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Tom Eyen

Shows · Tom Eyen

LyricistBook Writer 1940–1991

Tom Eyen (August 14, 1940 – May 26, 1991) was an American playwright, lyricist, television writer and director. He received a Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for Dreamgirls in 1981. Eyen is best known for works at opposite ends of the theatrical spectrum. Mainstream theatergoers became acquainted with him in 1981, when he partnered with composer Henry Krieger and director Michael Bennett to write the book and lyrics for the hit Broadway musical Dreamgirls, about an African-American female singing trio, which was made into a 2006 film. Eyen's career started, however, with experimental theatre that he wrote and directed off-off Broadway in the 1960s. This led to his off-Broadway success…

Also credited on1 work

Dreamgirls

These come off the person record, which names a work and not a production. So we can say this name is attached to the work and we cannot say which staging, or in what capacity. For a composer or a writer that is the whole career we hold; there is no cast list to find them in.

In the literature8 passages

  • Tom Eyen, lyricist, and Henry Krieger, composer, who had successes in The Tap Dance Kid and Dreamgirls work differently from Strouse and Adams. They don’t write the genesis of their songs apart and then complete them together; they start, and go through the whole process together. Krieger says:ebooks/Citron, Stephen/Musical From the Inside Out, The - Stephen Citron.txt
  • However, Yeston’s victory over the Dreamgirls score—Henry Krieger’s music and Tom Eyen’s lyrics—was impressive. Not only was Dreamgirls’ score massive, offering virtual wall-to-wall music, but it also had a powerhouse hit single: Jennifer Holliday’s first-act ending aria “And I Am Telling You, I Am Not Going.” Much of the nation knew it.ebooks/Filichia, Peter/B007L4OWCU EBOK - Peter Filichia.txt
  • Book writer/lyricist Tom Eyen handled that scene brilliantly. Manager Curtis Taylor, Jr. (Ben Harney), told the Dreamettes that he’d signed a contract for better engagements, higher pay, and improved living conditions. Only after they were all excited about the good news did he deliver the catch: Effie and Deena would be changing places.…ebooks/Filichia, Peter/Strippers, Showgirls, and Sharks - Peter Filichia.txt
  • Tom Eyen, a writer known for camp epics, was brought in to help with the book and replace original director Ron Link. Grover Dale came in to “supervise” Tony Stevens’ choreography. The result was a mess, closer to the shows Eyen and drag queen Jackie Curtis were then doing off-off-Broadway than to a Broadway musical. There were flashes of…ebooks/Mandelbaum, Ken/Not Since Carrie_ Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops - Ken Mandelbaum.txt
  • I don’t remember. I do remember that it was very difficult coming back into New York with it and not having Michael Bennett, Michael Peters, Tom Eyen, Larry Riley, a whole host of other people who had passed away. It was difficult.ebooks/Shapiro, Eddie/Nothing Like a Dame_ Conversations with the Great Women of Musical Theater - Eddie Shapiro.txt
  • Dreamgirls was another story entirely. Initiated by the composer Krieger and the lyricist-librettist (and initially the director) Tom Eyen, as a musical about the world of black pop/soul backup singers, the show would only deepen with age. Krieger, a Westchester boy, largely self-taught as a musician, had been a press agent for black soul…ebooks/Singer, Barry/Ever After_ The Last Years of Musical Theater and Beyond - Barry Singer.txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

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