Lee Hall (playwright)

British writer

Lee Hall

Born|  (1966-09-20) 20 September 1966 (age 58)

Newcastle upon Tyne, England

Occupation| Writer
Spouse|

Beeban Kidron

(m. 2003)​

Lee Hall (born 20 September 1966) is an English writer and lyricist. He is best known for writing the screenplay for the film Billy Elliot (2000) and the book and lyrics for its adaptation as a stage musical of the same name. In addition, he wrote the play The Pitmen Painters (2007), and the screenplays for the films War Horse and Rocketman (2019).

## Early life

[edit]

Hall was born in 1966 in Newcastle upon Tyne, the son of a house painter and decorator and a housewife. He was educated at Benfield School in Walkergate. As a youth he went to Wallsend Young People's Theatre along with Deka Walmsley, Mark Scott and Trevor Fox. Walmsley later appeared in two of Hall’s works, Billy Elliot and The Pitmen Painters.

Hall went up to Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, where he read English literature and was taught by poet Paul Muldoon.[1]

After leaving Cambridge, he worked as a youth theatre fundraiser in Newcastle and at the Gate Theatre in London. In 1997, his playwriting career was launched with the broadcast of his radio play, Spoonface Steinberg, on BBC Radio 4.[2]

## Career

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Hall's most commercially successful work is Billy Elliot, the story of a North Eastern English boy who, in the face of opposition from his family and community, aspires to be a ballet dancer. The inspiration for the screenplay was drawn, in part, from the A. J. Cronin novel The Stars Look Down, which is also set in an English coal mining community during a strike, and similarly tells the story of a miner's son who goes against the grain.[3] The character Billy was also partly inspired by the renowned baritone Sir Thomas Allen who came from a similar background, having been born in the North East's County Durham.[4] Initially a 2000 film directed by Stephen Daldry, for which Hall wrote the screenplay, and for which he received an Academy Award nomination, Billy Elliot was later turned into a stage musical, with music by Elton John and lyrics by Hall. It enjoyed a long run in the West End and opened on Broadway in 2008. It won Hall the 2009 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical.

Also successful was Spoonface Steinberg, the tale of a young autistic Jewish girl who is dying of cancer. The last in a quartet of radio plays entitled God's Country, the monologue aroused an unprecedented listener response when it was broadcast in 1997 on BBC Radio. It was subsequently voted one of the ten best radio dramas of all time by readers of the magazine Radio Times. Spoonface Steinberg was adapted as a television play and into a one woman show starring 42-year-old actress Kathryn Hunter. The play opened in 1999 and later transferred to the West End.

Hall had more limited success with his comedy Cooking with Elvis, the protagonist of which is an Elvis Presley impersonator who has been paralyzed in a car crash. It was originally a 1995 radio play but it became a stage play in 1999. Hall's fondness for moving from one medium to another can also be seen in his work I Luv You Jimmy Spud, which began as a 1995 radio play and was later adapted by Hall into a stage play and a film, Gabriel and Me, starring Billy Connolly and Iain Glen.

He has also translated plays by Carlo Goldoni, Bertolt Brecht and Herman Heijermans and co-written the screenplays for adaptations of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice and Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows.

Hall's play, The Pitmen Painters, inspired by art critic William Feaver's book on the Ashington Group, premiered at the refurbished Live Theatre in Newcastle upon Tyne in 2007. It tells of a group of miners from Ashington, Northumberland, who decide to learn about art and begin to paint. The production later transferred to the National Theatre in London and opened on Broadway in September 2010. It won the 2008 Evening Standard Award for Best Play.

In 2011, controversy arose over a children's opera that Hall had written, called Beached. The opera was commissioned by Opera North and was to have been performed by children from Bay Primary School in Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire. The story is about a gay retired painter, a single father who tries to spend a quiet day at the seaside with his son, but who is interrupted by children on a school trip, dogs, a landscape painter, an amateur dramatic society and others. After rehearsals had been going on for six months, the school threatened to pull the children out of the production if changes were not made to the libretto. Hall changed some words to accommodate their requests, but school officials, supported by Opera North, insisted on the removal of the words "I'm queer" and "I prefer a lad to a lass," and other references to the character being gay.[5] The school eventually agreed to let the children perform if Hall changed "queer" to "gay."[6]

Hall was the original writer on the screenplay for a film adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's War Horse; he shares credit on the finished film with Richard Curtis, who was brought in by Steven Spielberg.[7] His most recent TV work is an adaptation of Nigel Slater's Autobiography Toast, starring Helena Bonham Carter and Freddie Highmore and set in Wolverhampton, West Midlands. First broadcast on BBC One in December 2010, Toast received a gala at the 2011 Berlin Film Festival and was released in cinemas on 11 August 2011. He also worked on the screenplay for the yet-to-release Working Title film Hippie Hippie Shake, based on Richard Neville's memoir Hippie Hippie Shake: The Dreams, the Trips, the Trials, the Love-ins, the Screw Ups: The Sixties.

Hall's other projects include a biopic of Elton John, Rocketman,[8] released in May 2019, a stage musical adaptation of Pink Floyd's The Wall,[9] and a film adaptation of George Orwell's 1933 memoir Down and Out in Paris and London.[10]

## Personal life

[edit]

Hall married film director Beeban Kidron (Baroness Kidron) in 2003.[11] Kidron is a child rights advocate who has played a determinative role in establishing standards for online safety and privacy across the world.[12]

## Works

[edit]

Plays

* I Luv You Jimmy Spud (1995)
* The Love Letters of Ragie Patel (1997)
* The Sorrows of Sandra Saint (1997)
* Spoonface Steinberg (1997)
* Cooking with Elvis (1999)
* NE1 (2000)
* The Chain Play (2001)
* Child of the Snow (2005)
* Two's Company (2005)
* The Pitmen Painters (2007)
* Shakespeare in Love (2014)
* Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour (2015)
* Network (2017)

Screenplays

* Billy Elliot (2000)
* Gabriel and Me (2001)
* The Wind in the Willows (2006)
* Toast (2010)
* War Horse (2011)
* Victoria & Abdul (2017)
* Rocketman (2019)
* Cats (2019)

Musicals

* Billy Elliot the Musical (2005)
* Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical (2021)

Operas

* Beached (2011)

Translations

* Mr Puntila and His Man Matti by Bertolt Brecht (1998)
* A Servant to Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni (1999)
* Mother Courage and Her Children by Bertolt Brecht (2000)
* The Good Hope by Herman Heijermans (2001)

## Awards and nominations

[edit]

Awards

* 1996 Richard Imison Award: I Luv You Jimmy Spud
* 1999 Pearson Playwrights' Scheme Award
* 2000 British Independent Film Award, Best Screenplay: Billy Elliot
* 2006 Laurence Olivier Award, Best New Musical: Billy Elliot the Musical
* 2008 Evening Standard Award, Best Play: The Pitmen Painters
* 2009 Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Book of a Musical: Billy Elliot the Musical
* 2009 Tony Award, Best Book of a Musical: Billy Elliot the Musical
* 2009 Drama League Award, Distinguished Production of a Musical: Billy Elliot the Musical (shared with Elton John)
* 2009 Outer Critics Circle Award, Outstanding New Score: Billy Elliot the Musical (shared with Elton John)
* 2017 Laurence Olivier Award, Best New Comedy: Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour
* 2020 Golden Raspberry Award, Worst Screenplay; Cats[13]

Nominations

* 2001 BAFTA Award, Best Original Screenplay: Billy Elliot
* 2001 Academy Award, Best Original Screenplay: Billy Elliot
* 2009 Tony Award, Best Original Score: Billy Elliot the Musical (shared with Elton John)
* 2011 Satellite Award, Best Adapted Screenplay: War Horse (shared with Richard Curtis)
* 2018 Laurence Olivier Award, Best New Play: Network
* 2018 Satellite Award, Best Adapted Screenplay: Victoria & Abdul

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Profile "The poet at play", The Guardian, 12 May 2001, Accessed 2013-10-16
2. ^ Johnson, Andrew (29 November 2009). "Lee Hall: 'Cambridge taught me I was short'". The Independent on Sunday. London. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
3. ^ "Bill and Lee's excellent adventures". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 2 January 2002. Archived from the original on 21 October 2007. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
4. ^ Whitley, John (10 September 2007). "If Billy Elliot had been a painter..." The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
5. ^ Hall, Lee (3 July 2011). "Lee Hall: 'I will fight this'". The Guardian. London.
6. ^ "Homophobia row opera to go ahead". BBC News. 7 July 2011.
7. ^ "War Horse - Empire". Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
8. ^ "Elton John's life to get big screen treatment". BBC News. 22 September 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
9. ^ "Roger Waters rebuilds The Wall". Herald Sun. 30 June 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
10. ^ "Billy Elliot writer Lee Hall adapts George Orwell". BBC News. 30 March 2012.
11. ^ Barr, Gordon (15 October 2003). "Bridget's boys". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
12. ^ Scott, Mark (15 June 2023). "How a British baroness is shaping America's tech laws for kids". Politico.com. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
13. ^ "RAZZ NEWZ - The Razzies!". razzies.com.

## External links

[edit]

* Lee Hall at British Council: Literature
* Lee Hall at IMDb
* Lee Hall at the Internet Broadway Database
* Interview with Lee Hall

* v
* t
* e

Works by Lee Hall

Films|

* Billy Elliot (2000)
* Gabriel & Me (2001)
* The Wind in the Willows (2006)
* Toast (2010)
* War Horse (2011)
* Victoria & Abdul (2017)
* Rocketman (2019)
* Cats (2019)

Musicals / opera|

* Billy Elliot the Musical (2005)
* Beached (2011)

Plays|

* I Luv You Jimmy Spud (1995)
* The Love Letters of Ragie Patel (1997)
* The Sorrows of Sandra Saint (1997)
* Spoonface Steinberg (1997)
* Cooking with Elvis (1999)
* NE1 (2000)
* The Chain Play (2001)
* Child of the Snow (2005)
* Two's Company (2005)
* The Pitmen Painters (2007)
* Shakespeare in Love (2014)
* Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour (2015)
* Network (2017)

Awards for Lee Hall

* v
* t
* e

Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical

1970–2000|

* George Furth (1970)
* Burt Shevelove (1971)
* John Guare and Mel Shapiro (1972)
* Hugh Wheeler (1973)
* Hugh Wheeler (1974)
* No Award (1975)
* James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante (1976)
* Thomas Meehan (1977)
* Hugh Wheeler (1979)
* No Awards (1980–1983)
* James Lapine (1984)
* Jerry Colker (1985)
* Rupert Holmes (1986)
* L. Arthur Rose, Douglas Furber, Stephen Fry, and Mike Ockrent (1987)
* James Lapine (1988)
* Larry Gelbart (1990)
* Marsha Norman (1991)
* George C. Wolfe (1992)
* James Lapine (1994)
* Jonathan Larson (1996)
* Terrence McNally (1998)
* Alfred Uhry (1999)
* No Award (2000)

2001–present|

* Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan (2001)
* John Lahr and Elaine Stritch (2002)
* Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan (2003)
* Winnie Holzman (2004)
* Rachel Sheinkin (2005)
* Bob Martin and Don McKellar (2006)
* Rupert Holmes and Peter Stone (2007)
* Douglas Carter Beane (2008)
* Lee Hall (2009)
* Alex Timbers (2010)
* Adam Mathias (2011)
* Joe DiPietro (2012)
* Dennis Kelly (2013)
* Robert L. Freedman (2014)
* Lin-Manuel Miranda (2015)
* John Caird (2016)
* Irene Sankoff and David Hein (2017)
* Tina Fey (2018)
* Robert Horn (2019)
* Michael R. Jackson (2020)
* No Award (2021)
* Bruce Sussman (2022)
* Matthew López and Amber Ruffin (2023)
* Itamar Moses (2024)
* Will Aronson and Hue Park (2025)

* v
* t
* e

Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screenplay

1980s|

* Bronte Woodard and Allan Carr – Can't Stop the Music (1980)
* Frank Yablans, Frank Perry, Tracy Hotchner, and Robert Getchell – Mommie Dearest (1981)
* Robin Moore and Laird Koenig – Inchon (1982)
* John Kershaw, Shawn Randall, and Ellen Shephard – The Lonely Lady (1983)
* John Derek – Bolero (1984)
* Sylvester Stallone, James Cameron, and Kevin Jarre – Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
* Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz – Howard the Duck (1986)
* Jonathan Reynolds and Bill Cosby – Leonard Part 6 (1987)
* Heywood Gould – Cocktail (1988)
* Eddie Murphy – Harlem Nights (1989)

1990s|

* Daniel Waters, James Cappe, and David Arnott – The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990)
* Steven E. de Souza, Daniel Waters, Bruce Willis, and Robert Kraft – Hudson Hawk (1991)
* Blake Snyder, William Osborne, and William Davies – Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992)
* Amy Holden Jones – Indecent Proposal (1993)
* Tom S. Parker, Jim Jennewein, Steven E. de Souza, and various others – The Flintstones (1994)
* Joe Eszterhas – Showgirls (1995)
* Andrew Bergman – Striptease (1996)
* Eric Roth and Brian Helgeland – The Postman (1997)
* Joe Eszterhas – An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (1998)
* Jim Thomas, John Thomas, S. S. Wilson, Brent Maddock, Jeffrey Price, and Peter S. Seaman – Wild Wild West (1999)

2000s|

* Corey Mandell and J. David Shapiro – Battlefield Earth (2000)
* Tom Green and Derek Harvie – Freddy Got Fingered (2001)
* George Lucas and Jonathan Hales – Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002)
* Martin Brest – Gigli (2003)
* Theresa Rebeck, John Brancato, Michael Ferris, and John Rogers – Catwoman (2004)
* Jenny McCarthy – Dirty Love (2005)
* Leora Barish and Henry Bean – Basic Instinct 2 (2006)
* Jeffrey Hammond – I Know Who Killed Me (2007)
* Mike Myers and Graham Gordy – The Love Guru (2008)
* Ehren Kruger, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci – Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

2010s|

* M. Night Shyamalan – The Last Airbender (2010)
* Steve Koren, Adam Sandler, and Ben Zook – Jack and Jill (2011)
* David Caspe – That's My Boy (2012)
* Steve Baker, Ricky Blitt, Will Carlough, Tobias Carlson, Jacob Fleisher, Patrik Forsberg, Will Graham, James Gunn, Claes Kjellstrom, Jack Kukoda, Bob Odenkirk, Bill O'Malley, Matthew Alec Portenoy, Greg Pritikin, Rocky Russo, Olle Sarri, Elizabeth Wright Shapiro, Jeremy Sosenko, Jonathan van Tulleken, and Jonas Wittenmark – Movie 43 (2013)
* Darren Doane and Cheston Hervey – Saving Christmas (2014)
* Kelly Marcel – Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)
* Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer – Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
* Tony Leondis, Eric Siegel, and Mike White – The Emoji Movie (2017)
* Niall Leonard – Fifty Shades Freed (2018)
* Lee Hall and Tom Hooper – Cats (2019)

2020s|

* Tomasz Klimala, Barbara Białowąs, Tomasz Mandes, and Blanka Lipińska – 365 Days (2020/21)
* Joe DiPietro and David Bryan – Diana: The Musical (2021)
* Andrew Dominik – Blonde (2022)
* Rhys Frake-Waterfield – Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey (2023)
* Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless, Claire Parker, S. J. Clarkson, and Kerem Sanga – Madame Web (2024)

* v
* t
* e

Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical

1950–1975|

* South Pacific by Oscar Hammerstein II and Joshua Logan (1950)
* Hello, Dolly! by Michael Stewart (1964)
* Fiddler on the Roof by Joseph Stein (1965)
* Company by George Furth (1971)
* Two Gentlemen of Verona by John Guare and Mel Shapiro (1972)
* A Little Night Music by Hugh Wheeler (1973)
* Candide by Hugh Wheeler (1974)
* Shenandoah by James Lee Barrett, Peter Udell and Philip Rose (1975)

1976–2000|

* A Chorus Line by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante (1976)
* Annie by Thomas Meehan (1977)
* On the Twentieth Century by Betty Comden and Adolph Green (1978)
* Sweeney Todd by Hugh Wheeler (1979)
* Evita by Tim Rice (1980)
* Woman of the Year by Peter Stone (1981)
* Dreamgirls by Tom Eyen (1982)
* Cats by T. S. Eliot (1983)
* La Cage aux Folles by Harvey Fierstein (1984)
* Big River by William Hauptman (1985)
* The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Rupert Holmes (1986)
* Les Misérables by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg (1987)
* Into the Woods by James Lapine (1988)
* No Award (1989)
* City of Angels by Larry Gelbart (1990)
* The Secret Garden by Marsha Norman (1991)
* Falsettos by William Finn and James Lapine (1992)
* Kiss of the Spider Woman by Terrence McNally (1993)
* Passion by James Lapine (1994)
* Sunset Boulevard by Don Black and Christopher Hampton (1995)
* Rent by Jonathan Larson (1996)
* Titanic by Peter Stone (1997)
* Ragtime by Terrence McNally (1998)
* Parade by Alfred Uhry (1999)
* James Joyce's The Dead by Richard Nelson (2000)

2001–present|

* The Producers by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan (2001)
* Urinetown by Greg Kotis (2002)
* Hairspray by Thomas Meehan and Mark O'Donnell (2003)
* Avenue Q by Jeff Whitty (2004)
* The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee by Rachel Sheinkin (2005)
* The Drowsy Chaperone by Bob Martin and Don McKellar (2006)
* Spring Awakening by Steven Sater (2007)
* Passing Strange by Stew (2008)
* Billy Elliot the Musical by Lee Hall (2009)
* Memphis by Joe DiPietro (2010)
* The Book of Mormon by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone (2011)
* Once by Enda Walsh (2012)
* Matilda the Musical by Dennis Kelly (2013)
* A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder by Robert L. Freedman (2014)
* Fun Home by Lisa Kron (2015)
* Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda (2016)
* Dear Evan Hansen by Steven Levenson (2017)
* The Band's Visit by Itamar Moses (2018)
* Tootsie by Robert Horn (2019)
* Jagged Little Pill by Diablo Cody (2020/21)
* A Strange Loop by Michael R. Jackson (2022)
* Kimberly Akimbo by David Lindsay-Abaire (2023)
* Suffs by Shaina Taub (2024)
* Maybe Happy Ending by Will Aronson and Hue Park (2025)

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
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* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
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* BnF data
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* Poland
* Israel

Academics|

* CiNii

Artists|

* MusicBrainz
* KulturNav
* FID

People|

* Deutsche Biographie

Other|

* IdRef
* SNAC
* Yale LUX

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