Biography of Tom Eyen

Tom Eyen (August 14, 1940 - May 26, 1991) was an American playwright, lyricist, television writer, and theatre director. Over the course of his career, Eyen has recieved Tony Awards, Grammy Awards, and Emmy Awards for his work. Born in Cambridge, Ohio, Eyen is best known for two works at opposite ends of the theatrical spectrum. Mainstream theatergoers became acquainted with him in 1981 when he partnered with composer Henry Krieger and director Michael Bennett to write the book and lyrics for Dreamgirls, the Broadway musical about an African American female singing trio. The project won him the Tony for Best Book of a Musical and a Tony nomination for Best Original Score, among other awards. Eyen's career started, however, with avant garde theatre. His classic camp women's prison drama, Women Behind Bars, was a major off-Broadway hit in 1976, first with Pat Ast, and then with Divine playing the lead role of the evil matron in drag. The New York Times called it "an extraordinarily interesting work from one of America's most innovative and versatile playwrights." A sequel called Neon Woman, written by Eyen and Divine, played in San Francisco in the late 1970s with Divine in the title role.
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