Rick Crom

Rick Crom, born March 15, 1957, is an American actor, singer, comedian, composer, and lyricist whose career spans Broadway performance, off-Broadway writing, stand-up comedy, and television. His Broadway work ran from 1993 to 2001, and his writing credits have earned him three Drama Desk Award nominations for Outstanding Lyrics.

Crom made his Broadway debut in 1993 in The Goodbye Girl. His subsequent Broadway appearances included serving as an understudy in Footloose and playing the roles of Tiny Tom and Dr. Billeaux in Urinetown: The Musical. Off Broadway, his acting credits include the 1994 revival of Merrily We Roll Along and Encores! productions of Fiorello! and Li'l Abner.

As a writer, Crom authored the book, music, and lyrics for NEWSical in 2004, earning his first Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Lyrics; the show itself received a nomination for Outstanding Revue. An original cast recording was released on April 5, 2005, and the production ran for 215 performances before closing in 2005. A revised edition, retitled NEWSical the Musical: We Distort, You Decide, began previews at the 47th Street Theater on November 24, 2009, opened December 9, and closed March 21, 2010. That production again brought Crom a Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Lyrics, with the show nominated for Outstanding Musical Revue. A further edition, NEWSical the Musical: Full Spin Ahead, began previews December 13, 2010, and opened January 9, 2011, at The Kirk at Theatre Row. Crom also co-created the Star Trek spoof Space Trek with bookwriter Marc Lipitz, and wrote the topical musical revues Oh Fine RSVP!, The Subject Was Neurosis, Absolutely Rude, and Our Life and Times, the last of which earned him a MAC Award and a Backstage Bistro Award for Outstanding Musical Revue.

In 2009, Crom composed the score and co-wrote lyrics with Fred M. Caruso for the film The Big Gay Musical. That same year, he composed the score and wrote the lyrics for Bonnie & Clyde: A Folktale, with a book by his Urinetown co-star Hunter Foster. The piece was presented at the 2009 New York Musical Theatre Festival, where it won awards for Best Music and Most Promising Musical, and was subsequently workshopped through the ASCAP Foundation Irving Caesar Fund Fellowship and a Producer-Writer Initiative granted through the National Alliance for Musical Theatre. From the late 1980s through 2008, Crom contributed topical material to the Crystal Palace Theater in Aspen, Colorado, and a recording of those songs, Who Writes This Stuff? The Songs of Rick Crom, was released in 2008. He performs a similar function for Laffing Matterz, a dinner theater in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

As a stand-up comedian, Crom has performed across the country, most frequently at New York City's Comedy Cellar, where he also teaches a course in stand-up comedy. He has performed with Chicago City Limits and appeared on television in Chappelle's Show, Caroline's Comedy Hour, Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, and the FX sitcom Louie. In 2017, the documentary Oh, Rick, directed by Dustin Sussman and Aaron Rosenbloom, was released, chronicling his career.