# Dick Scanlan > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Dick_Scanlan > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Dick_Scanlan.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Scanlan > Source revision: 1293429552 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|American writer, director, and actor|bot=PearBOT 5}} '''Dick Scanlan''' (born 1960) is an American writer, director, and actor. ==Early life== Scanlan was born on April 14, 1960, in [Washington D.C.](/source/Washington_D.C.) and grew up in suburban [Maryland](/source/Maryland).{{cite news |last1=Engel |first1=Margaret |title=Interview: The Broadway Hit Makers from Montgomery |url=https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-magazine/may-june-2015/interview-the-broadway-hit-makers-from-montgomery/ |work=Bethesda Magazine |date=May 1, 2015}} ==Career== ===Publications=== Scanlan has written articles that have appeared in ''[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)'' "Arts & Leisure" section, ''[The Village Voice](/source/The_Village_Voice)'', ''[The New Yorker](/source/The_New_Yorker)'', ''[Vanity Fair](/source/Vanity_Fair_(magazine))'', and ''[Playboy](/source/Playboy_(magazine))''.[http://www.masterworksbroadway.com/artist/dick-scanlan "About Dick Scanlan"] masterworksbroadway.com, accessed February 4, 2010 His novel ''Does Freddy Dance'' was published in 1995. ===Theatre=== He played Miss Great Plains in the 1991 musical ''Pageant''.[http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=show&id=1343 'Pageant' Off-Broadway listing] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070909094950/http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=show&id=1343 |date=2007-09-09 }} lortel.org, accessed February 4, 2010 He is the co-book writer (with Richard Morris) and lyricist of the musical ''[Thoroughly Modern Millie](/source/Thoroughly_Modern_Millie_(musical))'', which premiered on [Broadway](/source/Broadway_theatre) in 2002, with music by [Jeanine Tesori](/source/Jeanine_Tesori) and starring a then unknown [Sutton Foster](/source/Sutton_Foster).Sommer, Elyse. [http://www.curtainup.com/thoroughlymodernmillieny.html "A CurtainUp Review:'Thoroughly Modern Millie' "] curtainup.com, April 23, 2002 ''Millie'' won the 2002 Tony Award for Best Musical. Scanlan and Tesori also wrote the song "The Girl in 14G" for [Kristin Chenoweth](/source/Kristin_Chenoweth)'s debut CD, ''Let Yourself Go''. He is the co-writer, with [Sherie Rene Scott](/source/Sherie_Rene_Scott), of the musical ''[Everyday Rapture](/source/Everyday_Rapture)'', which opened [Off-Broadway](/source/Off-Broadway) in May 2009 and again on Broadway on April 29, 2010.[http://www.tdf.org/TDF_Article.aspx?id=248 "Sherie Blossom Time"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101128141648/http://tdf.org/TDF_Article.aspx?id=248 |date=2010-11-28 }} tdf.org, accessed February 4, 2010 He and Scott also co-wrote ''[Whorl Inside a Loop](/source/Whorl_Inside_a_Loop)'', inspired by their experiences teaching inside a men's correctional facility. ''Whorl'' was produced Off-Broadway in 2015, co-directed by Scanlan and Michael Mayer (Scanlan's best friend for 40 years)Clement, Olivia. [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/the-verdict-critics-review-sherie-rene-scotts-prison-drama-whorl-inside-a-loop-359931 "The Verdict: Critics Review Sherie Rene Scott's Prison Drama 'Whorl Inside a Loop'"] playbill.com, August 28, 2015Soloski, Alexis. [https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/09/theater/in-whorl-inside-a-loop-prisoners-fingerprints-in-tales-of-inmate-lives.html "In 'Whorld Inside a Loop,' Prisoners' Fingerprints in Tales of Inmate Lives"] nytimes.com, August 6, 2015 and was named one of the best plays of the year by ''[New York Magazine](/source/New_York_Magazine)''. In 2011, it was announced that Scanlan is reworking the 1960 [Meredith Willson](/source/Meredith_Willson) musical ''[The Unsinkable Molly Brown](/source/The_Unsinkable_Molly_Brown_(musical))'' to change the fanciful non-fiction plot (originally written by Richard Morris) to a more factual one. The show received its world premiere at the Denver Center Theatre Company in 2014, starring [Beth Malone](/source/Beth_Malone) and directed by Kathleen Marshall.David, Cara Joy. [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/21/theater/a-new-crew-salvages-old-molly-brown.html "Theater. A New Crew Salvages Old Molly Brown"] ''New York Times'', September 17, 2014 Scanlan was the script consultant to [Berry Gordy](/source/Berry_Gordy) for ''[Motown: The Musical](/source/Motown%3A_The_Musical)'' on Broadway in 2013. In 2015 he was the Artistic Advisor for a new musical, ''Invisible Thread'', at [Second Stage Theatre](/source/Second_Stage_Theatre), directed by [Diane Paulus](/source/Diane_Paulus).Wright, Charles. [http://www.curtainup.com/invisiblethread15.html "A CurtainUp Review. 'Invisible Thread'"] curtainup.com, December 3, 2015 In 2015, Scanlan directed the staged concert of ''[Little Shop of Horrors](/source/Little_Shop_of_Horrors_(musical))'' at the [New York City Center](/source/New_York_City_Center) as part of their [Encores!](/source/Encores!) Off-Center Series, starring [Jake Gyllenhaal](/source/Jake_Gyllenhaal), Taran Killam and [Ellen Greene](/source/Ellen_Greene) reprising her signature role of Audrey.Brantley, Ben. [https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/03/theater/review-in-little-shop-of-horrors-a-ravenous-plant-is-reborn-at-city-center.html "Review: Jake Gyllenhaal sings in 'Little Shop of Horrors'"] nytimes.com, July 2, 2015 ==Personal life== Scanlan lives in New York City with Alan Effron, his partnerO'Leary, Kevin. [http://www.poz.com/articles/177_829.shtml "Divinely Driven Dick"] poz.com, May 2002 since 1996. He is the co-founder of artsINSIDEOUT, a group of students and established professionals in the performing arts that works with the young people and mothers at Nkosi's Haven, a home in Johannesburg, South Africa for mothers with HIV/AIDS, their children and other children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS. Scanlan has been HIV-positive since 1983, and was diagnosed with AIDS in 1995. He said: "I never want to imply that I lived because I have a stronger life drive than the people who died. I've lost so many people who I knew to be passionate and committed to their lives." Scanlan emphatically credits his rebound to the anti-HIV drug cocktail, but says, "It is absolutely true that your outlook contributes to your longevity. I chose to keep investing in my future—even when I had no future." ==Awards== * 2002 [Tony Award](/source/Tony_Award) Best Book of a Musical, ''[Thoroughly Modern Millie](/source/Thoroughly_Modern_Millie)'' [nominee] * 2002 [Tony Award](/source/Tony_Award) Best Original Musical Score, ''Thoroughly Modern Millie'' [nominee] * 2002 [Drama Desk Award](/source/Drama_Desk_Award) Outstanding Book of a Musical, ''Thoroughly Modern Millie'' [nominee] * 2002 [Drama Desk Award](/source/Drama_Desk_Award) Outstanding Lyrics, ''Thoroughly Modern Millie'' [nominee] * 2010 [Tony Award](/source/Tony_Award) Best Book of a Musical, ''[Everyday Rapture](/source/Everyday_Rapture)'' [nominee] * 2010 [Drama Desk Award](/source/Drama_Desk_Award) Outstanding Book of a Musical, ''Everyday Rapture'' [nominee] ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== *{{IBDB name|87768}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070310225225/http://www.americantheatrewing.org/seminars/detail/thoroughly_modern_millie_04_02/ Production: Thoroughly Modern Millie] - ''Working in the Theatre Seminar'' video at [American Theatre Wing.org](/source/American_Theatre_Wing), April 2002 {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Scanlan, Dick}} Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century American novelists Category:American male novelists Category:American male musical theatre actors Category:American musical theatre composers Category:American male musical theatre composers Category:Broadway composers and lyricists Category:American gay writers Category:People with HIV/AIDS Category:American LGBTQ novelists Category:American male short story writers Category:20th-century American short story writers Category:20th-century American male writers Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Dick Scanlan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Scanlan) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Scanlan?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.