HISCHAK, Thomas S. 1951-

PERSONAL: Born November 17, 1951, in Rochester, NY; son of Thomas M. (an engineer) and Helen (a homemaker; maiden name, LoMaglio) Hischak; married Catherine Nieland, May 22, 1976; children: Mark, Karen. Ethnicity: "White." Education: St. Louis University, B.A., 1973; Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, M.F.A., 1978.

ADDRESSES: Home—2968 Route 215, Cortland, NY 13045. Office—Department of Performing Arts, State University of New York College at Cortland, Cortland, NY 13045. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer and educator. Point Park College, Pittsburgh, PA, instructor, 1978–82; Delaware Theater Company, Wilmington, worked in audience development, 1982–83; State University of New York College at Cortland, Cortland, professor of theater, 1983–.

MEMBER: Dramatists Guild, Phi Kappa Phi.

AWARDS, HONORS: Outstanding Academic Book citation, Choice, 1995, for The American Musical Theatre Song Encyclopedia; Stanley Drama Award for playwriting, 1996, for Cold War Comedy; Chancellor's Award for excellence in scholarship and creative activity, State University of New York System, 2004.

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION

Word Crazy: Broadway Lyricists from Cohan to Sondheim, Praeger (New York, NY), 1991.

Stage It with Music: An Encyclopedic Guide to the American Musical Theatre, Greenwood Press (Westport, CT), 1993.

The American Musical Theatre Song Encyclopedia, Greenwood Press (Westport, CT), 1995.

The Theatregoer's Almanac: A Collection of Lists, People, History, and Commentary on the American Theatre, Greenwood Press (Westport, CT), 1997.

The American Musical Film Song Encyclopedia, Greenwood Press (Westport, CT), 1999.

Film It with Music: An Encyclopedic Guide to the American Movie Musical, Greenwood Press (Westport, CT), 2000.

American Theatre: A Chronicle of Comedy and Drama, 1969–2000, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2001.

The Tin Pan Alley Song Encyclopedia, Greenwood Press (Westport, CT), 2002.

Boy Loses Girl: Broadway's Librettists, Scarecrow Press (Lanham, MD), 2002.

Enter the Players: New York Actors in the Twentieth Century, Scarecrow Press (Lanham, MD), 2003.

Through the Screen Door: What Happened to the Broadway Musical When It Went to Hollywood, Scarecrow Press (Lanham, MD), 2004.

(With Gerald Bordman) The Oxford Companion to American Theatre, 3rd edition, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2004.

American Plays and Musicals on Screen: 650 Stage Productions and Their Film and Television Adaptations, McFarland and Co. (Jefferson, NC), 2005.

Theatre as Human Action: An Introduction to Theatre Arts, Rowman & Littlefield (Lanham, MD), 2006.

Enter the Playmakers: Directors and Choreographers on the New York Stage, Scarecrow Press (Lanham, MD), 2006.

Contributor to reference books, including Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians; The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales, Oxford University Press (New York, NY); Encyclopedia of American Regional Cultures; Grolier's Encyclopedia of Modern Drama; and Dictionary of Literary Biography, Gale (Detroit, MI).

PLAYS

The Dolls of Poplar House, Dramatic Publishing (Chicago, IL), 1979.

Murder by Membership Only, I. E. Clark (Schulenburg, TX), 1980.

A Christmas Carol (based on the novel by Charles Dickens), Pioneer Drama Service (Denver, CO), 1981.

The Gift of the Magi (based on the short story by O. Henry), Pioneer Drama Service (Denver, CO), 1984.

Murder in Bloom, Pioneer Drama Service (Denver, CO), 1985.

A New Style for Murder, Samuel French (New York, NY), 1992.

Murder on Reserve, Samuel French (New York, NY), 1994.

Murder by the Book, Walter H. Baker (Boston, MA), 1995.

Little Women (based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott), I. E. Clark (Schulenburg, TX), 1995.

Cold War Comedy, 1996.

Tiny Tim's Christmas (based on characters created by Charles Dickens), Pioneer Drama Service (Denver, CO), 1997.

Rutherford Wolf, Walter H. Baker (Boston, MA), 1997.

The Phony Physician, Walter H. Baker (Boston, MA), 1997.

Willabella Witch's Last Spell, Walter H. Baker (Boston, MA), 1999.

Cinderella, Inc., Baker's Plays (Boston, MA), 2000.

Jane Eyre (based on the novel by Charlotte Bronte), I. E. Clark (Schulenburg, TX), 2000.

The Odyssey (adaptation), Baker's Plays (Boston, MA), 2001.

Tartuffe (adaptation), Pioneer Drama Service (Denver, CO), 2001.

Cursed Be He Who Moves My Bones, Baker's Plays (Boston, MA), 2002.

A Doll's House (based on the play by Henrik Ibsen), I. E. Clark (Schulenburg, TX), 2003.

Popularity, Brooklyn Publishers (Odessa, TX), 2004.

Ladies, Sigh No More, Brooklyn Publishers (Odessa, TX), 2004.

David Copperfield (based on the novel by Charles Dickens), Dramatic Publishing (Chicago, IL), 2005.

Twice the Usual Number of Suspects, Baker's Plays (Boston, MA), 2005.

Also author of five one-act plays.

SIDELIGHTS: Thomas S. Hischak once told CA: "Maintaining a double career as a teacher and a writer, I often combine the two at the State University of New York College at Cortland, where many of my plays were first produced. My stage adaptations of classics and original children's plays are usually 'tried out' in campus productions before they are revised and offered to publishers.

"Similarly, my reference books are often written as a response to my teaching needs. When I find that a particular reference book has gone hopelessly out of date or that a certain area has been neglected, it prompts me to try and fill the gap. My books cover various aspects of theater history, musical theater, and musical film, all areas that I teach.

"I want to acknowledge the influence that theater historian and author Gerald Bordman has had on my career. Gerald read and commented on the manuscripts for several of my books. I am pleased to have completed his acclaimed series, The American Theatre: A Chronicle, and to have written the third edition of his book, The Oxford Companion to American Theatre."