Robert Viagas

About

Robert Viagas is an author, editor, journalist, teacher, critic, librettist and project manager with more than twenty years' experience working on Broadway, most of it with Playbill Inc. and the Tony Awards. Viagas was founding editor (1994) of the first and still biggest theatre site on the web, Playbill.com. He has published 19 books on performing arts, plus one on golf. He is founding editor of the annual Playbill Broadway Yearbook series, recently took over writing and editing the "At This Theatre" column from Louis Botto, hosted the Tony Awards webcasts from 2002 to 2008, and edited the special Tony Awards Playbill from 2002 to 2010. He enjoys the rare honor of serving on the nominating committee for the Tonys (2012-2014). The New York Times’ CyberTimes described him as “encyclopedic” in his knowledge of Broadway. Among his other books, he was chosen by the original cast of A Chorus Line to tell their story in On the Line: The Creation of "A Chorus Line" (Morrow) and by the creators of the original The Fantasticks to tell their story in The Amazing Story of "The Fantasticks" (Citadel). In The Alchemy of Theatre (Applause Books) he worked with the likes of Edward Albee, Wendy Wasserstein, Hal Prince, Chita Rivera and others to codify how one collaborates in the world of theatre. The roll-out book-signing event sold out the 92nd Street Y in 2006. Viagas pioneered Playbill Radio (which introduced theatre to Sirius satellite radio) in 2002 with a show he hosted for six years, Playbill Books (including the “Playbill Broadway Yearbook” series), and PlaybillEDU.com, a search tool for college arts programs across North America. Viagas' 2009 book "I’m the Greatest Star!" (Applause) contained biographies of 40 brilliant stars of Broadway musical history. It was adapted as a stage musical and premiered at Hofstra University. He has written three other librettos for musicals.Available as freelance writer, book co-author, book editor or librettist.