Tarell Alvin McCraney facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tarell Alvin McCraney
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McCraney in 2017
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| Born | October 17, 1980 Liberty City, Florida, U.S. |
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Tarell Alvin McCraney (born October 17, 1980) is an American writer for plays and movies. He also acts sometimes. He is in charge of playwriting at the Yale School of Drama and is part of the Steppenwolf Theatre team.
He helped write the 2016 movie Moonlight. This movie was based on a play he wrote. For Moonlight, he won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He also wrote the movie High Flying Bird (2019) and the TV show David Makes Man (2019).
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Early Life and School
Tarell Alvin McCraney was born in Liberty City, Florida. He went to the New World School of the Arts in Miami, Florida. When he was a teenager, he was part of an improv group. Improv is a type of acting where you make up the scene as you go!
He later went to The Theatre School at DePaul University and earned a special degree in acting. In 2007, he finished his playwriting program at the Yale School of Drama. He even received an award for his playwriting when he graduated.
McCraney's Career
As an actor, Tarell McCraney has worked with many famous directors. He also worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company in England for a few years. In 2010, he joined the Steppenwolf Theatre Ensemble, which is a group of actors and artists. In 2017, he became the head of playwriting at the Yale School of Drama. This means he helps teach students how to write plays.
Amazing Plays
While at Yale, McCraney wrote a group of three plays called The Brother/Sister Plays. These plays are set in Louisiana and tell stories using ideas from Yoruba mythology. The three plays are In the Red Brown Water, The Brothers Size, and Marcus; Or the Secret of Sweet. They are meant to be watched and thought about together.
McCraney's play Choir Boy first showed in London in 2012. It came to America the next year. The play is about a young student named Pharus. He wants to be the best choir leader at his school. The play shows him trying to find his place among his friends. The Broadway version of Choir Boy was nominated for four Tony Awards in 2019.
McCraney also helped write Ms. Blakk for President. This show was first performed in Chicago in 2019. It is based on a true story about a drag queen named Joan Jett Blakk. She decided to run for President of the United States in Chicago during a time when many people were affected by a serious health crisis. McCraney himself acted in the first show!
TV Shows and Movies
Tarell McCraney writes and helps produce the TV show David Makes Man. This show is on the OWN channel. It tells the story of a young boy trying to find his way in the world.
He also co-wrote the movie Moonlight with director Barry Jenkins. This movie was based on an earlier play McCraney had written. Moonlight was highly praised by critics. McCraney and Jenkins won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for it. This is a very big award in the movie world!
McCraney wrote the movie High Flying Bird in 2019. It's a sports drama directed by Steven Soderbergh and released on Netflix. The movie is about a sports agent who gets caught between a basketball league and its players.
Other Creative Works
McCraney has adapted Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra for the Royal Shakespeare Company. He set the play in the Caribbean in the 1700s. He also worked on The Breach, a play about Hurricane Katrina and its effects.
He is also working on a musical movie called "Cyrano the Moor." It combines ideas from two famous plays, Cyrano de Bergerac and Othello.
Awards and Special Honors
Tarell Alvin McCraney has won many important awards for his writing. Here are some of them:
- 2007 Whiting Award
- 2007 Paula Vogel Playwriting Award
- 2008 London's Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright
- 2009 New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award
- 2013 Windham–Campbell Literature Prize
- 2013 MacArthur Fellowship (a special award for talented people)
- 2017 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Moonlight
- 2017 PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award
- 2017 United States Artists Fellowship
