Stuart Ross was born September 10, 1950, the son of George (an attorney) and Mae (a secretary) Ross. He received a bachelor of arts degree in 1972 from Clark University and received additional training and education at the University of Manchester, England and the Circle in the Square Theatre School with Nikos Psacharopoulos.
A prolific writer, director, and choreographer, his most memorable and successful play is certainlyForever Plaid which has played, and continues to play, across the country and around the world. He created and directed the original production in 1980 at the old Downstairs Cabaret in Rochester. He has since directed subsequent productions across the United States and in Japan, Canada, and England.
His first off-Broadway directing work was at the helm of The Knight of the Twelve Saucers in 1976 which ran for six performances. Since then he has been the writer and/or director for many successful plays in New York City, including The Heebie Jeebes at the Westside Arts Theatre in 1981, Not-So-New Faces at the O’Neals Upstairs Theatre in 1982, Sharing at the Equity Library Theatre in 1983, Lunch Girls at the Courtyard Playhouse in 1984, Hollywood Opera at The Ballroom in 1985, Secrets of the Lava Lamp at the Manhattan Theatre Club in 1985, and Creeps in 1985.
Other directing work includesBreaking Up; Nasty Little Secrets; Conrack; It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman; and many others. He also served for six season as a director and dramaturg for the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Conference.
Other plays he has written include Fun with Dick and Jane and the Tony Award-nominated musical Starmites, both in 1987. More recently he has written Tea with Bea, directed three productions for HBO’s New Writers Project, and, in 1998, he and Mark Hampton wrote and staged The Boswell Sisters, a new musical at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Conference for the National Musical Theatre.
