Arthur Kopit is an American playwright who became successful through his play OH DAD, POOR DAD, MAMMA’S HUNG YOU IN THE CLOSET AND I’M FEELIN’ SO SAD (1960), which won a Vernon Rice Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award when it transferred to Broadway. He originally wrote the play for a playwriting contest to win $250; little did he know that he would win so much more and become immediately well-known in the theatre community. Kopit is also known for his seven works that were published while he was a student, as well as other works written for Off-Broadway, including: BECAUSEHECAN (1999; originally titled Y2K), ROAD TO NIRVANA (1991), ASYLUM(1963), THE DAY THE WHORES CAME OUT TO PLAY TENNIS/SING TO ME THROUGH OPEN WINDOWS (1965), and WINGS (1978), which also moved to Broadway.

A three-time Tony nominated playwright and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, Kopit grew up in New York and attended Harvard University.  Some of his Broadway credits include: Indians (1969), Nine (1982), a new adaptation of Ibsen’s Ghosts (1982), End of the World, with Symposium to Follow (1984), and High Society (1998; score by Cole Porter, additional lyrics by Susan Birkenhead). Some of his one-acts include: The Questioning of Nick, Conquest of Everest, Good Help is Hard to Find, Success, and The Hero. A Dram of Drummhicit (written with Anton Dudley) was done at La Jolla Playhouse. Phantom (score by Maury Yeston) was written before the Webber hit on Broadway and is actively produced everywhere else. Kopit has also been a part of several television miniseries including: “Hands of a Stranger,” “In a Child’s Name,” and “Roswell.” His many awards include a Helen Merrill and William Inge Award for Distinguished Playwriting, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and an Award for Literature from the American Institute of Arts and Letters. Kopit has taught playwriting at the Yale School of Drama, Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, Wesleyan, the NYU Graduate Department of Dramatic Writing, and the Lark Play Development Center in New York City, heading the Playwrights’ Workshop.