William M. Hoffman

William M. Hoffman (born 1939) is an American playwright, editor, and educator.

Biography

New York City native Hoffman's earliest works either were mounted in small, experiemental off-off-Broadway theaters or remained unproduced. It was not until 1985 that he achieved critical acclaim and public recognition when "As Is", one of the first plays to focus on the AIDS epidemic, opened in New York City at the Lyceum Theatre, where it ran for 285 performances. Hoffman won a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play and a Tony Award nomination for Best Play. The following year, he adapted the work for a television production directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg.

In 1991, Hoffman was commissioned to write the libretto for the Metropolitan Opera's "The Ghosts of Versailles" in celebration of the company's centennial. A 1993 televised production starred Teresa Stratas, Renée Fleming, and Graham Clark, whose performance earned him an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Classical Music/Dance Programming.

As an editor at Hill and Wang, Hoffman promoted the careers of Lanford Wilson, Tom Eyen, and Joe Orton, among others, by including their plays in either his New American Plays series or his anthology, "Gay Plays: A First Collection".

Hoffman currently is an Associate Professor of Journalism, Communications, and Theatre at City University of New York.

Published plays

Listed in alphabetical order followed by the year they were first produced
* "As Is" - 1985
* "A Book of Etiquette" - 1978
* "The Cherry Orchard, Part II" - 1983
* "Children's Crusade" - 1972
* "Cornbury" (with Anthony Holland) - 1979
* "From Fool to Hanged Man" - 1972
* "Giles De Rais" - 1975
* "Good Night, I Love You" - 1966
* "Gulliver's Travels" - 1978
* "Incantation" - 1967
* "Luna" - 1970
* "A Quick Nutbread to Make Your Mouth Water" - 1970
* "Saturday Night at the Movies" - 1966
* "Shoe Palace Murray" - 1978
* "Thank You, Miss Victoria" - 1965
* "xxx" (aka "Nativity Play") - 1969

Other Credits

*One Life to Live (script writer, mid 1990s)

Awards & Acclaim

*Daytime Emmy Award (Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team - OLTL - 1992)

This nomination was shared with Michael Malone (Head Writer), Craig Carlson (co-head writer), Margaret DePriest (head writer), Josh Griffith, Alan Bernstein, Dorothy Gilbert Goldstein, Eleanor Labine, Mel Brez, Ethel Brez, Jeanne Glynn, Jeffrey Sweet, Neal Bell, Becky Cole, Lloyd Gold,

*Writers Guild of America Award (Best Writing, OLTL, 1996)

External links

* [http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsH/hoffman-william-m.html Doolee: W. M. Hoffman]