Lee Hall | |
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| Born | (1966-09-20)20 September 1966 (age 59) Newcastle upon Tyne, England |
| Alma mater | Fitzwilliam College,Cambridge (BA) |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Spouse | |
Lee Hall (born 20 September 1966) is an English writer and lyricist. He is best known for writing the screenplay for the filmBilly Elliot (2000) and the book and lyrics for its adaptation asa stage musical of the same name. In addition, he wrote the playThe Pitmen Painters (2007), and the screenplays for the filmsWar Horse andRocketman (2019).
Hall was born in 1966 inNewcastle upon Tyne, the son of ahouse painter and decorator and a housewife. He was educated atBenfield School inWalkergate. As a youth he went to Wallsend Young People's Theatre along with Deka Walmsley, Mark Scott and Trevor Fox. Walmsley later appeared in two of Hall’s works,Billy Elliot andThe Pitmen Painters.
Hall went up toFitzwilliam College,Cambridge, where he read English literature and was taught by poetPaul Muldoon.[1]
After leaving Cambridge, he worked as a youth theatre fundraiser in Newcastle and at theGate Theatre in London. In 1997, his playwriting career was launched with the broadcast of his radio play,Spoonface Steinberg, onBBC Radio 4.[2]
Hall's most commercially successful work isBilly Elliot, the story of aNorth Eastern English boy who, in the face of opposition from his family and community, aspires to be a ballet dancer. The inspiration for the screenplay was drawn, in part, from theA. J. Cronin novelThe Stars Look Down, which is also set in an English coal mining community during astrike, and similarly tells the story of a miner's son who goes against the grain.[3] The character Billy was also partly inspired by the renownedbaritoneSir Thomas Allen who came from a similar background, having been born in the North East'sCounty Durham.[4] Initially a 2000 film directed byStephen Daldry, for which Hall wrote the screenplay, and for which he received anAcademy Award nomination,Billy Elliot was later turned intoa stage musical, with music byElton John and lyrics by Hall. It enjoyed a long run in the West End and opened on Broadway in 2008. It won Hall the 2009Tony Award forBest Book of a Musical.
Also successful wasSpoonface Steinberg, the tale of a young autistic Jewish girl who is dying of cancer. The last in a quartet ofradio plays entitledGod's Country, the monologue aroused an unprecedented listener response when it was broadcast in 1997 onBBC Radio. It was subsequently voted one of the ten best radio dramas of all time by readers of the magazineRadio Times.Spoonface Steinberg was adapted as a television play and into aone woman show starring 42-year-old actressKathryn Hunter. The play opened in 1999 and later transferred to the West End.
Hall had more limited success with his comedyCooking with Elvis, the protagonist of which is anElvis Presley impersonator who has been paralyzed in a car crash. It was originally a 1995 radio play but it became a stage play in 1999. Hall's fondness for moving from one medium to another can also be seen in his workI Luv You Jimmy Spud, which began as a 1995 radio play and was later adapted by Hall into a stage play and a film,Gabriel and Me, starringBilly Connolly andIain Glen.
He has also translated plays byCarlo Goldoni,Bertolt Brecht andHerman Heijermans and co-written the screenplays for adaptations ofJane Austen'sPride & Prejudice andKenneth Grahame'sThe Wind in the Willows.
Hall's play,The Pitmen Painters, inspired by art criticWilliam Feaver's book on theAshington Group, premiered at the refurbishedLive Theatre inNewcastle upon Tyne in 2007. It tells of a group of miners fromAshington,Northumberland, who decide to learn about art and begin to paint. The production later transferred to theNational Theatre in London and opened on Broadway in September 2010. It won the 2008Evening Standard Award for Best Play.
In 2011, controversy arose over a children's opera that Hall had written, calledBeached. The opera was commissioned byOpera North and was to have been performed by children from Bay Primary School inBridlington,East Riding of Yorkshire. The story is about a gay retired painter, a single father who tries to spend a quiet day at the seaside with his son, but who is interrupted by children on a school trip, dogs, a landscape painter, an amateur dramatic society and others. After rehearsals had been going on for six months, the school threatened to pull the children out of the production if changes were not made to the libretto. Hall changed some words to accommodate their requests, but school officials, supported by Opera North, insisted on the removal of the words "I'm queer" and "I prefer a lad to a lass," and other references to the character being gay.[5] The school eventually agreed to let the children perform if Hall changed "queer" to "gay."[6]
Hall was the original writer on the screenplay for a film adaptation ofMichael Morpurgo'sWar Horse; he shares credit on the finished film withRichard Curtis, who was brought in bySteven Spielberg.[7] His most recent TV work is an adaptation ofNigel Slater's AutobiographyToast, starringHelena Bonham Carter andFreddie Highmore and set inWolverhampton, West Midlands. First broadcast onBBC One in December 2010,Toast received a gala at the 2011Berlin Film Festival and was released in cinemas on 11 August 2011. He also worked on the screenplay for the yet-to-releaseWorking Title filmHippie Hippie Shake, based onRichard Neville's memoirHippie Hippie Shake: The Dreams, the Trips, the Trials, the Love-ins, the Screw Ups: The Sixties.
Hall's other projects include abiopic ofElton John,Rocketman,[8] released in May 2019, a stage musical adaptation ofPink Floyd'sThe Wall,[9] and a film adaptation ofGeorge Orwell's 1933 memoirDown and Out in Paris and London.[10]
Hall married film directorBeeban Kidron (Baroness Kidron) in 2003.[11] Kidron is a child rights advocate who has played a determinative role in establishing standards for online safety and privacy across the world.[12]
