Knowra Terrence McNally Terrence McNally Terrence McNally (1938–2020) was an American playwright and librettist whose works include Love! Valour! Compassion! and the musical Ragtime . His plays often explore love, family, faith, and LGBTQ life.
Love! Valour! Compassion! : A 1994 play by Terrence McNally about eight gay men whose friendships and relationships unfold over three summers. This acclaimed ensemble play became one of McNally’s best-known explorations of gay life and friendship.
Tony Award for Best Play : An annual American theatre award honoring a play produced on Broadway. McNally won this award for Love! Valour! Compassion! and Master Class .
Stephen Flaherty : An American composer known for musicals including Ragtime , created with lyricist Lynn Ahrens. Flaherty composed the score for Ragtime , whose book McNally wrote.
St. John's University : A private Catholic university in Queens, New York, founded in 1870. McNally studied at St. John’s before beginning his career in theatre.
LGBTQ theatre : Theatre that represents LGBTQ lives, histories, and concerns or is created within LGBTQ communities. McNally’s plays brought gay relationships and characters into prominent American theatre.
Ragtime : A 1996 musical adapted from E. L. Doctorow’s novel, with a book by Terrence McNally and music by Stephen Flaherty. McNally’s book shapes the musical’s interwoven stories of race, class, and immigration in early twentieth-century America.
Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical : An annual Tony Award recognizing the writer or writers of a musical’s book. McNally received this award for Kiss of the Spider Woman and Ragtime .
Lynn Ahrens : An American lyricist and librettist who frequently collaborates with composer Stephen Flaherty. Ahrens wrote Ragtime ’s lyrics alongside McNally’s book and Flaherty’s music.
Edward Albee : An American playwright whose works include Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Zoo Story . McNally met Albee while studying at Columbia, and the encounter helped direct him toward playwriting.
AIDS crisis : The global epidemic of HIV and AIDS, which caused widespread illness, death, and social stigma from the 1980s onward. The epidemic forms part of the historical backdrop to McNally’s plays about gay community and loss.
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