John Kenrick

• Author & Managing Director of Musicals101.com

• Adjunct Faculty - Steinhardt School, NYU

• Adjunct Faculty - Brind School, Univ. of the Arts, Philadelphia

• Adjunct Faculty - The New School, NYC

John Kenrick with musical theatre legend Carol Channing.

John Kenrick currently teaches courses on musical theatre history at New York University's Steinhardt School and The Ira Brind School at the Universtiy of the Arts in Philadelphia.  He also teaches a course on Rodgers and Hammerstein at New York's New School, lectures extensively on theatre and film for various adult education groups, is featued in numerous documentaries, and is the author of Musicals101.com, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Amateur Theatricals, and the textbook Musical Theatre: A History.

His academic efforts are rooted in years of professional theatrical experience. Through the 1980s and 90s, John enjoyed an extensive career in theatrical production and management. He was personal assistant to six Tony-winning producers, working on such productions as the first revival of Grease and the Pulitzer Prize-winning hit 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 short-lived but acclaimed 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 PBS, A&E's 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. 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. He also appears in the popular PBS documentary Hollywood Singing and Dancing.

John's speaking schedule has run the gamut from luxury liners to Pace University to the NYC Fringe Festival. He offered a three year series of "Musical Conversations" at Manhattan's York Theatre, and is in the fifth year of his lecture series at the Sutton Place Synagogue. John has appeared at the 92nd Street Y and in various branches of the Queensborough Library system. His article "Theatre in New York: A Brief History" appears in the textbook Theatre Law: Cases and Materials (Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2004).As mentioned above, John is also author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Amateur Theatricals, and A History of Musical Theatre.

John Kenrick recreated the legendary "Ziegfeld walk" for film maker Lindalee Tracey in the documentary Anatomy of Burlesque.

When John saw that the internet a needed a reliable non commercial, educational resource celebrating the history of musicals, this website was born. Since its inception in 1996, Musicals101.com has grown to over six hundred pages of text and currently attracts an average of fifteen thousand visitors each month.

You can reach John at johnkenrick@gmail.com.

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