Occupation Playwright Spouse Carol Weston Role Playwright | Name Rob (playwright) Nationality American | |
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Born Rob Ackerman December 1, 1958 (age 65) Columbus, Ohio ( 1958-12-01 ) Notable works Tabletop, Volleygirls, Call Me Waldo Books Call Me Waldo: A Transcendental Romance, Volleygirls: A Comedy Similar Theresa Rebeck, Carol Weston, Monica Raymund | ||
Rob Ackerman (born December 1, 1958) is a contemporary American playwright. His plays include Tabletop, which won the 2001 Drama Desk Award for Best Ensemble Performance,Volleygirls, which won NYMF Best in Fest, Call Me Waldo, Dropping Gumballs on Luke Wilson, and Harding.
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Early life and education
Ackerman was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. He is a graduate of Middlebury College, where he majored in Theater and Spanish. He earned his M.F.A. in Stage Directing at Northwestern University.
Career
Ackerman's first success was Tabletop, staged at the American Place Theatre in 2000. John Simon, writing for New York Magazine, called it "acidly funny" and "spot-on about the making of a T.V. commercial." Ackerman has since written Disconnect (2005, Working Theater, Classic Stage Company), Icarus of Ohio (2008, NYU Tisch School of the Arts), Volleygirls (2009, American Conservatory Theater), and Call Me Waldo (2012, Working Theater, Off Broadway and Kitchen Theater, Ithaca). His debut play, Origin of the Species, became a movie starring Amanda Peet, Michael Kelly, and Jean Louisa Kelly, and directed by Andrés Heinz, who wrote the original screenplay that became Black Swan. Ackerman won an award for Screenwriting at the Huntington International Independent Film Festival.
Monica Raymund has been developing a musical version of Volleygirls, under the direction of Neil Patrick Stewart with songs by Sam Forman and Eli Bolin. In July 2013, it was staged as part of the New York Musical Theater Festival where it won Best of Fest, Outstanding Ensemble, and Most Promising New Musical. It later received the New World Stages Development Award and was workshopped at the University of Florida in 2015. Ackerman and Forman have collaborated on a musical commissioned and produced by Grace Church School titled "In the Air" in 2016. They've also written a screenplay for the new MG/YA novel, "Speed of Life" (2017).
Ackerman's work has been published by Dramatists Play Service, Smith and Kraus, Vintage Books, and Playscripts, Inc. It has been nurtured and performed at Yaddo, Flux Theatre Ensemble, Access Theatre, At Hand Theatre, and Dorset Theatre Festival. For 25 years, he has also been the property master for the Saturday Night Live Film Unit, working on such shorts as "Complicit," "Conway" and "Karate Meet."
Personal life
He currently lives in Manhattan with his wife, author Carol Weston. They have two daughters and a cat named Mike.