In addition to MAGIC TREE HOUSE: THE MUSICAL, Will’s writing for musical theatre includes SADDLE JAZZ, a Western Swing musical (music and lyrics by Nick Plakias); THE WONDERFUL O,
an adaptation of the James Thurber novella (with Randy Courts),
produced at the West Bank Café in New York and the Leonard Bernstein
Institute in Nashville;MANIFEST DESTINY, an NEA-funded extravaganza set in 1840s America; and THE CARDIFF GIANT (also with Randy Courts), currently in development. His play SMOKE & MIRRORS, a
comic murder mystery co-authored with Anthony Herrera, has been
produced in theatres throughout the United States, as well as in
Johannesburg, South Africa, and Seoul, Korea.
Will has also co-authored a dozen books for children with his wife Mary Pope Osborne, including the MAGIC TREE HOUSE RESEARCH GUIDES series, two retellings of Greek mythology, A TIME TO DANCE for the My America series, and a picture book, SLEEPING BOBBY,
with award-winning illustrator Giselle Potter. In addition, he has
created several very successful multi-media shows for the Morehead
Planetarium in Chapel Hill, NC, the two most recent featuring William
Shatner and Walter Cronkite. Will is a member of the Dramatists Guild,
a founder of The Writers Group in New York, and a Phi Beta Kappa
graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Randy Courts Music and Lyrics
Randy began his collaboration with writer/lyricist Will Osborne fifteen years ago with the musical THE WONDERFUL O. Their partnership continued with THE FREE SPIRIT, a screenplay, and a new musical called THE GIANT. With playwright/lyricist Mark St. Germain, Randy wrote the musicals THE GIFTS OF THE MAGI (ten consecutive seasons at the Lambs Theater; over three hundred productions world wide); JOHNNY PYE AND THE FOOLKILLER (Lambs Theater; AT&T New Plays Award) JOSEPH AND MARY (Los Angeles, Dallas, Indianapolis and in concert in New York City starring Kris Kristofferson) JACK'S HOLIDAY (Playwrights Horizons; nominated for three Outer Critics Circle Awards, including best musical); THE GINGERBREAD HOUSE (commission from Playwrights Horizons and Dreamworks) THE BOOK OF THE DUN COW (Prospect Theater Company) and, most recently,DOCTOR DOLITTLE (Theaterworks USA).
With novelist/librettist Walter Wangerin Jr., Randy wrote the Christmas oratorio ANGELS AND ALL CHILDREN, the operas POTTER and, most recently, ELISABETH AND THE WATER TROLL.
Randy is a member of The Dramatists Guild and a regular participant at
The New Harmony Project. His work has been published by Samuel French,
Dramatists Play Service, Fireside Theater, Augsburg Fortress and The
Dramatic Publishing Company.
Mary Pope Osborne Creator and Author of the Magic Tree House Series
Mary Pope Osborne is the author of over eighty books for children and young adults, including novels, picture books, mysteries, biographies, and retellings of mythology and fairy tales. Many of her books have been named to the Best Books of the Year Lists of organizations such as the Booklist Editors, the Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, School Library Journal, Parents’ Magazine, Publishers Weekly, the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books and Bank Street College.
Her books have received honors from such organizations as the National Council of Teachers of English, the Parents Choice Foundation, the American Bookseller Association, the Children’s Book Council, and the International Reading Association. She has received the Ludington Memorial Award from the Educational Paperback Association and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Random House Sales Force. She has also received awards from the Boston Public Library, the Atlanta Public Library, the University of North Carolina, the Virginia Library Association, and the Delaware Library Association.
Ms. Osborne’s New York Times #1 bestseller, the Magic Tree House
Series has sold over 53 million copies and has been published in more
than 20 other languages. Ms. Osborne is a former twice-elected
president of the Authors Guild, the country’s oldest and most
established organization for published authors.
