Marsha Norman

Marsha Norman's picture
Lecturer Theater and Performance Studies
Address: 
469 College St, New Haven, CT 06511-6609

Marsha Norman won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for her play, ‘night, Mother, and has been co-chair, with Chris Durang, of the Playwriting Program at The Juilliard School for twenty years. Her newest projects include the book for the musical King Kong, and Special Report from the War on Girls, a play commissioned by the UN about trafficking and violence toward women worldwide.  She is currently represented on Broadway by the revival of The Color Purple, and nationally by the Bridges of Madison County 1st class tour, now playing at the Ahmanson.  Her most recent commission, from the Public Theater, is for another musical with Jason Robert Brown, based on the movie, Matewan, by John Sayles, tentatively scheduled for the Delacorte in the summer of 2017.  She is also working on a musical with Zoe Sarnak about women who dressed as soldiers and fought in the Civil War.  

She has a B.A and an M.A.T, from the University of Louisville, and holds 18 honorary degrees from American colleges and Universities.  She writes and lectures frequently on playwriting and the musical book.  Her published work includes The Fortune Teller, a novel, and Four Plays by Marsha Norman.  She was elected to membership in the Fellowship of Southern Writers and serves on the Governing Board of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.  She is also a friend of the Advisory Board of Samuel French.