Benjamin Rush "Rusty" Magee was born August 6, 1955 in Washington, D.C., the son of Bettie Morris Magee and the late Dr. Kenneth Raymond Magee. After graduating from Philips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, Rusty enrolled at Brown University, where he received a bachelor's degree in music in 1978.
After graduation from Brown, Rusty worked for three years as the musical consultant and musical director for the Yale School of Drama and the Yale Repertory Theatre. In 1981 he was awarded an honorary Master of Fine Arts degree by the Yale School of Drama. He then moved to New York City, where he worked as a composer, lyricist and actor in theater, television, film and commercials. He also performed comedy at the West Bank Café in New York City and at other clubs, colleges and events.
In 1984 he married Alison Fraser, an actress and singer. They had one son, Nathaniel, born in April 1990.
Magee wrote music and lyrics for a number of plays that were produced on and off Broadway. In 1993 he won the New York Outer Critics' Circle James Fleetwood Award for most promising composer for his music and lyrics to the Classic Stage Company's adaptation of Moliere's
With his friend, comedian Lewis Black, Magee wrote
Magee also wrote music for children, including songs for
In 1998 Magee was awarded the "Coming up Taller" Humanitarian Award by First Lady Hilary Clinton for his work at the 52nd St. Project, a theater company in the "Hell's Kitchen" neighborhood of Manhattan. He was a member of the Actors Equity Association, the Screen Actors Guild, AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists), ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers), The Dramatists Guild and the Ensemble Studio Theatre.
In May 2002 a tribute to Magee and his music called "Sweet Appreciation" was held at the West Bank Café. Magee passed away on February 16, 2003 after a long battle with cancer. A second tribute, "Sweet Appreciation II", was held in his memory in June 2003. In 2006 the Ackerman Institute for the Family, which provides services to families and couples facing a chronic or life-threatening illness, dedicated the Rusty Magee Clinic for Families and Health in his honor. A concert to benefit the clinic, called "Sweet Appreciation III", was held that year and again in 2007.
There are no restrictions on access, except that the collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested.
Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. Researchers should note that compliance with copyright law is their responsibility. Researchers must determine the owners of the literary rights and obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Rusty Magee papers, Ms. 2009.016, Brown University Library.
The Rusty Magee papers contain material related to his career as a composer and performer in musical theater and comedy. Most of the material is dated from 1978 to 2002. It includes original scores, sheet music, and scripts for numerous plays; printed material such as playbills, programs and theater reviews; and recordings of plays and Magee's performances on audiocassette, compact disc and DVD.
The material in the first series, plays, is arranged alphabetically by the title of the play. It includes scores and parts, scripts, playbills, promotional material such as fliers and press releases, and theater reviews. Magee wrote original music and lyrics for many of the plays in this series. Most of his original music is in manuscript form. Magee's contribution to some of the plays in this series is not known.
The second series, music by Rusty Magee, consists of sheet music copyrighted between 2005 and 2007. It includes music for children's songs, music labeled "new transcriptions" and a spiral bound volume entitled
The third series, playbills and programs, contains material for plays and performances not listed in the first series. It is arranged alphabetically by title.
The material in the fourth series, miscellaneous press, was originally found in an envelope with that label. It consists of posters for Moonwork, a theater company in New York City where Magee worked; posters and press for the West Bank Café; and material regarding Magee's career, including several resumes and photographs. Magee's original description and organization of this material has been retained.
The fifth and last series in these papers, audiovisual material, contains recordings of plays and of Magee's music and performances on audiocassette, compact disc, and DVD. This series also contains one VHS tape entitled
The collection is arranged into the following series:
The collection is housed in seven records center boxes. The material in Series 5. Audiovisual material is in eight shoeboxes housed within records center boxes 5, 6 and 7.
The Rusty Magee papers were given to the Brown University Library in March 2007 by his wife, Alison Fraser. Additional material was donated by her in July 2008.
No further material is anticipated for this collection.
Brown University Library catalog record for this collection:
For a remembrance of Rusty Magee and his family by Evan Imber-Black, a therapist at the Ackerman Institute for the Family, see pp. 243-244 of:
The following titles may be found at the Brown University Library:
Rusty Magee wrote music, lyrics and scripts for a number of plays during his career. They were presented by organizations such as the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts; American Opera Projects, the Classic Stage Company, the Irish Repertory Theatre, the Manhattan Theatre Club, Moonwork, and the West Bank Cafe in New York City; the Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut; the Alley Theatre in Houston, Texas; and Brownbrokers at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
The material for this series was originally found in notebooks, envelopes and folders labeled with the title of the play. It includes scripts, scores, some correspondence, and printed material related to the plays such as playbills, fliers, programs and theater reviews. Most of the plays contain music and/or lyrics written by Magee. His contribution to some of the plays is not known. Magee's description of this material has been retained. The plays are arranged alphabetically by title.
Other printed music written by Magee may be found in Series 2. Music by Rusty Magee. Other playbills, programs and fliers may be found in Series 3. Playbills and programs and Series 4. Miscellaneous press.
The 52nd Street Project in a non-profit organization in New York City which creates original works for theater by pairing professional theater artists with children aged nine to eighteen. The material in this subseries was originally in an envelope labeled “52nd St. Project originals.” It consists of several short scripts and the music and lyrics for songs. Magee and his wife Alison Frasier are listed as the authors of the scripts “Wild in the Sweeps: A Play with Music”, and “Keeper of the Flame: The Story of Zelda and Zorina”. Most of the music for the songs is in manuscript form and was written by Magee. The author of some of the songs is not identified and some do not have a title.
This play was inspired by Eliot Asinof’s book about the Chicago “Black Sox” scandal of 1919 entitled
This play is described as “a musical revue about life after Drama School”. The book is by Lewis Black with music and lyrics by Rusty Magee. It was performed at the West Bank Café in New York City. This subseries includes an annotated script and lyrics to the song “At the Yale Drama School”.
This play is an adaptation by the Irish Repertory Theatre of Dylan Thomas’ 1950 short story “A Child’s Memories of Christmas in Wales”. This subseries contains a script and three songs. Magee was the musical director of the theater when the play was presented there in 2001. He also had a small part in the play.
This play is a musical based on the career of American pop singer Dean Reed, who left the United States in 1972 to live and perform in East Germany and the former Soviet Bloc countries. Magee wrote the music and lyrics for the play, which premiered at Houston’s Alley Theatre in 1990. This subseries includes several versions of the script, song lyrics and music. The music is in manuscript form and consists of parts for an ensemble of keyboard, guitar, bass and drums. The related material includes reviews, newspaper clippings, programs, correspondence and promotional material for the play such as fliers and press releases. The articles about Dean Reed are from various newspapers and magazines.
This subseries contains a script written by James Stevenson. Magee’s contribution to the play is not known.
This subseries includes the script, sheet music, music in manuscript form and material related to the play such as correspondence, programs and fliers. The sheet music includes a copy of the full score, the conductor’s score, vocal score, and parts for an ensemble of piano, woodwinds, French horn, percussion and bass. The music in manuscript form, which Magee labeled “charts”, consists of parts for songs and other music in the play.
This play by Harold Prince, based on the autobiography of writer Sean O'Casey, was presented by the Irish Repertory Theatre in January 1992. This subseries contains the script, sheet music for songs, and related material such as playbills and reviews. Magee conducted the music for the play.
Magee was the musical director of this cabaret, which featured the theater songs of John Guare. This subseries includes music, lyrics and related material such as fliers.
Magee arranged and recorded the piano music for this play by John Guare. It was presented at the Lincoln Center Theater in New York City in 1986. It was nominated for a Tony Award for best play that year. This subseries contains two programs and several sheets of paper with piano cues and song lyrics.
This play is based on Thomas Cahill’s 1995 book with the same title. This subseries contains the script. Magee’s contribution to the play is not known.
Magee arranged and wrote the music for this play with lyrics by Ron Peet. This subseries contains song lyrics and a piano score in manuscript form.
This play by Moliere was presented by the American Repertory Theatre in 1998. It was adapted by Andrei Belgrader and Shelley Berc with music and lyrics by Rusty Magee. This subseries includes a revised copy of the script, music in manuscript form and reviews.
Magee wrote the music for this original play by Jon Klein, David Riemer and Jeremy Schlosberg. It was presented by the Brownbrokers at Brown University in December 1978. This subseries contains the script, related material such as fliers and programs, the piano score in manuscript form and a list of songs with lyrics.
This play by Frank McCourt was presented by the Irish Repertory Theatre in 1998. Magee arranged the music and had a small role in the play. This subseries includes scripts, the score and related material such as programs, fliers, playbills and reviews.
Shakespeare’s
This adaptation of the 1671 Moliere play was written by Andrei Belgrader and Shelley Berc with music and lyrics by Rusty Magee. It was first presented at the Yale Repertory Theatre in 1991 and later by the Classic Stage Company in New York City in 1993. This subseries contains the score in manuscript form, reviews, and related material such as playbills, posters, photographs and fliers.
This 1743 play by Carlo Goldini was adapted and translated by Shelley Berc and Andrei Belgrader with music and lyrics by Rusty Magee. It was presented by the American Repertory Theatre in May 1992. This subseries contains the script, the score in manuscript form and related material such as reviews, fliers, playbills and programs. The score is missing music for songs numbered 2, 3, 4 and 14.
This subseries contains three pages from Magee’s desk calendar with notes regarding the opening of this play at the West Bank Café.
There is no information about this play in Magee’s papers. This subseries contains several pages of lyrics by Rusty Magee for songs that were set to music by Wagner, Verdi, Gilbert and Sullivan and other composers.
This play, presented by Moonwork in 2002, is an original musical adaptation of Edgar Lee Masters’ “Spoon River Anthology” and selected poems by Walt Whitman. It was written by Gregory Wolfe and Gregory J. Sherman with music by Andres Sherman and Rusty Magee. This subseries contains reviews of the play and related material such as fliers, programs and postcards.
This play is a musical version of Shakespeare’s
This play is an operatic parody starring the cast of the television series
This series consists of sheet music for songs written by Magee. The dates given for this material are the copyright dates on the sheet music. Magee’s original description of this material has been retained.
This series contains playbills, programs and fliers for plays and performances not listed in Series 1. Plays. They are arranged alphabetically by title.
The material in this series was originally in an envelope labeled “miscellaneous press”. It includes fliers, which Magee had labeled “posters”, for Moonwork and the West Bank Cafe; theater reviews from various newspapers and magazines, three 8x10 photographs of Magee and several of his resumes. The posters and press for the West Bank Cafe include a list of the plays presented and performers who appeared at the cafe between the fall of 1983 and the summer of 1986.
This series contains audiocassettes, compact discs, DVDs and one VHS tape. Most were not commercially produced. They include recordings of Magee’s performances and of plays for which he wrote music. Each type of recording is arranged alphabetically by title. All of the DVDs in this series are DVD-Rs. They must be played using "Power DVD". They will not play using "Windows Media Player". This material is in shoeboxes which are housed within records center boxes.
This subseries contains one VHS videocassette entitled