Douglas M. Parker is a playwright best known for biographical and reality-based plays. His works include BESSIE: The Life and Music of Bessie Smith, a play with music about the rise and fall of the great American blues singer; Life on the Mississippi, a play about the young Samuel Clemensleaving home to learn about steamboat piloting, adapted from Mark Twain's autobiographical book of the same title; Declarations, a one-act play drawn from the letters of John and Abigail Adams from their earliest courtship through the summer of 1776; Life on the Mississippi, a musical, based on his play ; Thicker Than Water, a drama based on the Andrea Yates murders; and "The Private History of a Campaign That Failed", based on Twain's comic memoir about his brief period as a lieutenant in a Confederate volunteer regiment. Parker's works have appeared in theaters across the country. Working as librettist and lyricist, Parker adapted his play Life on the Mississippi into a musical with composer Denver Casado. In October 2008, Life on the Mississippi was named by the National Alliance for Musical Theatre as one of their Five Shows You Should Know. In January 2009, Goodspeed Opera House presented the musical as one of three shows in their Festival of New Artists. In January 2010, a shorter, young audience version of Life on the Mississippi premiered at the Coterie Theatre in Kansas City to positive reviews. In June 2010, the full-length version premiered with a ten-week run at American Folklore Theatre in Wisconsin, where it received strong reviews. The show has since received additional productions nationwide. In July 2012, Parker's play Thicker Than Water won second prize at Barter Theatre's Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwrights. In September 2013, Thicker Than Water received a full production, with a scheduled run of six weeks, garnering highly favorable reviews. In October 2013, Thicker Than Water was selected as an official entrant for the 2014 Pulitzer Prize in Drama, although it ultimately did not win. In August 2014, Parker's first book, Contemporary Monologues for Young Actors was published by theatrical publishing house Beat By Beat Press . His second book, Fantasy Monologues for Young Actors was published by theatrical publishing house Beat By Beat Press in September 2015. His third book, Contemporary Scenes for Young Actors, was also published by theatrical publishing house Beat By Beat Press and was released in August 2016. Parker's works have been produced in theaters across the country, and have received multiple NEA production grants. He is a graduate of Brown University, an alumnus of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop, and a member of ASCAP and the Dramatists Guild of America.
