Charles Leipart

Charles Leipart is an American musical theatre bookwriter, lyricist, and playwright who appeared on Broadway in 1965 in Man of La Mancha. Born in Chicago, he earned his degree from Northwestern University and has since made his home in New York City.

Leipart has written the book and lyrics for numerous musicals. His works include Good Girls Only, the Rehearsal Club Musical, with music by Jamey Grisham and additional music by John Kroner and Eric Scott Reed; Dickens' Haunted Christmas, a mystery musical with music by Eric Schorr; Me and Miss Monroe, an original musical with music by William Goldstein; and Enchanted April, a musical romance adapted from Elizabeth von Arnim's novel, with music by Richard B. Evans. Additional musicals include Frog Kiss, adapted from Stephen Mitchell's The Frog Prince with music by Eric Schorr; The Showgirl of 52nd Street, an original musical with music by John Kroner; The Price of Everything, adapted from Thorstein Veblen's The Theory of the Leisure Class with music by Richard B. Evans; espresso trasho, an original musical with music by Eric Schorr; and The Doctor's Wife, adapted from Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary with music by Eric Schorr.

His playwriting credits include George and Martha's Wedding Gift, a Play of Enslavement; Tailoring Hitler, Made-to-Measure in One Act; The Adolf I Knew, a Play of Collective Memory; A Kind of Marriage, a play about the private life of British novelist E. M. Forster; Swimming at the Ritz, a stage play about Pamela Churchill Harriman; and Underfoot in Show Business, adapted from the comic memoir by Helene Hanff. He has also written Mr. & Mrs. "A"; Deep Sleepers, a comedy published by Dramatists Play Service; and The Undefeated Rhumba Champ, a one-act comedy also published by Dramatists Play Service.

Leipart's work has received recognition across multiple competitions and foundations. He received the Edward Kleban Foundation Award for Outstanding Librettist in 2001 for The Showgirl of 52nd Street. Frog Kiss earned him the Excellence in Writing: Lyrics award at the New York Musical Theatre Festival in 2010, along with Honorable Mention citations for Most Promising Musical and Excellence in Writing: Book at the same festival. That same musical was selected in the Global Search for New Musicals in Cardiff, Wales in 2005. He was a finalist for the Fred Ebb Award in 2005, 2006, and 2008. A Kind of Marriage received an Honorable Mention from the Arch and Bruce Brown Foundation's LGBT History Playwriting Initiative Award in 2015.