Maryrose Wood is proud to be the first recipient of the Georgia Bogardus Holof Lyricist Award. Her first young adult novel, SEX KITTENS AND HORN DAWGS FALL IN LOVE, was published by Random House in January 2006 ("an uproariously funny debut," ALA Booklist). Her new book, WHY I LET MY HAIR GROW OUT, will be released in March '07 (pre-order now from Amazon, B&N and other booksellers or your local indie bookstore).
Maryrose wrote the book and lyrics for THE TUTOR, the only three-time recipient of the American Academy of Arts and Letters' prestigious Richard Rodgers Award for new musicals. THE TUTOR was presented in workshop by Premieres and at The York Theatre in New York, and at the Village Theatre's annual festival of new musicals in Seattle, where it won the Best of Fest award. Excerpts have been included in The Public Theater's New Works Now! Festival, Lincoln Center's American Songbook series, and in Richard Rodgers: Giving Back, a concert at Merkin Hall. THE TUTOR was first developed at the O'Neill Music Theatre Conference in Waterford, CT.
Maryrose and Andrew also wrote THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS, based on stories of O. Henry, which most recently was featured in the Stripped! New Musicals Project at Oklahoma City University. They completed their first movie musical in 2004. Titled LOVE, MOM and directed by Ted Sperling, the short film stars Tonya Pinkins as the mother of a US serviceman overseas. LOVE, MOM premiered at Anthology Film Archive and screened at AMC Theatres in midtown NYC as part of the 2004 New York Musical Theatre Festival. It's also been featured on the FOX News Network and the CBS Morning Show, and has been an official selection in numerous US film festivals as well as the inaugural Golden Lion Film Festival in Swaziland.
Currently, Maryrose and Andrew are writing STILL LIFE WITH CIGARETTE, an original jazz musical that explores themes of celebrity and addiction in a swinging, late-1950's Rat Pack-flavored milieu.
Maryrose's plays have been read at Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Women's Project, The Playwright's Center of San Francisco, and other venues. Her short musicals and songs have been seen at Joe's Pub, the National Arts Club, Broadway Theatre Institute, Dixon Place, and various cabarets in New York, as well as in numerous school productions.
She has completed two original screenplays, one of which finished as a top-30 semi-finalist for the Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship. She wrote and directed HERE TO STAY: THE MUSIC OF GEORGE GERSHWIN, a Gershwin centennial celebration presented by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
Maryrose lives in New York with her two children. She is a graduate of NYU's Gallatin School, and is a member of the BMI Musical Theater Workshop, the Dramatists Guild and The PEN American Center.
(Photo: Tess Steinkolk)
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