John Kenrick

• Author & Managing Director of Musicals101.com

• Adjunct Faculty - Steinhardt School, NYU

Through the 1980s and 90s, John Kenrick enjoyed an extensive career in theatrical production and management. He was personal assistant to six Tony-winning producers, working on such productions as the long-running revival of Grease and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Rent. He also assisted in the production and management of numerous national tours, including Damn Yankees with Jerry Lewis, Crazy for You, Victor/Victoria, Jekyll & Hyde, the short-lived drama My Thing of Love and Tommy Tune's ill-fated musical Busker Alley.

John provided lyrics for the acclaimed but short-lived Off-Broadway production Bats, wrote and produced cabaret shows that appeared at the Duplex and The Five Oaks, and provided special material for performers at Caroline's, Eighty-Eights, Don't Tell Mama and other top New York clubs. He was Associate Producer for the Celebration '86 Gay Arts Festival, and worked in various capacities for The Glines, The Vineyard Theatre, PACE Theatrical, NAMCO, The Booking Office and The New York Theatre Workshop.

As an expert on musical theater history, John has been interviewed by A&E Biography, BBC TV and Radio, British TV4, The Discovery Travel Channel, The Sci-Fi Channel, The London Observer, National Public Radio, Newsday, The Dallas Daily News and the Chicago Sun Times, among others. He has appeared in documentaries discussing showtunes, Jerry Herman, Times Square, haunted theatres, and the history of burlesque -- and he can be seen in the DVD documentaries for The Busby Berkeley Collection (42nd Street, Gold Diggers of 1933 & 1935, Footlight Parade, Dames), and the classic MGM musicals Three Little Words, Till the Clouds Roll By and It's Always Fair Weather.

John gets some pointers from musical theatre legend Carol Channing.

John's currently teaches musical theatre history at New York University's Steinhardt School, and has also taught the same subject at Marymount Manhattan College. His speaking schedule has run the gamut from luxury liners to Pace University to the NYC Fringe Festival. He offers an ongoing series of "Musical Conversations" at Manhattan's prestigious York Theatre, and a new lecture series at the Sutton Place Synagogue. John has appeared at the 92nd Street Y and various branches of the Queensborough Library. His article "Theatre in New York: A Brief History" appears in the textbook Theatre Law: Cases and Materials (Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2004). John is also author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Amateur Theatricals, and the upcoming Musicals 101: A User Friendly History of Musical Theatre, which is set for publication in 2008. 

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