A Great Big Miracle: The Story of Hanukkah

A show for the whole family, all about how a smart and curious shepherd kid named Judah grew up into a mighty Macabee and  whomped the Emperor Antiochus. Very silly, very fun, and very historically accurate except for the talking sheep. 

If you know a theater or Jewish group looking for a holiday show, let me know. Staged reading by The Mesaper Theatre, December 2008; staged reading by the Orlando Theater Project, December 2009.


The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere

A musical for children about the silversmith turned patriot. Book and lyrics by me, music and more lyrics by Stephen Sislen. Touring for TheatreworksUSA since spring of 2006. Check out the patriotic (yet goofy) anthem sung by the "Sons of Liberty."


Breaking Up Is Hard to Do

A "jukebox" musical, music by Neil Sedaka, book by me and Erik Jackson, concept by Gordon Greenberg & Marsh Hanson. A couple of wide-eyed gals in the Catskills in 1960 look for love, find only heartbreak, eat knishes, find love after all.  First produced in summer, 2005, at the Capital Repertory Theater in Albany, Breaking Up is licensed by Theatrical Rights Worldwide and produced frequently, all over the country.

A (Tooth) Fairy Tale

A musical for kids about a bored boy named Oliver who changes places with the Tooth Fairy. Mayhem and considerable silliness ensue. Book by me, music & lyrics by Rick Hip-Flores. Here's a swell review from the New York Times, and a sample (from the cast recording) , in which the Tooth Fairy longs for the life of a normal lady.

 


Slut

Book and lyrics by me, music by Stephen Sislen. Off-color title notwithstanding, the show is a goofy, romantic, heartfelt musical comedy, A smash hit at the 2004 New York International Fringe Festival; Off-Broadway, fall of 2005; regional premiere at the Actors Theater of Charlotte in 2008.  Here you can listen to the opening number, “I’m Probably Not Gonna Call.”


Fame Forever

A sequel to the musical based on the TV show based on the movie. I wrote the book and lyrics; music by Steve Margoshes; idea by David Desilva, a.k.a. Father Fame, who also came up with the movie, TV show, musical. The first full production was in Glasgow, Scotland in 2007; now it's licensed by MTI.
 

Worst-Case Scenario Pocket Guide: New York 

Available in stores from Amazon or directly from Quirk Books. This is my first contribution to this best-selling series, which gives clear-eyed advice for handling dangerous and/or unlikely situations. In this volume, I cover how to survive being attacked by a swarm of pigeons.


Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook for Middle School

by David Borgenicht, me, and Robin Epstein. Available in stores June/July-ish, 2009. Fun advice for the wonder years.

A (Tooth) Fairy Tale

From Samuel French, Inc.. This is the handsome acting edition of the kids musical I wrote with composer/lyricist Rick Hip-Flores. If you know a childrens theater or a school looking for a fun piece, please spread the word. You can buy it online or at the Drama Book Shop in New York.

The Jewish Comedy Thesaurus

Subtitled "3,102 Quips, Quotes and Kvetches," this was the first book I did, and was a really wonderful experience, with the one tiny exception that it was never actually published. Ba-DUM-bum.


Journalistic greatest hits

I've written several articles for In These Times, including one where I went to anarchist training camp. I was a staff writer for NewCity, in Chicago, where I briefly joined a cult. And once, for The Nation, I covered the UN Conference on AIDS by talking to a security guard in the café

 

 

 I am so excited and delighted and elated (and many other enthusiastic adjectives) to announce that HarperCollins Children's Books will be publishing my middle-grade novel, Ms. Finkleman Rocks, in the fall of next year. (6/22/09)


 The Orlando Theater Project will be presenting A Great Big Miracle, my Hanukkah play, this December. (6/10/09)


If you've heard of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the surprise fiction hit of the season, you may have wondered A) if the publisher is planning a follow-up, B) who is writing it, and C) what the title might be.

The answers are A) oh yes, B) me!, and C) I'm not allowed to tell anyone until July 15. (6/04/09)


 Four (whew) new Worst-Case "pocket guides" are coming out in September: Meetings, San Francisco, Cats, and (the one that was the most fun to write), Cars. If you want to know how to drive down stairs, here's the answer: you just do it. (5/24/09).


 It looks like I'll be working on another show for Vital Theatre, this one adapted from the charming new novel  for kids by Douglas Rees, Uncle Pirate. (4/30/09)


Worst-Case Scenario Pocket Guide: New York City is out; get yours today!  (4/15/09)


A multiplicity of new productions of Breaking Up Is Hard to Do are on the calendar, including Wisconsin this spring and Cincinatti in spring 2010.(4/2/09)


The Billy Rose Theatre Collection at the New York Public Library of the Performing Arts is going to add a copy of Breaking Up Is Hard to Do, a fact which just tickles me pink. (2/25/09)


Worst Case: New York and Worst Case: Middle School will both be available within the next few weeks. (2/22/09)


The Ventura County Star has got Neil Sedaka saying some nice things about Breaking Up is Hard to Do, as well as a swell review. (1/16/09)


The next production of Breaking Up Is Hard to Do opens in Thousand Oaks, California on January 9; you can get tickets now. This production is the West Coast premiere, and the cast is terrific.


The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere will be leaving on its latest tour in late January 2009. To bring it to a school near you, contact TheatreWorks USA.


I've been named a Dramatists Guild Fellow for 2008-2009, in partnership with my frequent collaborator, the composer Stephen Sislen. 


As I have in the past, I wrote the script for the 2008 North Shore Animal League America Benefit Gala, which was at Capitale in Manhattan. Great gig, great cause.

  Email: winters3000@gmail.com
City/State/Zip: Brooklyn, NY


Ben Allen H. Winters is a writer who lives in Brooklyn with all the other writers.

I've written a whole bunch of plays and musicals for children and adults; all sorts of magazine and newspaper journalism; and books, including several in the best-selling Worst-Case Scenario Survival Guide series. As an educator, I run creative writing programs at two elementary schools in Manhattan. 

I am represented as a playwright & librettist by Ron Gwiazda at the Abrams Agency; I am represented as a prose writer by Molly Lyons at Joelle Delbourgo Associates; I am represented at the United Nations, like all Americans, by Susan Rice.

Please send me an email or be my friend on Facebook.

 

The H stands for "hubris".

 

calendarPaul Revere on tour, January - June 2009Worst-Case Scenario Pocket Guide: New York City on sale April 2009Breaking Up at Wisconsin Theatreworks, May 2009Breaking Up at Rivertown Rep., Kenner LA, May 2009Worst Case Middle School on sale July 2009Breaking Up at St. Micheal's Playhouse, July 2009Paul Revere rides again fall 2009Breaking Up in Cincinatti in February 2010
reviewsA Tooth Fairy Tale is a treat (Times)Winters' lyrics dazzle (Times)Breaking Up is lightweight and funny (EU Jacksonville)Breaking Up full of hits, humor, heart (Ventura County Star)Breaking Up - what more could you want? asks Thousand Oaks AcornBreaking Up an immensely enjoyable confection, says BackstageWinters has charming home, family
stuff I like The Dramatists GuildASCAPThe BMI WorkshopThe Authors GuildQuirk BooksJeremy's GreenroomBreak-Up Girl Vital TheatreSuzanne LaFleurQuirk Classics
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