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Tim Kelly
TIM KELLY (1931-1998) was a proli?c and successful American writer, with more than three hundred plays to his credit. His works (which include comedies, dramas, one-acts, mysteries, melodramas, children's shows and musicals) have been produced by New York's Studio Ensemble Theatre, Royal Court Rep, Apple Corps, Manhattan Theatre Club, Los Angeles Actor's Theatre, Aspen Playwright's Festival, the Seattle Repertory Company, and countless other theatres around the world. A television and screenwriter as well, Kelly penned such cult ?lms as Cry of the Banshee (1970) and Sugar Hill (1974). Critics may ignore or loathe him, but his in?uence over amateur theatre is still felt today. His work continues to be performed everywhere. Constantly. Ben Ohmart is the author of biographies on Paul Frees, Daws Butler, Judy Canova, Mel Blanc, Walter Tetley, Joan Davis, Don Ameche, The Bickersons, and editor of several books of Bickersons and Baby Snooks radio scripts.
172 pages, Paperback
First published February 5, 2009
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March 27, 2023
As someone with an interest in writing accessible plays for the youth market, the name Tim Kelly was well known to me. I have not read many of Kelly’s works, and the few I have ranged in quality. His “Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1992) is derivative of other, better adaptations of the novel, for example.
Yet Kelly remained fascinating, if only for how prolific he was (over 300 published plays). His work was certainly eclectic, covering comedies, melodramas, musicals (which were produced on an assembly line basis), and even blaxploitation cinema — his serious horror screenplay that accurately depicted Haitian voodoo rituals was revised into a funky zombie flick called Sugar Hill (1974).
This biography of Kelly is deceptively long. It’s really only 100 pages, with the last 70 being supplementary interviews. Even then, some chapters of the biography consist of long quotes from Kelly’s friends or relatives rather than using those quotes as a spring board for prose.
As a biography, this isn’t a masterpiece, and yet the book was thoroughly enjoyable. Kelly is an interesting character — a highly prolific author who wrote for audiences that “didn’t know any better,” throughly commercial and anti elitist. The true highlight of the biography is seeing the span of his relationship with Roland, his life partner, whose romantic lens colors the author’s depiction of their subject.
It’s a brief, fun little biography that gives insight into a world of theatre that is as important as it is understood — youth and community plays for all audiences
Yet Kelly remained fascinating, if only for how prolific he was (over 300 published plays). His work was certainly eclectic, covering comedies, melodramas, musicals (which were produced on an assembly line basis), and even blaxploitation cinema — his serious horror screenplay that accurately depicted Haitian voodoo rituals was revised into a funky zombie flick called Sugar Hill (1974).
This biography of Kelly is deceptively long. It’s really only 100 pages, with the last 70 being supplementary interviews. Even then, some chapters of the biography consist of long quotes from Kelly’s friends or relatives rather than using those quotes as a spring board for prose.
As a biography, this isn’t a masterpiece, and yet the book was thoroughly enjoyable. Kelly is an interesting character — a highly prolific author who wrote for audiences that “didn’t know any better,” throughly commercial and anti elitist. The true highlight of the biography is seeing the span of his relationship with Roland, his life partner, whose romantic lens colors the author’s depiction of their subject.
It’s a brief, fun little biography that gives insight into a world of theatre that is as important as it is understood — youth and community plays for all audiences
Displaying 1 of 1 review