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Justin Tanner (born 20th century) is an American playwright.
Based in Los Angeles, California, he is the author of Wife Swappers and Oklahomo (both staged at the Third Stage Theater in Burbank, California) and Space Therapy (at the Zephyr Theater in Hollywood and nominated for an L.A. Stage Alliance Ovation Award).
He has written and directed numerous plays, including Pot Mom (which won a Pen West Award), Teen Girl, Bitter Women, Tent Show, and Coyote Woman.
Tanner also wrote, with then-partner Andy Daley, Zombie Attack, which ran for ten years at the Cast Theater in Hollywood, and has since had numerous revivals.
Career
Tanner was resident playwright of the Cast Theater which was originally run by the late Ted Schmitt and Dana Gibson. In early 1990s, he took control of the Cast Theater and his association with Gibson ended. A several-month revival of several popular Tanner plays resulted. Tanner left the Cast Theater in late 1999.
His many other projects have included doing a weekly late-night live comedy serial called The Strip starring, among others, John Waters luminary Mink Stole, and being a staff writer on television's Gilmore Girls and the short-lived cult favorite Love Monkey, and directing the yearly Christmas satire Bob's Office Party.
Tanner's play Voice Lessons opened in 2009, and had an extended run at the Zephyr Theater. The cast included Laurie Metcalf, French Stewart, and Maile Flanagan. It was co-directed with Bart DeLorenzo, with whom Tanner became acquainted during the run of The Strip at the Evidence Room, where DeLorenzo was artistic director.
A later run of Voice Lessons at the Sacred Fools Theater Company was nominated for four Ovation Awards, including Best Play in an Intimate Theatre (Linda Toliver and Gary Guidinger in Association with Sacred Fools Theater Company), Acting Ensemble for a Play (Laurie Metcalf, French Stewart and Maile Flanagan), Lead Actor in a Play (Stewart as Nate), and Lead Actress in a Play (Metcalf as Virginia).
Voice Lessons received its East Coast premiere at the Mad Horse Theater Company in Portland, Maine, opening for a limited run on March 22, 2010.
Personal life
Tanner is openly gay. He stated to The Advocate magazine in 2005 that he was in a relationship with musician Kristian Hoffman.
References
Primary source – Justin Tanner
- Weinert-Kendt, Rob (December 8, 2022). "The 'Little Theatre' and Big Personality That Made Justin Tanner a Playwright". American Theatre. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
- Martinez, Julio (April 13, 2009). "Voice Lessons". Variety. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
- Reiner, Jay (April 13, 2009). "'Voice Lessons'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
- "Voice Lessons". Sacred Fools Official Website
- "Kiss Me Kate Tops 2011 Ovation Award Nominations". LA Stage Times
- Hensley, Dennis (October 11, 2005). "Justin's Time". The Advocate. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
External links
- Justin Tanner's Official Website
- The Playwright's Database guide to the works of Justin Tanner
- Compilation of reviews for Justin Tanner's "Voice Lessons" from Plays 411
- 20th-century births
- Living people
- 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
- 20th-century American LGBTQ people
- 20th-century American male writers
- 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights
- 21st-century American LGBTQ people
- 21st-century American male writers
- American gay writers
- American LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights
- American male dramatists and playwrights
- LGBTQ people from California
- Writers from Los Angeles