Douglas Parker

For other people named Doug Parker, see Doug Parker (disambiguation).

Douglas M. Parker (born May 25, 1963) is a playwright best known for biographical and reality-based plays. His works include Thicker Than Water (2004), a drama based on the Andrea Yates murders; BESSIE: The Life and Music of Bessie Smith (2005), a play with music about the rise and fall of the great American blues singer; Life on the Mississippi (2006), a play about the young Samuel Clemens leaving home to learn about steamboat piloting, adapted from Mark Twain's autobiographical book of the same title;^[1] and Declarations (2007), a one-act play drawn from the letters of John and Abigail Adams from their earliest courtship through the summer of 1776.

Working as librettist and lyricist, Parker adapted his play Life on the Mississippi into a musical with composer Denver Casado. In October, 2008, Life on the Mississippi was named by the National Alliance for Musical Theatre as one of their Five Shows You Should Know. In January, 2009, Goodspeed Opera House presented the musical as one of three shows in their Festival of New Artists. In January, 2010, a shorter, young audience version of Life on the Mississippi premiered at the Coterie Theatre in Kansas City to positive reviews. In June, 2010, the full-length version premiered with a ten-week run at American Folklore Theatre in Wisconsin, where it received strong reviews.

Other works as librettist and lyricist with Denver Casado include an in-progress musical and two songs in the musical Everything About a Family.

Mr. Parker's works have been produced in theaters across the country. He is an alumnus of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop, and a member of ASCAP and the Dramatists Guild of America.

References

1. ^ Trussell, Robert (1 February 2010). "It's a Wonderful "Life on the Mississippi". Kansas City Star. http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:cUio9jd-IoIJ:www.coterietheatre.org/uploadedFiles/PDFs/Life%2520on%2520the%2520Mississippi%2520KC%2520Star%2520Review.doc+parker+casado+%22life+on+the+mississippi%22+kansas+city+star+robert+trussell&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShgXYoZ-VBMjZ-DL49htbl0F5biP2Qpz1pCYAdmZCDJb6U2FNxNPcRblAwa-9YHBCHJ5Fptqb6qJfTGBrmo-KnSxaksiMt_4a-7hSRg4YKNHaUw8FIdXHVra4bJvPAiH1xm7Mjr&sig=AHIEtbTfa1ShFEcTIflVxZbEtQRVrJT1jQ. Retrieved 19 May 2011. 

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Name	Parker, Douglas
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Date of birth	May 25, 1963
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