ELLAROSE CHARY (she/hers) is an award-winning writer and advocate for inclusion in musical theater. She is a Richard Rodgers Award winner, Drama League Award Nominee, Dramatists Guild Fellow, NYFA Fellowship Playwriting/Screenwriting Finalist, Kleban Prize Finalist, Kernodle New Play Award Finalist, Relentless Award HM, Doric Wilson Award Semi-Finalist, and winner of a BOH Cameronian Arts Award and the Weston Award for Musical Theater.

 

Her musical TL;DR: THELMA LOUISE; DYKE REMIX won the Richard Rodgers Award, was awarded a Rhinbeck Triple R Residency, was featured at NAMT, was a Finalist for the O'Neill NMTC, was a finalist for the Kleban Prize, and was a Relentless Award HM. It received its World Premiere at Diversionary Theater in 2024 where it was hailed as "90 minutes of gay fun" and was nominated for a San Diego Theatre Critic's Circle Craig Noel Award for Outstanding New Musical. The original cast recording is available everywhere music is sold online or streamed. Her play THE WRONG QUESTION was selected for the Jewish Playwriting Contest, was in the top 10 for Theater J’s Abramson Prize, and was featured in Jewish Telegraphic Agency. She is the bookwriter for the award-winning THE DOLL MAKER’S GIFT, which opened at The Rose Theater in 2019 (“Families should flock to this one.” – Omaha World-Herald) and her play THE SÉANCE MACHINE premiered off-off Broadway at Obie Award Winning The Tank in 2019. Her other projects include: COTTON CANDY AND COCAINE, HOW TO SURVIVE THE END OF THE WORLD (featured on Broadway.com, BroadwayWorld, Hollywood Soapbox, and 89.5 FM Star), THE LAKE AND THE MILL, QUEER. PEOPLE.  TIME., PATRIETTES (The #FWord Finalist) and the Malaysian musical MARRYING ME. Her debut album, PLACE AND TIME, with Brandon James Gwinn released in December 2021 and features a cast of Broadway artists including Tituss Burgess, Amber Gray, Telly Leung, Daisy Eagan, Alysha Umphress and Troy Iwata. She was commissioned by Millikin University to write THE SPELL OF RED RIVER, a new musical featuring women and non-binary roles, which was produced in spring of 2024. The show was then featured at 54 Below in November 2024. 

​

She has been in residence at Ars Nova (Uncharted), Harvard ArtLab, Roundabout Theatre / Bucks County Playhouse, Millikin University,Catwalk Institute, and has received an Anna Sosenko Grant and multiple Frank Young Fund Grants for New Musicals. Her work has been produced, developed and commissioned by the Great Plains Theater Conference, the Drama League, The Civilians and City Center (Encores! Off-Center), Theater C, AFO Solo Shorts, Theo Ubique, Diversionary Theater, Luna Stage, Prospect Theater, Joe’s Pub, and 54 Below. She was a guest lecturer and production studio lead artist at Harvard University in the Theater, Dance and Media department in Fall 2020.  She is currently a member of the New Georges Jam, where she is developing two new plays. She is also working on commissions for The Rose

​

She is an activist and advocate for inclusion in media both on and off stage. She has written for The Lilly Awards Blog, HowlRound, and Musical Theater Today (where she is a contributing editor). Her work coordinating Amplifying Activists Together phone banks with Natasha Sinha and Jay Stull was recently featured in American Theatre. She has appeared on panels at NYMF and with Honest Accomplice Theater and co-created Tankaret, a cabaret series for underrepresented voices. She believes the future of the American theater is universal healthcare. Member: Dramatists Guild; ASCAP; New Georges Affiliated Artist. MFA: NYU Tisch, BA: Brown University.