Doug Haverty

Doug Haverty’s first play, a college comedy called, Hello, This is the Bottom Drawer, opened in Los Angeles in 1980 and was a surprise—award-winning—hit, garnering the attention of Miss Audrey Wood in New York. She subsequently signed him to her stable of playwrights at ICM. The Los Angeles Herald Examiner dubbed him, “… the Frank Capra of the ‘Me’ Generation.”

Doug was commissioned by Access Theatre of Santa Barbara to write the libretto for a musical fantasy that incorporates sign language into and throughout the story; The Legend of the Crystal Waters toured the South/West and garnered Haverty a playwriting award at the American Deaf Drama Festival.

A new musical (co-written with Adryan Russ) being workshopped at the Group Rep was suddenly greenlit to become a full-fledged production. Originally scheduled for five weeks, it ran five months, was picked up regionally and eventially opened Off Broadway at The Cherry Lane Theatre. That musical, Inside Out (about five women in group therapy), has enjoyed productions all over the world for many years. The New York Times said, “A bright, witty and wise musical about the way we live now … A smart, spunky musical. Characters seem like real people, even when they sing and dance.” Most recently, it was translated into Serbian. It opened in Belgrade in October 2018 and was very successful and ran continuously until the worldwide pandemic shutdown all theater in March 2020.

Doug also wrote the libretto for another musical commissioned by Access Theatre which opened in November of 1991, Flavia and the Dream Maker. This family musical is based on the popular author/poet/painter’s autobiography (with songs by Shelley Markham and Bob Garrett). Published by The Dramatic Publishing Company.

Also co-written with Adrayn Russ, iGhost is inspired by Oscar Wilde’s The Canterville Ghost. This musical is contemporary spin on the classic tale and compares and contrasts the similarities between ghosts and Bluetooth, wireless wizardry. World premiered in May 2011 at The Lyric Theatre.

In 2012, Doug was commissioned to write the book (and some lyrics) for a new musical called The Ghost of Gershwin with all new music by Wayland Pickard written in the style of George & Ira Gershwin. This opened at The Group Rep in May 2014 and played to nearly sold-out houses for seven weeks making it their highest-grossing, most attended production.

Developed under the guidance of the late Betty Garrett, Doug’s musical Love Again was developed at Theatre West and The Group Rep and was included in The Group Rep’s 41st season and opened in May 2015, directed by A Chorus Line original cast member, Kay Cole.

Haverty’s many straight plays have also met with success, most notably, Could I Have This Dance, which was selected by the American Theatre Critics’ Association as the Best New Play of 1991 (produced outside of New York City) and was subsequently included in the Otis-Gurnsey Best Plays of 1991-92. Other regional successes include In My Mind’s Eye, Aftershocks, and Next Window Please