Robert L. Freedman

Robert L. Freedman (born July 27, 1957) is an American screenwriter and dramatist. He is best known for his teleplays for Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella (1997) and Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (2001), and for his Tony-winning book and lyrics of A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder (2014).

Early life and education

Freedman attended Los Alamitos High School, where he was the editor of the school’s newspaper. That’s where he met another influential figure in his life, a journalism teacher named Margaret Hall.[1]

He attended the University of California, Los Angeles and New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.[2] He holds Masters of Fine Arts from NYU in Dramatic Writing and Musical Theatre Writing.

Career

Freedman won the 1994 Writers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Television Children's Show for his script for the TV movie A Deadly Secret: The Robert Bierer Story (1993).[3][4] He was the screenwriter for the TV movie Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (1997), and received a nomination for the Writers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Children's Script.[4]

Freedman is the screenwriter and producer of the television movie Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows, which was televised on ABC in 2001. The movie, about the early life of Judy Garland, was based on the book Me and My Shadows: A Family Memoir by Lorna Luft.[5] Among other awards, Freedman was nominated by the Writers Guild of America, "Adapted Long Form".[4][6] He was also nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing For a Miniseries or a Movie, a Co-Nominee for the 2001 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries.[7]

He wrote the book for the stage musical Grand Duchy, with music by John Bayless, which had staged readings at Playwrights Horizons and the Paper Mill Playhouse and premiered in Santa Barbara, California, in 2003.[8] A second performance, also in Santa Barbara, was expected spring of 2016.[9]

He wrote the book to a musical titled Campaign of the Century, with lyrics by Freedman and Steven Lutvak and music by Lutvak. It is based on the book by Greg Mitchell, and is about the smear campaign against author Upton Sinclair. It had staged readings at the Chicago Humanities Festival in 2004, the New York Music Festival in September 2005,[10] and the Beverly Hills Theatre Guild in 2006.[8]

Freedman co-wrote a one-man play with Faye Greenberg titled The Beast of Broadway, which had its premiere in 2010 at TheatreZone, Naples, Florida. The play is based in part on the book The Abominable Showman by Howard Kissell, about the producer David Merrick.[11][12]

Freedman wrote the book and lyrics to a musical version of Kind Hearts and Coronets, with music and lyrics by Steven Lutvak, directed by Ron Lagomarsino, which was presented at the Sundance Institute Theatre Laboratory, Utah, in July 2006.[13] The musical had a staged reading in the Breaking Ground Series at the Huntington Theatre in Boston in April 2006.[8] A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, co-written with Lutvak and based on the 1907 novel Israel Rank by Roy Horniman (the source for Kind Hearts and Coronets), ultimately premiered in October 2012 at Hartford Stage in Hartford, Connecticut. The production, directed by Darko Tresnjak, transferred to the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California, in March 2013, and then opened on Broadway in 2014. Freedman won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for this musical.[14]

Work

Television

Sources: The New York Times,[15] filmreference.com[16]

Theatre
  • Grand Duchy (with John Bayless)
  • Campaign of the Century (with Steven Lutvak)
  • The Beast of Broadway: The Life and Times of David Merrick (with Faye Greenberg) (2010)
  • A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder (with Steven Lutvak)
  • Camp Rock: The Musical (with Faye Greenberg)[17]

Honors and awards
Year Honor Project
1983, 1984 Winner, ASCAP Popular Award for Musical Theatre Grand Duchy
1992 Nominee, Edgar Award (Mystery Writers of America) Honor Thy Mother
1994 Winner, Writers Guild Award (Outstanding Television Children's Show) A Deadly Secret: The Robert Bierer Story
1996 Silver Plaque, Chicago International Television Festival What Love Sees
1999 Nominee, Writers Guild Award (Outstanding Children's Script) Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella
2001 Finalist, Humanitas Prize What Makes a Family
2001 Winner, GLAAD Award (Best TV Film) What Makes a Family
2001 Nominee, Emmy Award (Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or Movie) Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows
2001 Nominee, Emmy Award (Outstanding Miniseries) Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows
2001 Winner, Television Critics Association Award Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows
2001 Winner, Broadcast Critics Association Award Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows
2001 Winner, Golden Satellite Award (Best TV Movie or Miniseries) Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows
2001 Nominee, Golden Globe Award (Best TV Movie or Miniseries) Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows
2002 Nominee, Writers Guild Award Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows
2006 Winner, California Musical Theatre Award Campaign of the Century
2006 Winner, Edward Kleban Award (with Steven Lutvak)[8]
2006 Winner, Fred Ebb Award (with Steven Lutvak)[18]
2014 Winner, Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
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gollark: I got bytecode right last time. Were you paying no attention? Of course, to obfuscate it I could then get it wrong. Or maybe you're running it wrong. Or maybe it's right and exploits certain vulnerabilities in Python to execute base32 encoding as a convoluted return into libc attack.
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References
  1. "Writer-producer Robert L. Freedman still 'floating' after major Tony Award win". Daily News. 2014-06-11. Retrieved 2018-05-22.
  2. "Schools of the Stars: Where the 2014 Tony Nominees Went to College – The Writers" playbill.com, April 29, 2014
  3. " A Deadly Secret: The Robert Bierer Story " tcm.com, accessed June 11, 2014
  4. "Freedman List" Archived 2015-05-11 at the Wayback Machine wgfoundation.org, accessed June 11, 2014
  5. " 'Me and My Shadows' " allmovie.com, accessed June 10, 2014
  6. "54th Annual Writers Guild Awards Television and Radio Nominees Announced, News Release, January 15, 2002" Archived April 16, 2015, at WebCite wga.org, January 15, 2002, accessed June 11, 2014
  7. " Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows Awards" The New York Times, accessed June 11, 2014
  8. Jones, Kenneth. "Holzman, Freedman, Hubbard, Needleman and Lutvak Win 2006 Kleban Awards" playbill.com, May 1, 2006
  9. http://www.dptheatrecompany.org/#!grand-duchy/kgn05
  10. " 'Campaign of the Century' Listing" theatermania.com, accessed June 10, 2014
  11. " 'The Beast of Broadway' World Premiere" theatrezone-florida.com, accessed June 10, 2014
  12. Silk, Chris. Review: Garrison tames 'Beast of Broadway' Merrick at TheatreZone" marconews.com, March 5, 2010
  13. Jones, Kenneth. "Playwrights Grimm, Lutvak, Freedman, Gibson, Kornbluth, Belber, Adjmi, Gardley Climb to Sundance" playbill.com, July 10, 2006
  14. Purcell, Carey. "'Gent's Guide', 'All The Way', 'Hedwig And the Angry Inch', 'Raisin in the Sun' Win Top Prizes at 68th Annual Tony Awards" playbill.com, June 8, 2014
  15. "Robert L Freedman filmography" New York Times, accessed June 10, 2014
  16. "Robert L. Freedman Biography" filmreference.com, accessed June 11, 2014
  17. " 'Camp Rock'" mtishows.com, accessed June 10, 2014
  18. Kalafatas, Greg. "PHOTO CALL: Start Spreading the News, the 2nd Annual Fred Ebb Award is Handed Out" playbill.com, November 29, 2006
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