[citation needed] He earned a BA from Cornell University, an MFA from the Yale Drama School, and in 1980-81 was a Teaching Fellow at Harvard.
From 1982 to 1999, Elice was copywriter, producer, creative director and eventually executive vice president of Serino Coyne, Inc., an entertainment advertising agency in New York.
[4] Elice's memoir of Rees' life and their much-admired partnership of more than thirty years, called Finding Roger: An Improbably Theatrical Love Story, is published by Kingswell.
Elice was creative director at Serino Coyne, Inc. (1982–2000), where he produced advertising campaigns for more than 300 Broadway shows including A Chorus Line and The Lion King.
His most recent collaboration with Brickman was for the film of Jersey Boys, directed by Clint Eastwood and released by Warner Brothers in June 2014.
A new musical, Dog and Pony, with book by Elice and music and lyrics by Michael Patrick Walker, had its world premiere at The Old Globe in San Diego in June 2014, starring Nicole Parker, Jon Patrick Walker, Heidi Blickenstaff, Beth Leavel and Eric William Morris, directed by Rees.
[7] Jerry Mitchell directed and choreographed Elice's next musical, My Very Own British Invasion, based on the teenage years of Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits fame.