Tom Eyen (August 14, 1940 – May 26, 1991) was an American playwright, lyricist, television writer and director. He received a Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for Dreamgirls in 1981.
Eyen is best known for works at opposite ends of the theatrical spectrum. Mainstream theatergoers became acquainted with him in 1981, when he partnered with composer Henry Krieger and director Michael Bennett to write the book and lyrics for the hit Broadway musical Dreamgirls, about an African-American female singing trio, which was made into a 2006 film. Eyen's career started, however, with experimental theatre that he wrote and directed off-off Broadway in the 1960s. This led to his off-Broadway success with The Dirtiest Show in Town (1970), a musical revue with nudity, and Women Behind Bars (1975), a camp parody of women's prison exploitation films.Review: Women Behind Bars, The New York Times, 1984Review: Women Behind Bars in San Francisco, TalkinBroadway.com Eyen died of AIDS-related complications in Palm Beach, Florida at the age of 50.
Early life and education Eyen was born in Cambridge, Ohio, the youngest of six children. His father and mother, Julia Eyen, owned and ran a family restaurant.Holden, Stephen. "Tom Eyen, 50, Prolific Playwright Specializing in Off Off Broadway", The New York Times, May 28, 1991. Eyen's interest in musical theatre began by the age of 11."A tribute to central Ohio's Tom Eyen, Dreamgirls creator", The Columbus Dispatch, February 12, 2010 He attended Ohio State University but left before graduating. Eyen moved to New York City in 1960 to study acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts from 1961 to 1962, again leaving before completing the program, but discovering his interest in writing plays.Wendell (2005), p. 133 Later, Eyen would sometimes make outlandish or humorous claims about his background.Wendell (2005), p. 135
Career
1960 to 1970 Eyen sought acting roles without success, and worked briefly as a press agent, before he began writing for the theatre.Stewart, Ellen. "The 60's", Ellen's Blog: A History of La Mama, accessed March 20, 2018 He found an artistic home in the 1960s off-off-Broadway Experimental theatre scene, based at Caffe Cino and La MaMa Experimental Theatre Company. He gave Bette Midler her first professional acting roles in Miss Nefertiti Regrets and Cinderella Revisited. Both were produced in 1965, a children's play during the daytime and an adult show by night.Corliss, Richard. "That Old Feeling: Best Bette Yet", Time magazine, March 17, 2004, accessed March 20, 2018 With a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, Eyen formed his own theatrical company, the Theatre of the Eye Repertory, in 1964. The company performed for a decade, and took Eyen's play about Sarah Bernhardt, Sarah B. Divine!, to the Spoleto Festival in Italy in 1967. Eyen's work was central to the 1960s neo-expressionist off-off-Broadway movement. The New York Times wrote in 1984, "His plays are known for emotionally grotesque material combined with sharp satire."Frank, Leah D. "Prison Satire with Bitter Laughs", May 27, 1984, p. L-11, accessed March 20, 2018
Eyen was prolific, writing, and usually directing, 35 plays at La MaMa alone during the 1960s and 1970s. His early off-off-Broadway plays, other than those noted above, included: Happening at the Cafe (1964; La MaMa; written by Ruth Landshoff, directed by Eyen)La MaMa Archives Digital Collections, "Production: Happening at the Cafe (1964)", accessed March 21, 2018 My Next Husband Will Be A Beauty! (1964; La MaMa; written and directed by Eyen)La MaMa Archives Digital Collections, "Production: My Next Husband Will Be A Beauty! (1964)", accessed March 21, 2018 Frustrata (1964; La MaMa; written and directed by Eyen)La MaMa Archives Digital Collections, "Production: Frustata (1964)", accessed March 21, 2018 The White Whore and the Bit Player (1964; La MaMa; written and directed by Eyen)La MaMa Archives Digital Collections, "Production: The White Whore and the Bit Player (1964)", accessed March 21, 2018 Why Hanna's Skirt Won't Stay Down (1964) Frustata, The Dirty Little Girl with the Paper Rose Stuck in Her Head, Is Demented! (1965) Can't You See a Prince? (1965) The Last Great Cocktail Party (1965) The Demented World Of Tom Eyen (1965) Why Hanna's Skirt Won't Stay Down; or, Admission 10c (1965; La MaMa; written and directed by Eyen)La MaMa Archives Digital Collections, "Production: Why Hanna's Skirt Won't Stay Down (1965)", accessed March 21, 2018 Miss Nefertiti Regrets (1965; La MaMa; written and directed by Eyen)La MaMa Archives Digital Collections, "Production: Miss Nefertiti Regrets (1965)", accessed March 21, 2018 Give My Regards to Off-Off Broadway (1966; La MaMa; written by Eyen, directed by Ron Link)La MaMa Archives Digital Collections, "Production: Give My Regards to Off-Off Broadway (1966)", accessed March 21, 2018 Court (1967) Sarah B. Divine! (1967) Grand Tenement/November 22nd (1967) The (An Organic Happening) (1968) Who Killed My Bald Sister Sophie? Or, Thank God for Small Favours! (1968) When Johnny Comes Dancing Home Again (1968) Alice Through a Glass Lightly (1968) 4 Noh Plays by Tom Eyen (1969) Caution: A Love Story (1969) Kama Sutra (date unknown)
The title character in Why Hanna's Skirt Won't Stay Down has been described as representative of the crudeness, exuberance, decadence and profundity of the movement and the period.Why Hannah's Skirt Won't Stay Down, LaMaMa.org (2005)
1970 to 1980 In 1970, Eyen had his biggest commercial success to date with The Dirtiest Show in Town, a satirical response to, and example of, the period's plays depicting nudity and sexual situations. The Dirtiest Show in Town initially ran at the Astor Place Theatre for two seasons, with later runs both off-Broadway in New York and in London's West End. He also wrote the song "Ode to a Screw" with Peter Cornell for the 1971 Miloš Forman film Taking Off. Eyen's other shows in the early 1970s included: The Dirtiest Show in Town (1970; La MaMa, before transferring to Astor Place Theatre; written and directed by Eyen)La MaMa Archives Digital Collections, "Production: Dirtiest Show in Town, The (1970)", accessed March 21, 2018 Areatha in the Ice Palace; Or, The Fully Guaranteed Fuck-Me Doll (1970) Gertrude Stein and Other Great Men (1970) Lana Got Laid In Lebanon (1970) What Is Making Gilda so Gray?; Or, It Just Depends on Who You Get (1970; La MaMa; written by Eyen, directed by Neil Flanagan)La MaMa Archives Digital Collections, "Production: What is Making Gilda So Gray? (1970)", accessed March 21, 2018 The Death of Off-Broadway Or: Money (Sieg Heil!) (A Street Play) (1970; directed by Eyen and Gerald Miller, a play on the streets of New York beginning in front of the Astor Place Theatre, progressing to other off-Broadway theaters, and ending at the Theatre de Lys)Concord Theatricals, The White Whore And The Bit Player (1971) Three Drag Queens from Daytona (1973; La MaMa; written by Eyen, directed by Neil Flanagan)La MaMa Archives Digital Collections, "Production: Three Drag Queens from Daytona (1973)", accessed March 21, 2018 The White Whore and the Bit Player / La Estrella y La Monja (1973; multilingual production) 2008: A Spaced Oddity (1974; La MaMa; written by Eyen, music by Gary William Friedman)La MaMa Archives Digital Collections, "Production: 2008 1/2 (A Spaced Odyssey) (1973)", accessed March 21, 2018
According to The New York Times, "Eyen was called the Neil Simon of off-off-Broadway at one point when he had four plays running simultaneously." In 1973, Eyen co-wrote the book for and directed one of Broadway's most notorious flops, the Paul Jabara disco musical Rachael Lily Rosenbloom (And Don't You Ever Forget It), which closed after seven previews. The lead character, a flamboyant entertainer, was inspired by Midler, who was apparently offered and refused the role. Following this setback, Eyen began commuting to Los Angeles to write for television and films. In 1974, he became one of the first well-known writers to write a hardcore pornographic film. He contributed writing to the 1976/1977 satirical soap opera Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, produced by Norman Lear. In 1978, Eyen earned an Emmy Award nomination for writing Midler's first television special, Ol' Red Hair is Back.
Eyen's campy and disturbing parody of 1950s women's prison exploitation films, Women Behind Bars, became a major off-Broadway hit in 1975. Pat Ast first played the lead role of the sadistic matron in drag, followed by Divine. The New York Times called it "an extraordinarily interesting work from one of America's most innovative and versatile playwrights." Eyen followed this success with The Neon Woman, another off-Broadway play starring Divine, in 1978. The New York Times wrote, "His plays are known for emotionally grotesque material combined with sharp satire." In 1980, Eyen directed a film version of The Dirtiest Show In Town for Showtime, making it the first made-for-cable television movie. The film featured John Wesley Shipp.Broadway on Showtime: The Dirtiest Show In Town, British Film Institute database
In 1976, he appeared in Rosa von Praunheim's documentary film about New York's SoHo theatre and arts scene in the 1970s, Underground and Emigrants."Underground and Emigrants: Credits", Turner Classic Movies, accessed March 13, 2022
Dreamgirls and later work Eyen and Henry Krieger first worked together on the 1975 musical version of The Dirtiest Show in Town, called The Dirtiest Musical in Town.Tallmer, Jerry. "Oscar dreaming", TheVillager.com, Vol. 76, No. 38, February 14–20, 2007, archived July 15, 2018 Nell Carter's performance in that musical inspired Eyen and Krieger to craft a musical about a black singing trio, which they workshopped for Joe Papp with Carter, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and Loretta Devine. The project was shelved in 1978 when Carter took a role in a soap opera.Aufderheide, Jeremy. Dreamgirls: Your virtual coffee-table book of the musical. Accessed July 16, 2010. A year later, the project caught the interest of Broadway director-producer Michael Bennett, who asked Eyen to direct a workshop production of Big Dreams, as the musical was then named, featuring Ralph, Loretta Devine, and gospel singer Jennifer Holliday as Carter's replacement. However, Holliday left the project, unhappy that her character died at the conclusion of the first act. After several workshops and numerous rewrites, Bennett decided that the production needed Holliday, and the team rewrote act two to build up Holliday's character.Hill, Jeremy. "Pre-Broadway. Dreamgirls: Your Virtual Coffee Table Book of the Musical.
Produced on Broadway in 1981, Dreamgirls was the biggest commercial success of Eyen's career. It was nominated for thirteen Tony Awards, including two for Eyen: Best Book and Best Original Score. The show won six Tonys, including Best Book. It also earned Eyen a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Lyrics. The original cast album won Eyen a Grammy Award as lyricist, and one of the show's songs, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going", as sung by Holliday, became a #1 hit on the Billboard R&B chart."Jennifer Holliday: Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs", Billboard. Retrieved August 17, 2025 In 1984, Eyen sought to duplicate his Dreamgirls success with Kicks: The Showgirl Musical, a collaboration with composer Alan Menken about the Rockettes during World War II. The show never made it past the workshop stage, though individual numbers from the show have been performed in concert.Ostrow, Stuart (2005). Present at the Creation, Leaping in the Dark, and Going Against the Grain, pp. 117–188