For over thirty years, Lawrence Harbison was in charge of new play acquisition for Samuel French, Inc., during which time he was responsible for the publication of hundreds of plays, many by playwrights who subsequently became quite prominent, such as Jane Martin, Don Nigro, Tina Howe, Theresa Rebeck, William Mastrosimone, Charles Fuller and Ken Ludwig among many others; and the acquisition of musicals such as Smoke on the Mountain, A…My Name Is Alice and Little Shop of Horrors.
Since leaving Samuel French, he has edited over 100 anthologies for Smith and Kraus, Inc., for whom he edited annual anthologies of ten-minute plays and monologues for men and for women for twenty years, and for several years edited their annual New Playwrights and Women Playwrights anthologies; and for Applause Theatre & Cinema Books, for whom he has edited severa anthologies of new plays, monologues, full length, 10-minute and 5-minute plays.
His most recent anthologies for Applause are monologues and 10-minute plays by members of the Honor Roll, an advocacy group for women playwrights over 40, published in November of 2021. Each has an Introduction by Theresa Rebeck. His column, “On the Aisle with Larry,” appeared in the Chelsea Clinton News and the West Sider for several years and then moved to www.smithandkraus.com, where it also ran for many years. It is now a feature on Applause’s website, www.applausebooks.com and in the Times Square Chronicles, https://t2conline.com/ It also appears on his blog at www.playfixer.com and on www.doollee.com, the international playwrights database. He also writes occasional columns for Theatre Record, a London-based magazine.
He was a member for many years of two NYC press organizations, the Outer Critics Circle and the Drama Desk, and served on the Drama Desk Awards Nominating Committee for the 2010-2011 and 2011- 2012 seasons. In addition to his editing of anthologies, he has copy-edited many books for Smith and Kraus, Inc. as well as for individual authors such as Robert B. Sherman of Disney’s Sherman Brothers, Oscar-winners for Mary Poppins He works with individual playwrights to help them develop their plays (see his website, www.playfixer.com). He has also served as literary manager or literary consultant for several theatres, such as the Impossible Ragtime Theatre, Raft Theatre, Harold Clurman Theatre, Urban Stages and American Jewish Theatre.
He has served many times over the years as a commentator for various M.F.A. programs and as a judge for play contests, and lectures occasionally at colleges and universities. He taught playwriting in the Theatre Dept. of the University of Michigan in the winter semester of 2016. He holds a B.A. from Kenyon College and an M.A. from the University of Michigan. His book, How I Did It: Establishing a Playwriting Career, a collection of interviews with playwrights (among them, David Auburn, Bruce Norris, Lynn Nottage, Gina Gionfriddo and Adam Rapp) was published by Applause Theatre & Cinema Books in March, 2015. He is currently writing a memoir entitled, 200 Times a Year; My Life In, At and Around the Theatre.
Suzanna Bowling