Although
Arthur Laurents returned to Hollywood to work on such films as The Way
We Were (1973) and The Turning Point (1977), he lived contentedly with
his lover, Tom Hatcher, on a beachfront property in Quogue, Long Island,
from 1955 under Hatcher's death in 2006.

This is the forty-ninth post in a series highlighting the best gay and
lesbian
authors from the 20th century (with a few before and after that period)
who have recorded in fiction, and nonfiction, the history of gay people
telling what life is, and was, during an important time of history.

Playwright,
librettist, screenwriter, and director, Arthur Laurents brought an
independent sensibility to some of the most important works of stage and
screen in the post-World War II era.

Laurents
was born July 14, 1918 in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn to
middle-class Jewish parents from whom he inherited socialist leanings.
Following graduation from Cornell University, Laurents served during
World War II in an army film production unit in Astoria where he wrote
scripts designed to educate servicemen going overseas, as well as radio
plays intended to foster civilian support for the war.

The
success of Laurents' first commercially produced play, Home of the
Brave (1945)--written in nine days and critically applauded for
addressing the issue of anti-Semitism in the armed forces--encouraged
him to move to Hollywood, then in its heyday.

   



In
the film industry, Laurents quickly became known for his deftness with
psychological themes. He wrote the scripts for The Snake Pit (1948), the
story of a woman's emotional collapse and recovery, set in a mental
asylum with scenes considered shockingly realistic at the time; and for
Alfred Hitchcock's Rope (1948), a psychological thriller with a powerful
homosexual subtext, which starred Laurents' then-lover, Farley Granger.

He
returned to New York where he enjoyed success as a playwright (Time of
the Cuckoo, 1952; A Clearing in the Woods, 1957; Jolson Sings Again,
1999), librettist (West Side Story, 1957; Gypsy, 1959; Anyone Can
Whistle, 1964; Do I Hear a Waltz?, 1965; Hallejulah, Baby!, 1967; Nick
and Nora, 1992), and director (I Can Get It for You Wholesale, 1962; the
1973 London premiere and 1989 Broadway revival of Gypsy; La Cage aux
Folles, 1983).

Laurents' experience of discrimination as both a
Jew and a gay man--intensified by his experience during the Hollywood
blacklist period--infuses his work with a strong social conscience.

Laurents
is at his best when depicting a female character's search for
liberation from the social strictures that demand conformity. In Gypsy,
Rose angrily protests to her father that her own two daughters will
"have a marvelous time! I'll be damned if I'm gonna let them sit away
their lives like I did. And like you do--with only the calendar to tell
you one day is different from the next!"


Laurents' most
daring decision was to focus Gypsy not on the title character on whose
memoirs the play was based, but on Gypsy Rose Lee's mother, making the
play the portrait of a woman so determined to break free of the humdrum
that she is unaware of the moral monster that she becomes in the
process.


In 2000, Laurents published Original Story by
Arthur Laurents: A Memoir of Broadway and Hollywood, in which he
discusses not only his stage and film work, but also his romantic
relationships, including those with Farley Granger and, especially, with
Tom Hatcher.
Hatcher's death on October 2006 marked the end of the couple's 52-year relationship.
Following
his recovery from the depression that attended Hatcher's death,
Laurents returned to his work with a vigor that is astonishing for a man
of his age.
His revival of Gypsy, starring Patti LuPone, was widely
acclaimed. It earned him a Tony Award for Best Director of a Musical in
2008 (an honor he had also earned earlier for his direction of La Cage
aux Folles in 1984).
Laurents followed that success with a
controversial revival of West Side Story, distinguished by its emphasis
on acting rather than singing and dancing and its bilingualism.
In
2009, Laurents published a new memoir, Mainly on Directing: "Gypsy,"
"West Side Story" and Other Musicals, in which he examines the musicals
he directed as well as the work of other directors. He also discusses
his long love affair with Hatcher, and his platonic relationships with
the actors he has directed.


In 2009, Laurents also premiered
his newest play, New Year's Eve. Starring Keith Carradine and Marlo
Thomas, the work examines the ambiguous sexuality of a somewhat jaded
New York theatrical family.]
Raymond-Jean Frontain
Work
The Snake Pit (1948)
Libretti
West Side Story - 1957 - Tony Nomination for Best Musical
Gypsy - 1959 - Tony Nomination for Best Musical
Anyone Can Whistle - 1964
Do I Hear a Waltz? - 1965
Hallelujah, Baby! - 1967 - Tony Award for Best Musical
The Madwoman of Central Park West - 1979
Nick & Nora - 1991
Direction
Invitation to a March - 1960
I Can Get It for You Wholesale - 1962
Anyone Can Whistle - 1964
Gypsy - 1974 - Tony Nomination for Best Direction of a Musical
The Madwoman of Central Park West - 1979
La Cage aux Folles - 1983 - Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical
Nick & Nora - 1991
Gypsy - 2008 - Tony Award nomination as Best Director of a Musical
West Side Story - 2009 Broadway Revival
Plays
Home of the Brave - 1945
The Bird Cage - 1950
The Time of the Cuckoo - 1952
A Clearing in the Woods - 1957
Invitation to a March - 1960
west side story 1960
[Additional credits
Anna Lucasta (screenwriter)
A Clearing in the Woods (playwright)
Invitation to a March (playwright, director)
The Madwoman of Central Park West (playwright, director)
My Good Name (playwright)
Jolson Sings Again (playwright)
The Enclave (playwright, director)
Radical Mystique (playwright, director)
Big Potato (playwright)
Two Lives (playwright)
My Good Name (playwright)
Claudia Lazlo (playwright)
Attacks on the Heart (playwright)
2 Lives (playwright)
New Year's Eve (playwright)
Come Back, Come Back, Wherever You Are (playwright, director)
Rope (playwright)
Awards, nominations and honors
A
new award has been established in 2010, The Laurents/Hatcher Foundation
Award. This will be awarded annually "for an un-produced, full-length
play of social relevance by an emerging American playwright." The
Laurents/Hatcher Foundation will give $50,000 to the writer with a grant
of $100,000 towards production costs at a nonprofit theatre. The first
award will be given in 2011.
Theatre
1958 Tony Award for Best Musical (West Side Story, nominee)
1960 Tony Award for Best Musical (Gypsy, nominee)
1968 Tony Award for Best Musical (Hallelujah, Baby!, winner)
1975 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical (Gypsy, winner)
1975 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical (Gypsy, nominee)
1984 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical (La Cage aux Folles, winner)
2008 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical (Gypsy, nominee)
Film
Academy Award for Best Picture (The Turning Point, nominee)
Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay (The Turning Point, nominee)
Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay (Rope, nominee)
Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay (The Turning Point, nominee)
Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay (The Way We Were, nominee; The Turning Point, winner)
National Board of Review Award for Career Achievement (winner)