Who

Meehan is the award-winning playwright and author most famous for adapting Annie, The Producers and Hairspray for Broadway.

Backstory

Meehan grew up in a working-class family in Suffern, N.Y.; when he was 15, his father died, and his mother went back to work as a nurse to support the family. Shortly after graduating from Hamilton College in the 1950s, Meehan landed a job writing humorous stories—like the now-classic short story "Yma Dream"—for the New Yorker, working under the tutelage of editor Roger Angell. In the early '70s Meehan began adapting other writers' material, turning the comic strip "Annie" into a hit 1977 Broadway musical and earning a Tony for his efforts. (An off-Broadway sequel, 1993's Annie Warbucks, was less successful.) He collaborated with Mel Brooks on the scripts for several of the director's films, including 1983's To Be or Not to Be and the 1987 farce Spaceballs. Meehan also wrote banter for presenters at seven consecutive Tony awards shows, and teamed with Brooks again for their hugely popular version of The Producers, another Tony winner.

Of note

The Producers, initially starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick and co-produced by Rocco Landesman and Richard Frankel Productions, was a stupendous hit during its six-year run. (It closed in April 2007). Another major success was Meehan and Mark O'Donnell's Tony-winning adaptation of John Waters' Hairspray. Debuting in 2002 with a score by Mark Shaiman, sets designed by David Rockwell, and costumes by William Ivey Long, the show's not likely to be checking out of the Neil Simon Theatre anytime soon. (It inspired a 2007 film starring John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Christopher Walken.) Most recently, Meehan collaborated with Brooks to turn Young Frankenstein into a musical. He's also adapting another John Waters movie, Cry Baby, with Mark O'Donnell.

Personal

Meehan is married to Carolyn Capstick, proprietor of the upscale kiddie store Peanut Butter & Jane on Hudson Street. The couple splits their time between Greenwich Village and Nantucket.