Monte L. Merrick (October 6, 1949 - March 24, 2015) was a screenwriter, playwright and novelist most notable for his long career in theatre and his feature film screenplays, including 1990's Memphis Belle.
[5] Merrick originally intended to be an actor, performing in college and community theatre productions such as Hail Scrawdyke, Two Gentlemen of Verona and You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.
[6][7][8] He changed directions when his senior thesis at Lewis & Clark College resulted in Little Pieces, a show of three one-act plays, premiering in March 1971, with Markie Post and Timothy Cole.
[12] The play was produced later that year by Merrick's fellow students at University of Colorado, Boulder, directed by future Lexington Conservatory member Wendy Chapin.
[13] Falling Apart was subsequently produced at the Cubiculo Theatre in New York City, directed by John Henry Davis and starring James Alexander, Jo Anne Belanger, Mark Blankfield and Brandis Kemp and Tina Sattin.
[14] "Falling Apart is just about the easiest play to write," said critic Mel Gussow, "a collage of events in recent history, interposed with small scenes in everyday life.
The Portland cast included Bill Deane, Jacqueline Fowler, Sherrideth Iron, Chrisse Roccaro and Richard Storm.
"The play is filled with laughter, but with a great deal of thought-provoking material...In a few words, it is a fine evening of theater,"- The Oregon Journal.
[17][18][19][20] By 1975, Merrick had earned his master's degree in theatre and was working as a substitute teacher while living in Portland, where he acted in local productions as his plays were being produced in the area.
[24] Also in June was the production of Merrick's Hidden Motives as part of a double bill with Tom Stoppard's The Real Inspector Hound at Portland Civic Theatre.
"..a funny skitlike parody of whodunits consisting almost entirely of accusations by a stuffy sleuth nicely done by Michael Hopkins," said critic Ted Mahar.
It was produced at Omaha Community Playhouse in March of that year, directed by Chris Rutherford and starring Joanne Pettipiece, Karen Draper and Susan Hoff.
[38][39] In 1981, A Pair of Hearts opened at Manhattan Punch Line Theatre, starring Leslie Frances Williams, Nancy Linehan Charles, Mitch McGuire and Mary Baird, directed by Steve Kaplan.
"Monte Merrick has written a slick, sentimental, wryly amusing, predictable comedy about the ups and downs of two marriages as viewed over a weekend in Holiday Inn motel rooms in Seattle, San Francisco and Reno," according to the New York Daily News.
"The play is lighter than light, but Merrick keeps a steady supply of Neil Simon-like one-liners and asides flowing,"—Ted Mahar, The Oregonian.
[41] That same year, Starry Night premiered with a staged reading at Lincoln Center, starring Jill Eikenberry, Toby Parker and Allan Carlsen, directed by John Henry Davis.
[43][44] A Hell of a Town was slated to premiere in 1982 at the Ritz Theatre, starring comedy team John Monteith and Suzanne Rand in their dramatic debut; it was ultimately cancelled due to lack of funding.
"[50] Merrick's career took a turn a few months later, when Geva Theatre Center in Rochester, NY took up production of A Hell of a Town as part of its season.
"[56] "Mr. Merrick can write funny lines and is a crafty observer of the ups and downs of an acquisitive society," said the New York Times review, while The Home News enjoyed the production's components but objected to the trilogic structure.
"The closing was one of the saddest chapters in my life," said producer Frank Gero, who observed that two weeks of sold-out previews were followed by dismal sales after the play's critical reception in the New York press.
[62] The play was produced again in 1988 at the 26th Street Theatre in Wilton Manors, Florida, starring a young Marc Kudisch alongside Andrea O'Connell, directed by Brian C. Smith.
[63][64][65] Merrick's next play Pride and Joy was workshopped at Sundance Institute in 1985, where it was directed by Len Berkman with actors Margo Martindale, Didi Conn, Ethan Phillips and fellow Lexington alumni Cotter Smith.
[66] It was produced at Theatre 40 in Beverly Hills in 1987, starring Krisann Keane, Will Nye, Viveca Parker and J. David Krassner, directed by John Henry Davis.
[69] The following year, producer David Puttnam chose Merrick as the screenwriter for 1990's Memphis Belle, on the strength of a previous script.
1997 saw the debut of Merrick's adaptation of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, starring Richard Dreyfus as Fagin (in a rare TV role) and Elijah Wood as Artful Dodger, directed by Tony Bill.