Kenneth Elliott
Chair, Department of Fine Arts
Associate Professor of Theater
Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles
kenneth.elliott@rutgers.edu
(856) 225-6244
Fine Arts Building, Rm. 205
Biography
Kenneth Elliott co-authored and directed Devil Boys from Beyond, which won the Outstanding Play Award at the 2009 New York International Fringe Festival, and transferred to a commercial Off-Broadway run at New World Stages (published by Samuel French). His work as a professional director includes major revivals of Mart Crowley’s The Boys in the Band in New York (Lucille Lortel Theatre) and London (Aldwych Theatre) and over 20 Off-Broadway shows in New York.
He staged Rusty Magee and Charles Busch’s musical The Green Heart at Manhattan Theatre Club (Outer Critics Circle Nomination), and Aviva Jane Carlin’s acclaimed one-woman show Jodie’s Body at the Arclight Theatre. He is best known for co-founding Theatre-in-Limbo with Charles Busch, and directing, producing, and sometimes acting in the original productions of Mr. Busch’s Off Broadway comedies such as Psycho Beach Party, Times Square Angel, The Lady in Question, Red Scare on Sunset, and Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, which played more than 2000 performances at the venerable Provincetown Playhouse and became the longest running non-musical in the history of Off-Broadway.
Other New York credits include You Should Be So Lucky (Primary Stages), Charles Busch’s Flipping My Wig, Grotesque Lovesongs by Don Nigro (WPA Theatre), the World War II songfest Swingtime Canteen (Blue Angel), James Duff’s comedy A Quarrel of Sparrows (Promenade Theatre), Julie Halston’s Lifetime of Comedy (Actor’s Playhouse), Todd Rundgren’s Up Against It, Zero Positive by Harry Kondoleon (Public Theatre), and Chris Durang and Wendy Wasserstein’s When Dinah Shore Ruled the Earth (Playwrights Horizons). In Los Angeles he directed Vampire Lesbians at the Coronet Theatre, Dearly Departed at the Court Theatre (Drama-logue Award), Falling in Love Again at the Santa Monica Playhouse and the original production of Charles Busch’s comedy-thriller Die! Mommy! Die! at the Coast Playhouse.
Regional theatre credits include The Asolo Theatre Center, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Denver Center, The Wilma Theatre, Bay Street Theatre Festival, Prince Music Theatre, the Cape Playhouse, and The Cleveland Play House. He can be seen in the documentary film The Lady in Question is Charles Busch, which has been shown on the Sundance Channel. He received a B.S. and M.A. in theatre from Northwestern University.
After earning his Ph.D. in theatre from UCLA in 2004, he taught for three years at California State University at Bakersfield before coming to Rutgers. He has published in Text and Presentation and Theatre Journal, and two of his essays on Tennessee Williams have been featured in the Critical Insights Series published by Salem Press. His university theatre productions have included The Glass Menagerie, A Doll’s House, Measure for Measure, Romeo and Juliet, The Importance of Being Earnest, Little Shop of Horrors, Clybourne Park, Dracula, Tartuffe, Angels in America, ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore, Electricidad, and Proof.