Matthew López | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1977 (1977)[1] Panama City, Florida, U.S. |
| Education | University of South Florida (BFA) |
| Occupations | Playwright, director, screenwriter |
Matthew López is an American playwright, director and screenwriter. His playThe Inheritance, directed byStephen Daldry, premiered at London'sYoung Vic in 2018, where it was called "the most important American play of the century."[2] It transferred to theWest End later that year, and opened onBroadway in 2019.[3]The Inheritance is the most honored American play in a generation, sweeping the "Best Play" awards in both London and New York including theTony Award,Olivier Award,Drama Desk Award,Evening Standard Award,London Critics Circle Award,[4]Outer Critics Circle Award,Drama League Award,WhatsOnStage Award, and theSouthbank Sky Arts Award.
He is the first Latino writer to win the Tony Award for Best Play.[5] In 2023, López received a second Tony Award nomination[6] for co-writing the book of the musical adaptation of the classic filmSome Like It Hot, which received the most nominations of any show that season.[7] His two Broadway productions have been nominated for 24 Tony Awards,[8] winning 8,[9][10] including three acting awards.[11][12]
In 2023, Lopez made hisfeature directing debut withRed, Whiteand Royal Blue, which he also adapted from the novel byCasey McQuiston. The film was both a critical and commercial success, debuting at #1 for several weeks on Amazon Prime.[13] In New York, López's work has been seenoff-Broadway withThe Whipping Man andThe Legend of Georgia McBride. Other works includeSomewhere,Reverberation,The Sentinels andZoey's Perfect Wedding.[14][15][16][17]
López was born inPanama City, Florida[18] to two public school teachers. His father, born inSan Juan, Puerto Rico, is the older brother of actorPriscilla López.[19]
López's breakout playThe Whipping Man debuted at Luna Stage[20] in Montclair, New Jersey in 2006 and premieredOff-Broadway at theManhattan Theatre Club[21] on February 1, 2011, directed byDoug Hughes and starringAndre Braugher andAndre Holland. The Off-Broadway production ofThe Whipping Man was extended four times, and won the 2011Obie Award for Performance (Braugher) and the 2011Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lighting Design. López won the John Gassner New Play Award.[22]
The Whipping Man is set in Richmond, Virginia in the immediate aftermath of theAmerican Civil War and concerns two recently freed slaves encountering their former master. The former slaves, like their former master, identify as Jewish. The play examines the unique occurrence ofPassover in 1865 beginning the day after Robert E. Lee's surrender atAppomattox. It explores the meaning of freedom, and the various ways people are enslaved — to addictions, to prejudices. In hisThe New York Times reviewCharles Isherwood called the play "emotionally potent, almost surreal in the layers of meaning it conjures."[23] Braugher and Holland both earned critical acclaim for their performances. Between 2012 and 2016,The Whipping Man was one of the most widely produced plays in America.[24]
Somewhere premiered at theOld Globe Theatre[25] in San Diego in September 2011,[26] before moving to Hartford Stage, Hartford, Connecticut.[27] Matthew López was the Playwright-in-Residence at the Old Globe Theatre. The play, featuring a majority Latin cast, concerns a theatrical family living in Manhattan in 1959, asWest Side Story captured the zeitgeist. The proposed construction ofLincoln Center and the ensuing demolition of their neighborhood leaves the family to fight for their home and their dreams.Somewhere was directed by Giovanna Sardelli, and featured Matthew López's aunt Priscilla López. Critics lauded the production, comparing López's writing to Tennessee Williams'The Glass Menagerie.[28] The story ofSomewhere has roots in López's family history. His father was an extra in the 1961 film adaptation ofWest Side Story, and appears on screen in the playground, just after the prologue[29]
López's next playReverberation premiered at Hartford Stage,Hartford, Connecticut[30] running from February 19, 2015, to March 15, directed by Maxwell Williams and starringLuke Macfarlane. The story follows Jonathan, a young gay New Yorker, who spends increasingly more time holed up in his Astoria apartment following a violent attack that has left him afraid to go out into the world. He is befriended by his new upstairs neighbor, Claire, aHolly Golightly-like character who, despite her active social life, is just as afraid and lonely as Jonathan. The play examines how violence – against women, against the LGBTQ community – impacts the lives of those both directly and indirectly affected by it.Charles Isherwood ofThe New York Times writes that "the play is marked by a perceptiveness about the echoing loneliness that many urban dwellers live with."[31]
The Legend of Georgia McBride debuted atDenver Center for the Performing Arts[32] in 2014,[33] and premiered Off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre[34] in 2015. The play tells the story of Casey, a down-on-his-luck Elvis impersonator who is induced to turn his jumpsuits into dresses and become a drag queen. The play toggles between quippy comedy and show-stopping dance numbers, withCharles Isherwood ofThe New York Times commenting that the play was "full of sass and good spirits – along with a spritz or two of sentimentality."[35] In February 2018, New Regency announced it was developing the film adaptation of the play in association withJim Parsons' production company.[36]
López's playThe Inheritance, directed byStephen Daldry,[37] premiered London's Young Vic Theatre in 2018, where it was hailed by TheDaily Telegraph[38] as "the most important American play of the century." It transferred to theNoël Coward Theatre in the West End later that year, and opened on Broadway last autumn.The Inheritance earned eleven nominations for the74th Tony Awards, including Best Play, as well as eight nominations at the2019 Laurence Olivier Awards, winning for Best New Play, Best Director (Stephen Daldry), Best Actor (Kyle Soller), and Best Lighting Design (Jon Clark). López received theEvening Standard Award[39] andCritics Circle Theatre Award[40] for Best New Play as well. Sweeping the "Best Play" awards in both London and New York including the Olivier Award, Drama Desk Award, Evening Standard Award, London Critics Circle Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Drama League Award, WhatsOnStage Award, and the Southbank Sky Arts Award,The Inheritance is the most honoured American play in a generation. López is the first Latino writer to win any of these awards for Best Play.The Inheritance was also selected as the recipient of theGLAAD Media Award forOutstanding Broadway Production.[41]
Set in New York three decades after the height of theAIDS epidemic,The Inheritance wrestles with what it means to be a gay man today, exploring relationships and connections across age and social class and asking what one generation's responsibilities may be to the next. The play is a loose adaptation ofE.M. Forster's novelHowards End. The premiere featured a cast that includedVanessa Redgrave,John Benjamin Hickey, andPaul Hilton as Forster himself.TheEvening Standard declared[42] the play "a work of rare grace, truth, and beauty." The play premiered on Broadway at theEthel Barrymore Theatre on September 27, 2019, in previews, with the official opening on November 17. It won the Tony Award for Best play at the 2021 Tony Awards.[43] In June 2020, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first LGBTQPride parade,Queerty named him among the fifty heroes "leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people".[44][45]
López also co-wrote themusical adaptation of the classic filmSome Like It Hot,[46] for which he received aTony Award for Best Book of a Musical nomination. The musical is a radical re-imagining of the beloved film for a modern audience, in which the character ofDaphne (in a Tony Winning Performance[47] byJ Harrison Ghee) begins to reevaluate theirgender identity. Set in Chicago when Prohibition has everyone thirsty for a little excitement,Some Like It Hot is the rollicking story of two musicians forced to flee the Windy City after witnessing a mob hit. With gangsters hot on their heels, they’re on the run as the newest members of the swingingest big band ever to cross the country. Can they hide in plain sight without completely losing themselves? Or will the mob, the truth, and maybe even love itself finally catch up to them?[2] López co-wrote the book withAmber Ruffin, with music byMarc Shaiman, lyrics byScott Wittman and Shaiman, and directed and choreographed byCasey Nicholaw.[48]
López made his directorial debut in summer 2023 with thefilm adaptation of the LGBTQ+ romantic comedyRed, White & Royal Blue for Amazon Studios.[49] In addition to directing the film, López adapted the script based onCasey McQuiston's bestselling novel.[50] The film depicts a developing love affair between the son of thepresident of the United States (Taylor Zakhar Perez) and aBritish prince (Nicholas Galitzine). López is also working on a reimagining of the iconic 1992 Whitney Houston box office hit,The Bodyguard, forWarner Bros,[51] as well as a feature film adaptation of the novelLeading Men forSearchlight Pictures, which centers onTennessee Williams and his longtime partner Frank Merlo.[52][53] In October 2020, López signed an overall television development deal withAmazon Studios.[54]
In May 2024, it was announced that López would return to write and direct a sequel toRed, White & Royal Blue. López is co-writing the script together with McQuiston.[55]
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