Fact-checked by Grok 2 weeks ago

Rick Elice

Rick Elice is an American playwright and librettist renowned for crafting books for Broadway musicals that blend biographical storytelling with popular music, including the Tony Award-winning Jersey Boys.
Elice co-authored the book for Jersey Boys (2005) with Marshall Brickman, chronicling the rise of the Four Seasons; the production earned the 2006 Tony Award for Best Musical, the 2007 Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album, and the 2009 Olivier Award for Best New Musical. His subsequent works include the play Peter and the Starcatcher (2011), a prequel to Peter Pan that secured five Tony Awards in 2012, including Best Play, and the libretto for The Cher Show (2018), which explored the singer's career across decades. Before focusing on playwriting, Elice served as creative director at Serino Coyne, Inc. from 1982 to 2000, developing marketing for over 300 Broadway productions, and as a creative consultant for Walt Disney Studios from 1999 to 2009; he holds an MFA from Yale Drama School and was a teaching fellow at Harvard University. Elice's contributions extend to adaptations like The Addams Family (2010) and ongoing projects such as a musical based on The Princess Bride, emphasizing innovative narrative structures in commercial theater.

Early Life

Upbringing and Education

Rick Elice was born on November 17, 1956, in , , and raised in as one of two sons to parents who owned a furniture retail business. His father, though a often absent from home, was admired by Elice for practical skills like building a milkman's cart for his high school play and sketching designs. Elice's mother introduced him to theater at age three by taking him to a production of My Fair Lady, fostering an early encouragement from both parents toward artistic pursuits. He developed a strong affinity for musicals by Stephen Sondheim and Harold Prince, which Elice later credited with helping him navigate personal difficulties, including suicidal ideation while grappling with his homosexuality: "I had a bottle of pills in one hand and copies of ‘Company,’ ‘Follies’ and ‘A Little Night Music’ in the other." For his undergraduate studies, Elice enrolled at in the College Scholar Program, which permitted an independent major, flexible course selection across eight colleges, and completion of a in three years, graduating at age 19. He subsequently obtained a from the Yale School of Drama and, upon Yale graduation, immediately entered work as a stage actor. In 1980–1981, Elice served as a teaching fellow at , instructing on the of one day per week.

Personal Life

Relationships and Later Years

Elice was in a committed relationship with British actor and beginning in the early 1980s, spanning over three decades until Rees's death. The couple collaborated professionally on the 2012 production Peter and the , with Elice as and Rees as . They married in 2011 following the legalization of . Rees was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2015 and died on July 9 of that year at age 71, with Elice at his side. In response, Elice authored the Finding Roger: An Improbably Theatrical Love Story, published on October 3, 2017, detailing their shared life and theatrical endeavors. Following Rees's death, Elice channeled his grief into professional projects, including the book for the 2018 Broadway musical The Cher Show, which he credited with aiding his emotional recovery. He continued writing for theater, earning a Tony Award nomination in 2024 for the book of Water for Elephants. No public records indicate subsequent marriages or long-term partnerships.

Professional Career

Early Theater Involvement

Elice pursued acting after earning a BA from and an MFA from Yale School of Drama, where he trained specifically for a career on stage. Following graduation, he returned to and secured an early professional role in the 1981 Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park production of , appearing as one of the spirits. His acting career included off-Broadway work, such as portraying a 25-year-old porn star in Elaine May's comedy Adult Entertainment around 2003. Concurrently, from 1982 to 2000, Elice served as creative director at Serino Coyne Inc., a leading theatrical advertising agency, where he developed marketing campaigns for over 300 Broadway productions, ranging from A Chorus Line to The Producers. This role immersed him in the operational and promotional aspects of commercial theater, fostering connections that later informed his writing. During this period, Elice also worked as a teaching fellow in dramaturgy at Harvard University from 1980 to 1981, bridging his academic training with practical industry experience. By the early 2000s, he began transitioning toward playwriting, though his initial Broadway credit as a librettist came with Jersey Boys in 2005.

Breakthrough Productions

Elice co-wrote the book for Jersey Boys, a jukebox musical depicting the formation, success, and internal conflicts of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, collaborating with Marshall Brickman. The production originated at La Jolla Playhouse in 2004 before transferring to Broadway, where it opened on November 6, 2005, at the August Wilson Theatre under Des McAnuff's direction. Jersey Boys earned critical and commercial acclaim for its narrative structure, which divided the story into four acts narrated from each band member's perspective, blending biographical drama with the group's hits. The musical won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2006, along with four other Tonys, and a Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album in 2007; it later received the Olivier Award for Best New Musical in 2009. The show's longevity underscored its breakthrough impact, running for 4,642 performances until closing on January 15, 2017, making it one of Broadway's longest-running musicals at the time. Elice's script drew from extensive interviews with surviving band members and associates, emphasizing factual events like Tommy DeVito's gambling debts and the group's , while navigating legal challenges over rights to the ' catalog. This success marked Elice's transition from advertising executive—where he had marketed shows like —to prominent librettist, grossing over $1.2 billion worldwide through tours and international productions. Building on this momentum, Elice achieved another critical milestone with , a to adapted from and Ridley Pearson's novel, for which he wrote the play. Premiering in 2010 and transferring to at the Theatre on April 15, 2012, the production innovated with minimalistic staging, , and ensemble-driven to evoke the novel's origin tale of an boy acquiring flight via stardust. Directed by and , it garnered nine Tony Award nominations, including for Best Play, and won five, including Best Scenic Design and Best Costume Design. The play's inventive narrative and theatricality solidified Elice's versatility beyond formats, influencing subsequent adaptations like the 2015 .

Later Works and Adaptations

Elice co-wrote the book for the musical adaptation of The Addams Family, which premiered on Broadway on April 8, 2010, at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, drawing on Charles Addams' characters with songs by Andrew Lippa. Following this, he adapted Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson's 2006 novel Peter and the Starcatchers into the play Peter and the Starcatcher, with music by Wayne Barker; the production opened Off-Broadway in 2011 before transferring to Broadway's Brooks Atkinson Theatre on April 15, 2012, where it ran for 348 performances and earned five Tony Award nominations, including for Best Play. In 2018, Elice wrote the book for the The Cher Show, directed by Jason Moore, which chronicled 's career through three actresses portraying her at different stages and featured over 30 of her hits; it premiered on at the on December 3, 2018, after an out-of-town tryout, and received two nominations, including for Best Book of a Musical. More recently, Elice penned the book for the musical adaptation of Sara Gruen's 2006 novel , directed by Jessica Stone with music and lyrics by PigPen Theatre Co.; the production opened on at the on March 12, 2024, earning a nomination for Best Book of a Musical. Regarding adaptations of Elice's works, he and Marshall Brickman co-wrote the screenplay for the 2014 film version of , directed by and starring , which grossed over $67 million worldwide while retaining the stage musical's core narrative structure. Peter and the Starcatcher has seen widespread regional and international stagings, including productions licensed for schools and theaters globally, emphasizing its origins as a to J.M. Barrie's . Elice continues developing adaptations such as musical versions of , Smash, and , though these remain in workshops as of 2024.

Reception and Analysis

Critical Acclaim

Elice's for , co-written with Marshall Brickman, garnered significant praise upon its Broadway premiere on November 6, 2005, for effectively weaving into a gritty, character-driven narrative that balanced triumph and turmoil. of commended the show's "fluorescence" and the shimmering authenticity of its lead performance, noting how it captured the band's rise from blue-collar origins to stardom without romanticizing their flaws. The production's documentary-style structure was highlighted by critics for humanizing the group members' interpersonal conflicts and legal entanglements, contributing to its status as a commercial and artistic hit that ran for over 4,000 performances. For , which transferred to in 2012 after an run, Elice's adaptation of and Ridley Pearson's novel earned acclaim for its inventive, low-tech theatricality and origin-story reimagining of . Brantley described it as delivering "the most exhilarating storytelling" through an ensemble's mime, puppetry, and acrobatics, emphasizing how the script's resourceful minimalism evoked boundless imagination without relying on elaborate sets. Reviewers appreciated the play's vaudeville-inspired humor and emotional depth, with the narrative's focus on found family and adventure praised for engaging audiences across ages in a that honored yet subverted J.M. Barrie's classic. In The Cher Show (2018), Elice's book was noted by some critics for its celebratory tone and witty framing as a variety-show spanning 's career phases via three actresses portraying her. A Hollywood Reporter review lauded the script's laugh-out-loud humor amid exposition-heavy moments, crediting it with warmly honoring the icon's resilience and reinventions through campy, self-aware sequences. Similarly, for the 2024 musical , Elice's drew positive mentions for adapting Sara Gruen's novel into a Depression-era tale rich in romance and spectacle, with critics highlighting its narrative propulsion amid acrobatic elements.

Criticisms and Limitations

Some reviewers have critiqued Elice's librettos for prioritizing spectacle and musical integration over narrative depth or coherence, particularly in biographical jukebox musicals. For The Cher Show (2018), critics described the book as clunky and unfocused, with confusing dialogue among the three iterations of Cher that hindered character development and permitted only superficial exploration. Similarly, in Peter and the Starcatcher (2011), the script was faulted for its self-conscious style, which obscured the story's core amid elaborate staging and wordplay. Elice's work has also faced legal scrutiny over originality. In a 2016 federal jury trial, co-writers Elice and Marshall Brickman were found liable for copyright infringement in Jersey Boys (2005), with the verdict attributing 10% of the musical's success to unauthorized use of material from an unpublished biography by Dana Harrison. However, a Nevada district judge overturned the verdict in June 2017, ruling the use constituted fair use, a decision affirmed by the Ninth Circuit on grounds of non-infringement.

Awards and Recognition

Major Honors

Elice co-wrote the book for the musical with Marshall Brickman, which earned him the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical in 2006. The production's original cast album received the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album in 2007. Its London transfer won the Olivier Award for Best New Musical in 2009. For the play , which Elice adapted and co-wrote based on the novel by and , the production received the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play in 2011. The transfer garnered nine Tony Award nominations in 2012, including for Best Play and Best Original Score (shared with Wayne Barker), and secured five wins in categories such as direction and design.

Nominations and Other Accolades

Elice received Tony Award nominations for in the category of Best Book of a Musical in 2006. For in 2012, he was nominated for Best Play as author and for Best Original Score Written for the Theatre (collaborating with Wayne Barker on lyrics). His fourth Tony nomination came in 2024 for Best Book of a Musical for . In addition to Tony recognition, Elice earned a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Book of a Musical for in 2006. He has also received Lucille Lortel Award nominations for his contributions to productions including . Other accolades encompass nominations from organizations such as the Drama League, reflecting his ongoing influence in musical theater development, though these often pertain to production-level honors rather than individual categories.

References

  1. [1]
    Rick Elice - Broadway Licensing
    Current projects include The Princess Bride for Disney, and Smash for Robert Greenblatt, Neil Meron, and Steven Spielberg with Bob Martin; Monopoly, for Hasbro, ...Missing: playwright notable
  2. [2]
    Rick Elice - Theatrical Rights Worldwide
    On Broadway: Jersey Boys (Best Musical, 2006 Tony Award, 2007 Grammy Award and 2009 Olivier Award); The Addams Family; Peter and the Starcatcher (winner of ...Missing: biography notable
  3. [3]
    JERSEY BOYS - WINNER! 2006 TONY AWARD® BEST MUSICAL
    2006 TONY AWARD® BEST MUSICAL. JERSEY BOYS, written by Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice, with music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe, and directed by two-time ...Missing: achievements | Show results with:achievements
  4. [4]
    Rick Elice (Bookwriter, Book): Credits, Bio, News & More
    Rick Elice has written 8 shows including Jersey Boys (Bookwriter), The Addams Family (Bookwriter), Peter and the Starcatcher (Playwright), The Cher Show (Book), ...Missing: notable | Show results with:notable
  5. [5]
    Rick Elice - Playwright, Librettist - StageAgent
    Rick Elice · Explore this guide · Biography · The Addams Family · Peter and the Starcatcher · Jersey Boys · Shows · The Addams Family · The Addams Family: Young@Part.Missing: notable | Show results with:notable
  6. [6]
    Rick Elice - Playwright - Oregon Shakespeare Festival
    Playwright, Peter and the Starcatcher. Other theatres: Broadway: The Cher Show (Neil Simon Theatre); Peter and the Starcatcher (Brooks Atkinson Theatre); ...Missing: notable | Show results with:notable
  7. [7]
    'Peter and the Starcatcher' writer Rick Elice flying high
    Dec 4, 2013 · Elice was born in Manhattan and raised in Queens, one of two boys born to a furniture retailer who, though a workaholic and absentee father, ...
  8. [8]
    About the Playwright: Peter and the Starcatcher
    Elice has an impressive resume of theatre work. He wrote the popular thriller, Double Double with his partner Roger Rees (translated into sixteen languages), ...Missing: biography notable
  9. [9]
    Q&A with Rick Elice, writer of Peter and the Starcatcher, Jersey Boys
    Nov 5, 2013 · Elice co-wrote the book for the four-time Tony award-winning musical Jersey Boys as well as Peter and the Starcatcher, a five-time Tony award- ...Missing: playwright biography notable
  10. [10]
    The Broadway love story of two kings of the Great White Way
    Sep 28, 2017 · Elice began writing a memoir about their life together. “Finding Roger: An Improbably Theatrical Love Story” comes out on Tuesday.
  11. [11]
    Rick Elice to Pen Memoir of Late Husband Roger Rees
    May 5, 2017 · Elice and Rees married in 2011. They collaborated on the 2012 Broadway play Peter and the Starcatcher, with Elice as playwright and Rees as ...Missing: relationships | Show results with:relationships
  12. [12]
    Backstory | The New Yorker
    May 28, 2012 · 1979: Elice, a young actor out of the Yale School of Drama, wrote a letter to Trevor Nunn, then the artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare ...
  13. [13]
    Finding Roger, Rick Elice's Memoir of Late Husband Roger Rees, Is ...
    Oct 3, 2017 · Rick Elice's new memoir Finding Roger: An Improbably Theatrical Love Story, covering the 34 years spent with his late husband, the inimitable Tony winner Roger ...Missing: spouse | Show results with:spouse
  14. [14]
    Rick Elice Will Honor Roger Rees With Memoir Due This Fall | Playbill
    Rick Elice, husband of late Tony-winning stage actor and director Roger Rees, has authored a memoir of their 34-year relationship to be published October 3 by ...Missing: partner | Show results with:partner
  15. [15]
    In Bringing Cher's Life to the Stage, Writer Rick Elice Learns How to ...
    Jun 28, 2018 · His husband and partner of three decades, the Tony-winning actor, writer, and director Roger Rees, was dying of brain cancer. Family took ...Missing: relationships | Show results with:relationships
  16. [16]
    Water for Elephants' Tony-Nominated Writer Rick Elice Is Still ...
    May 14, 2024 · From aspiring actor to theatrical ad agency executive to four-time Tony-nominated writer of plays and musicals, Rick Elice has seen it all ...Missing: biography | Show results with:biography
  17. [17]
    Rick Elice: The Winding Road to Jersey | Broadway Buzz ...
    Who knew that he entered Yale Drama School after graduating from Cornell with the intention of becoming an actor? Or that he first worked with Jersey Boys ...
  18. [18]
    Open Book: JERSEY BOYS' Co-Bookwriter Rick Elice's Journey ...
    After graduating from Yale Drama School, Queens native Rick Elice came back to New York and in 1981 landed a Shakespeare In The Park gig in THE TEMPEST, as one ...Missing: early | Show results with:early
  19. [19]
    How the Story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons Went ... - Playbill
    Oct 11, 2017 · Before Rick Elice made his Broadway debut as a writer, he was an actor. Then, he became a copywriter at Serino Coyne, one of theatre's top ...Missing: biography early involvement
  20. [20]
    Jersey Boys - Theatrical Rights Worldwide
    Rick Elice. On Broadway: Jersey Boys (Best Musical, 2006 Tony Award, 2007 Grammy Award and 2009 Olivier Award); The Addams Family; Peter and the Starcatcher ...Missing: achievements | Show results with:achievements
  21. [21]
    Jersey Boys – Broadway Musical – Original | IBDB
    Based on the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. MusicalOriginalBroadway. Opening Date Nov 06, 2005. Closing Date Jan 15, 2017.
  22. [22]
    What Really Happened… Rick Elice Talks About The Jersey Boys ...
    Mar 2, 2022 · Jersey Boys was born when Elice, for many years the creative director of Broadway advertising agency Serino Coyne, was contacted by a former ...
  23. [23]
    https://www.playbill.com/article/how-the-story-of-frankie-valli-and-the-four-seasons-went-from-jersey-lore-to-broadway-hit
  24. [24]
    Peter and the Starcatcher | Music Theatre International
    The Tony-winning play, based on the best-selling novels, upends the century-old story of how a miserable orphan boy becomes the legendary Peter Pan.Missing: breakthrough | Show results with:breakthrough
  25. [25]
    Peter and the Starcatcher (Broadway, Brooks Atkinson Theatre, 2012)
    ... Rick Elice, with music by Wayne Barker. From marauding pirates and jungle tyrants to unwilling comrades and unlikely heroes, Peter and the Starcatcher ...<|separator|>
  26. [26]
    The Cher Show – Broadway Musical – Original | IBDB
    Book by Rick Elice; Music orchestrated by Daryl Waters; Music arranged by Daryl Waters; Dance Music Arrangements: Zane Mark and Daryl Waters; ...
  27. [27]
    How Jersey Boys Writer Rick Elice Reinvented Cher for Broadway
    Dec 1, 2018 · The Tony nominee shares the story of creating The Cher Show as a musical—and the bonding moment with the superstar he'll never forget.
  28. [28]
    https://www.broadwaylicensing.com/creators/rick-elice/
  29. [29]
    Jersey Boys - Review - Theater - The New York Times
    Nov 7, 2005 · John Lloyd Young as Frankie Valli shimmers like sunlight amid the fluorescence of "Jersey Boys," the musical biography of the Four Seasons.
  30. [30]
    Jersey Boys Becomes 13th Longest-Running Show in Broadway ...
    Jersey Boys opened on Broadway to critical acclaim Nov. 6, 2005, at the ... Jersey Boys is written by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, with music by ...
  31. [31]
    'Peter and the Starcatcher,' With Christian Borle - The New York Times
    Apr 15, 2012 · The extravagantly resourceful ensemble members of “Peter and the Starcatcher” have almost nothing in the way of modern machinery to support ...
  32. [32]
    Peter and the Starcatcher: Handmade Vaudeville - Critics At Large
    Jul 16, 2012 · The entrancing Peter and the Starcatcher, adapted by Rick Elice from the Dave Barry-Ridley Pearson novel, is an origin story for James Barrie's Peter Pan.
  33. [33]
    'The Cher Show' Theater Review - The Hollywood Reporter
    Dec 3, 2018 · As clunky and exposition-heavy as Elice's book often becomes, it's frequently laugh-out-loud funny and always warmly celebratory of its subject, ...<|control11|><|separator|>
  34. [34]
    Reviews: What Do Critics Think of Broadway's Water for Elephants?
    Mar 21, 2024 · Based on Sara Gruen's acclaimed novel, Water for Elephants features a book by Rick Elice (Peter and the Starcatcher) and music and lyrics by ...
  35. [35]
    THEATER REVIEW /// 'The Cher Show' Clothes don't make the musical
    Dec 15, 2023 · THEATER REVIEW /// 'The Cher Show' Clothes don't make the musical ... Rick Elice's clunky book doesn't permit it, and Bono disappears for ...<|separator|>
  36. [36]
    The Cher Show is Fantastically and Exactly What the Variety Show ...
    Jan 12, 2019 · The show ranked 1st among all variety shows and 22nd among all programs in its first season, while also receiving the most fan mail of any CBS program at the ...Missing: critical reception
  37. [37]
    Review: With a self-conscious script, Georgia Ensemble's “Peter and ...
    Mar 2, 2016 · Rick Elice's play, based on the book by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, was a hit on Broadway, garnering no less than five Tony awards.
  38. [38]
    Creators Of 'Jersey Boys' Found Guilty Of Copyright Infringement
    Nov 29, 2016 · A federal jury found that director Des McAnuff and writers Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice had copied substantial portions of another work ...
  39. [39]
    Jersey Boys Creators Guilty of Copyright Infringement | Playbill
    Nov 29, 2016 · News Jersey Boys Creators Guilty of Copyright Infringement A Nevada court finds that the show copied unlawfully from an unpublished biography.
  40. [40]
    Judge Overturns Verdict in Jersey Boys Copyright Infringement Case
    Jun 15, 2017 · A Nevada judge ruled that the creators of the Tony-winning musical are not guilty of copyright infringement.Missing: outcome | Show results with:outcome
  41. [41]
    Judge Overturns Jury's Verdict That 'Jersey Boys' Is a Copyright ...
    Jun 14, 2017 · A Nevada federal judge decided to vacate a jury's verdict of copyright infringement with a finding that the musical was a fair use of copyrighted material.
  42. [42]
    Rick Elice - Water for Elephants The Musical
    Four-time Tony Award, Drama Desk & Lortel nominee. Grammy, Olivier & Outer Critics Circle Award winner. Broadway: Smash, Water for Elephants, The Cher Show, ...<|separator|>
  43. [43]
    Jersey Boys: Wins Grammy Award - New York Theatre Guide
    Oct 19, 2017 · Winner of the 2006 Best Musical Tony Award about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Jersey Boys is written by Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice, ...<|control11|><|separator|>
  44. [44]
    Show History | Music Theatre International
    Rick Elice's Peter and the Starcatcher is based on the 2004 children's novel ... Peter and the Starcatcher is one of the first musicals to run Off ...
  45. [45]
    Rick Elice Tony Awards Wins and Nominations - Broadway World
    Hide nominations? Year, Category, Show, Noms. 2006 · Best Book of a Musical · Jersey Boys · 2012 · Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the ...
  46. [46]
    https://www.broadwayworld.com/tonyawardspersoninfo.php?nomname=Rick%20Elice
  47. [47]
    2012 Tony Nominees Roger Rees and Rick Elice Imagine ... - Playbill
    ... Rick Elice (Best Play) were nominated for 2012 Tony Awards for their work on the imagination-fueled ensemble piece Peter and the Starcatcher. Elice unfolds ...
  48. [48]
    2024 TONY AWARD® NOMINATIONS | The American Theatre ...
    Apr 30, 2024 · Water for Elephants. Rick Elice. Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre. Days of Wine and Roses. Music & Lyrics: Adam ...
  49. [49]
    Rick Elice (Writer) | Playbill
    Roles (6) ; Peter and the Starcatcher Playbill - Opening Night, Peter and the Starcatcher Opened April 15, 2012. Playwright ; Addams Family Playbill - Opening ...Missing: first | Show results with:first