator," the most potent cocktail to ever be concocted on stage, this adaptation from the Jazz-Age Broadway comedy hit follows these seemingly mismatched couples as they rediscover why they are together in the first place.
Notes:
Avery Hopwood (1882-1928) is benefactor of the Avery And Jule Hopwood Awards Program At the University of Michigan, his Alma mater.
1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
Playscripts, Inc - New York -
Music:
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To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
110-120 min Comedy Adaptation
Parts:
Male: 5 Female: 3 Other: 5 males, 3 females
Further Reference:
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Top of PageJust for Tonight
Synopsis:
Just for Tonight is a comedy of exchanged personalities by Jazz-Age playwright Avery Hopwood, adapted by Jack Sharrar. the hilarious action unfolds in the apartment of Tommy Campbell, a leading portrait painter, who feels that his wife, Lecksy, isn't able to give him the artistic stimulation he requires. When Tommy's old flame, Sybil Martin, and her imbibing husband, Jimmie, stop by, tensions flare. Lecksy is certain that Tommy would rather be married to Sybil. And Sybil is certain she would rather not be married to her tipsy Jimmie. Into this conflict steps the Baba Mahrati, an East Indian holy man, who's determined to restore Tommy and Lecksy's shaken relationship. Unbeknownst to Lecksy, the Baba hypnotizes Tommy and transports his astral body into the person of Jimmie, where Tommy can learn Sybil's true nature. the situation escalates into a madcap escapade, when Jimmie's astral body finds its way into Tommy's body. Soon, Tommy learns much about Sybil, Jimmie learns more about Lecksy, and Lecksy and Sybil are driven to wits end by their mixed up husbands. All ends happily for Tommy and Lecksy, though, and, as for Sybil and Jimmie, well, it ends as happily as it can.
Notes:
Avery Hopwood (1882-1928) is benefactor of the Avery And Jule Hopwood Awards Program At the University of Michigan, his Alma mater.
1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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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:
Full-length comedy adaptation
Parts:
Male: 4 Female: 3 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageUp in Avery's Room
Synopsis:
It's 1924 and playwright Avery Hopwood is the toast of Broadway, with a record-breaking four smash hits in the same season-The Gold Diggers, The Bat, Spanish Love, and Ladies' Night (In a Turkish Bath). But he's had it with writing "popular" plays and longs to create works of enduring value. A visit from Edward Winslow, a bright young fraternity brother, and Hopwood's tempestuous relationship with a strong, impulsive, handsome lover and protege, John Floyd, forces Hopwood to confront his life and his art. Up in Avery's Room depicts a tale of the Great White Way that journeys through the mad excesses of the Jazz Age into the wanting chambers of the human heart. Modeled in the style of one of Hopwood's own bedroom plays, Up in Avery's Room explores the meaning of legacy, the desire to accomplish something of enduring value amid commercial success, the nature of love in the struggle for sexual identity, and the deeply human need for companionship. Additional characters: Luca Hengst, a freehearted German-Italian brick-layer; Carl Van Vechten, writer and cultural bon vivant; and Fania Marinoff, his theatrical wife. One setting. Two acts. Approx. 120 min.
Notes:
Avery Hopwood (1882-1928) is benefactor of the Avery And Jule Hopwood Awards Program At the University of Michigan, his Alma mater.
1st Produced:
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Organisations:
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1st Published:
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Music:
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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:
Gay full length comedy drama
Parts:
Male: 5 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
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