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Paul Rudnick

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Paul Rudnick
Born (1957-12-29) December 29, 1957 (age 67)
Piscataway, New Jersey, U.S.
OccupationWriter
EducationYale University
GenreHumor, drama
PartnerJohn Raftis

Paul Rudnick[1] (born December 29, 1957) is an American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, and essayist. His plays have been produced on and off Broadway. He wrote the screenplays for Sister Act, Addams Family Values, Jeffrey, and In & Out. Rudnick also wrote film criticism under the pseudonym Libby Gelman-Waxner.[2]

Early life

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Rudnick was born and raised in a Jewish family in Piscataway, New Jersey.[3] His mother, Selma, was a publicist, and his father, Norman, was a physicist. He attended Piscataway High School[4] and earned a bachelor's degree from Yale University in 1977. Afterward, he moved to New York.[5]

Plays and novels

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Rudnick's first play was Poor Little Lambs, a comedy about a female Yale student's attempt to join The Whiffenpoofs, an all-male singing group. Produced in 1982, the play's cast featured Kevin Bacon, Bronson Pinchot, and Blanche Baker.[6][7] Rudnick's first novel, Social Disease, a satire of New York nightlife, was released in 1986.[8]

In the late 1980s, Rudnick moved into the top floor of a Greenwich Village brownstone, which had once been the 1920s home of the actor John Barrymore. This move inspired Rudnick's play, I Hate Hamlet, about a young TV star who is visited by the ghost of Barrymore before acting in a production of Hamlet. The play was produced on Broadway and gained attention when Nicol Williamson, the actor playing Barrymore, reportedly began attacking his co-star during a dueling scene.[9]

From December 31, 1992, to February 14, 1993 Rudnick's show Jeffrey, a comedy about AIDS, ran at the WPA Theatre in New York City.[10] It was then transferred to the larger Off-Broadway Minetta Lane Theatre, running from March 6, 1993, to January 16, 1994.[11] Rudnick received acclaim for Jeffrey,[12][13] winning an Obie Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, and the John Gassner Playwrighting Award for the same work.[14]

Rudnick's later plays included The Naked Truth (1994, subsequently revised and rereleased as The Naked Eye in 1996[15]), which depicted a photographer similar to Robert Mapplethorpe, and in 1998, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, inspired by the homophobic remark, "God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve." In Rudnick's adaptation of the Bible, God makes Adam and Steve, along with the first lesbians, Jane and Mabel. While the play faced criticism from religious groups, it was still picked up for a commercial run.[16][17][18][19]

Rudnick also wrote Valhalla, which entwined the lives of a World War II soldier from Texas with Ludwig, the Mad King of Bavaria; Regrets Only, a drawing room comedy starring Christine Baranski and George Grizzard; and The New Century, a collection of related one-acts produced at the Lincoln Center, for which the actress Linda Lavin won a Drama Desk Award.

Rudnick has contributed two pieces, The Gay Agenda and My Husband, to the Off-Broadway anthology Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays. My Husband was released by Playing on Air as a radio play for podcasting and public radio, featuring Michael Urie and Harriet Harris, directed by Claudia Weill.[20]

In September 2017, Rudnick's play Big Night opened at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles, where it played until October. Wendie Malick starred in this Oscar-themed tragicomedy, which was described as "an often amusing but mostly muddled ensemble piece."[21]

Screenwriting

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Rudnick has worked as an uncredited script doctor on films including The Addams Family and The First Wives Club. He was credited under the pseudonym "Joseph Howard" for his work on Sister Act, which was originally intended for Bette Midler. The screenplay went through many revisions and was re-fashioned for Whoopi Goldberg. At the time, Rudnick refused to have his real name associated with the script. He received sole writing credit for Addams Family Values, In & Out, and the screen version of his play Jeffrey.[citation needed]

Rudnick's later screenwriting works included Isn't She Great and the 2004 remake of The Stepford Wives. His script, Coastal Elites, a socially distanced film about the COVID-19 pandemic, began airing on HBO in September 2020.[citation needed]

Other writings

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In 2011, HarperCollins published I Shudder, a collection of autobiographical essays Rudnick wrote.[22] Since 1998, Rudnick has contributed over fifty short humor pieces to The New Yorker, his work appearing in the collections Fierce Pajamas and Disquiet, Please.[citation needed]

In 1988, Rudnick began producing satirical film criticism for Premiere magazine. He wrote from the perspective of a married woman, Libby Gelman-Waxner, who lived in Manhattan. A collection of these columns was published in 1994 under the title If You Ask Me. Rudnick (as Libby) resumed writing a monthly column for Entertainment Weekly in 2011 and occasionally contributes reviews to The New Yorker.[23]

Rudnick's first young adult novel, Gorgeous, was published by Scholastic in 2013.[24] Publishers Weekly stated in a review that the book included "writing that's hilarious, profane and profound (often within a single sentence)."[25] Scholastic also published Rudnick's second young adult novel, It's All Your Fault, which Booklist called "A laugh-out-loud, irreverent tale built on as much snarkiness as sweetness. A riotously good read."[26]

Berkley published his novel, Playing the Palace, in May 2021.[27]

In 2023, Simon & Schuster published Rudnick's novel, Farrell Covington and the Limits of Style. Publishers Weekly described the book as "dazzling and funny" in a review.[28] His novel What Is Wrong With You? was published by Simon & Schuster in March 2025.[29]

Personal life

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Rudnick has been in a long-term relationship with his partner, John Raftis, since 1993. Their partnership is often reflected in Rudnick's work, which celebrates LGBTQ+ themes and relationships.[30]

Bibliography

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Plays and musicals

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Novels

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  • Social Disease. New York: Knopf. 1986.
  • I'll Take It: A Novel. New York: Knopf. 1989.
  • Gorgeous. Scholastic. 2013.
  • It's All Your Fault. Scholastic Press. 2016.
  • Playing the Palace. Berkley. 2021.
  • Farrell Covington and the Limits of Style. Atria Books. 2023.

Memoirs

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Essays and reporting

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———————

Notes
  1. ^ Online version is titled "Taylor Swift and your taxes".
  2. ^ Online version is titled "The Gaydar of Modern Science".

References

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  1. ^ Birnbach, Lisa (2010). True Prep: It's a Whole New Old World. New York City: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-307-59398-6.
  2. ^ "Screenwriter Paul Rudnick on Why the World Needs Libby Gelmen-Waxner". Fresh Air. January 26, 1995. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  3. ^ Bruni, Frank (September 11, 1997). "At Home With: Paul Rudnick; You Want Gay Role Models? How About a Joke First". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
  4. ^ Grzella, Paul C. "'Shudder' Big; Comedy will out in Rudnick's latest", Asbury Park Press, September 27, 2009. Accessed February 23, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "LaDonna Racyk was a sexy, 'sort of white,' teenaged Tina Turner who was a classmate of writer Paul Rudnick at Piscataway High School several decades ago."
  5. ^ Szewczyk, Elaine (March 21, 2023). "Paul Rudnick Keeps On Writing with 'Style'". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  6. ^ "I Hate Hamlet - Paul Rudnick 1991". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  7. ^ Rich, Frank (March 16, 1982). "Theater: Rudnick's 'Poor Little Lambs' of Yale". The New York Times. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  8. ^ Mankiewicz, John H. (June 8, 1986). "Social Disease by Paul Rudnick". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  9. ^ Witchel, Alex (May 4, 1991). "I Hate Hamlet' Co-Star Walks Out". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  10. ^ "Paul Rudnick: Revisiting the Classic HIV/AIDS Play 'Jeffrey'". The Body. July 12, 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2024.
  11. ^ " Jeffrey Minetta" lortel.org, retrieved January 27, 2017.
  12. ^ Rich, Frank (February 3, 1993). "Critic's Notebook; Laughing at AIDS Is First Line of Defense". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  13. ^ Holden, Stephen (January 21, 1993). "Review/Theater; Laughs That Mask the Fears of Gay Manhattan". The New York Times. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  14. ^ "Jeffrey". Internet Off-Broadway Database. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  15. ^ Brantley, Ben (June 29, 1996). "THEATER REVIEW;A Character Adds Energy, And a Play Picks Up Bite". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 11, 2025.
  16. ^ "Out Front Theatre faces protests over "Most Fabulous Story"". https://www.artsatl.org/. April 14, 2017. Retrieved May 24, 2025. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
  17. ^ "America Needs Fatima protests 'Most Fabulous Story' at Kalita in Dallas, patrons unfazed". Dallas News. December 9, 2013. Retrieved May 24, 2025.
  18. ^ Crum, William. "State lawmaker opposes staging of 'The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told'". The Oklahoman. Retrieved May 24, 2025.
  19. ^ Brock, Wendell. "Theater review: Adam and Steve more controversial than truly 'Fabulous'". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. ISSN 1539-7459. Retrieved May 24, 2025.
  20. ^ "My Husband by Paul Rudnick". Playing on Air. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  21. ^ Riefe, Jordan (September 18, 2017). "'Big Night': Theater Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  22. ^ Becker, Alida (September 17, 2009). "Jersey Boy". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 6, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  23. ^ "Paul Rudnick". The New Yorker. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
  24. ^ Rachel Martin (May 2, 2013). "Paul Rudnick On His 'Gorgeous' Adventure". Weekend Edition Sunday. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  25. ^ "Gorgeous - Paul Rudnick". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  26. ^ "Booklist Online: Leading Book Discovery". www.booklistonline.com. Retrieved June 2, 2025.
  27. ^ "Playing the Palace by Paul Rudnick: 9780593099414 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
  28. ^ "Farrell Covington and the Limits of Style by Paul Rudnick". www.publishersweekly.com. March 31, 2023. Retrieved June 2, 2025.
  29. ^ "Captcha". catalog.simonandschuster.com. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
  30. ^ Gross, Larry P.; Woods, James D. (1999), The Columbia Reader on Lesbians and Gay Men in Media, Society, and Politics, Columbia University Press, p. 328, ISBN 0-231-10447-2
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