Mark Saltzman
Mark Saltzman | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, playwright, lyricist |
| Years active | 1980s-present |
Mark Saltzman is an American script writer who has written films, plays and musicals and for TV. He worked for several years for Sesame Street.[1][2] He has been given seven Emmy Awards for Best Writing for a Children's Show.[3]
TV and film work
He graduated from Cornell University.[4]
Saltzman started his career writing cabaret shows and musicals that played at
As a writer on the musical revue A, My Name Is Alice, he befriended cast member
For CBS, Saltzman wrote Mrs. Santa Claus, a holiday musical movie starring Angela Lansbury with songs written by Broadway legend Jerry Herman.[4] He also wrote The Adventures of Milo and Otis and Three Ninjas Kick Back.[4]
His TV movie, The Red Sneakers, which was directed by and starred
In 2007, Mark served as writer-producer of the Emmy-nominated Disney channel show "Johnny and the Sprites," starring John Tartaglia.[8]
Saltzman wrote
Theater
Saltzman's musical play The Tin Pan Alley Rag tells the story of a fictional meeting in 1915 between Scott Joplin and a young Irving Berlin. Tin Pan opened at the Pasadena Playhouse in 1997 and was nominated for five Los Angeles Ovation Awards, including Best Musical.[4] Saltzman also wrote the book for the play.[8] The show continued on to many US theaters, including Miami's Coconut Grove Playhouse, Goodspeed Musicals, and the Cleveland Play House. In the summer of 2009, it was produced in Off-Broadway by The Roundabout Theatre Company[4] in a production starring Michael Therriault and Michael Boatman in a production described by critics as "tunefully original" and containing "flashes of brilliance."
Saltzman's stage musical
In May 2009 Saltzman's play "Setup and Punch" premiered at The Blank Theatre in Los Angeles.[8]
His play Rocket City[1] had its world premiere in April 2008 as part of the
Affiliations
Saltzman has, for many years, been a mentor in the Blank Theatre Company's Young Playwrights’ Festival, held annually in Los Angeles. He is the president of the Arnold Glassman Fund, a charitable foundation that provides grants for film and theater projects.[4] He is also a graduate of Cornell University's English and Theater Departments.
Personal life
Saltzman‘s partner,[7] Arnold "Arnie" Glassman, was a film editor known for his work on The Celluloid Closet and Frailty. After first meeting in October 1979, by 1986 they were living together as an out couple in New York. They were together for 20 years before Glassman died in 2003. According to Saltzman, when writing the Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie, he wrote their interpersonal dynamic, playfulness and loving bond as a reflection of his own relationship with Glassman.[5]
Saltzman currently lives in Los Angeles.[5]
References
- ISBN 978-0-06-662109-8. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
- ISBN 978-0-00-717558-1. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
- ^ a b Mark Saltzman, msaltzman.com, 2019
- ^ a b c d e f g h Bio, 2019
- ^ a b c d e f EXCLUSIVE: Are Bert & Ernie a couple? We finally have an answer…, Queerty, 2018
- ^ Sesame Worksohp Denies Bert and Ernie's Gay Relationship Despite Former Writer's Claim, Newsweek, 2018
- ^ a b There's More to That Viral 'Sesame Street' Interview Than Bert and Ernie's Sexuality, Observer, 2018
- ^ a b c Saltzman's Comedy with Music, Set Up & Punch, to Premiere in Hollywood, Playbill, 2009
- ^ "MadKap Productions presents Rocket City, Alabam' ". Skokie [Illinois] Theatre and MadKap Productions. 2017. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
External links
- Mark Saltzman at IMDb
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