John Patrick Shanley To Receive Special WGA Award 2/7

Variety reports that John Patrick Shanley has been chosen to receive the Writers Guild of America East's Ian Mclellan Hunter Award for lifetime achievement in Writing.

He will be presented with his award at the 61st annual Writers Guild Awards ceremony on February 7th at the Hudson Theater.

Oscar, Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright-director John Patrick Shanley has brought his searing drama Doubt to the silver screen. Shanley wrote the screenplay and directs the film adaptation of his Tony winning hit. 

Shanley's first musical, "Romantic Poetry," recently played Off-Broadway at the Manhattan Theatre Club.

John Patrick Shanley's plays include Defiance; Danny and the Deep Blue Sea; Savage in Limbo; the dreamer examines his pillow; Beggars in the House of Plenty; Welcome to the Moon; Four Dogs and a Bone; Italian American Reconciliation; The Big Funk; Where's My Money; Dirty Story; Sailor's Song; and Romantic Poetry (a musical) which will open Manhattan Theatre Club's Fall season. His play DOUBT was awarded the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 2005 Tony Award for Best Play. In addition to his works for the stage, Shanley adapted the films Alive and Congo; his original screenplays include Five Corners, The January Man, Joe Versus the Volcano, and Moonstruck, for which he received an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

Doubt opened on Broadway on March 9th, 2005 and ran through July 2nd, 2006; it had originally played a hit run at Manhattan Theatre Club. With Tony-winning performances by Cherry Jones and Adriane Lenox, and Tony-nominated work by Brian F. O'Byrne, the show won the 2005 Tony Award for Best Play in addition to the Pulitzer Prize. Doug Hughes won a Tony for directing the play.

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