John R. Carroll's first play was published when he was 15 years old. The Enchanted Bicycle was printed in Plays magazine and a playwright was born. His plays have been produced and published throughout the United States, Great Britain and Australia and include Murder Well Rehearsed; If It Don't Hurt, It Ain't Love; European Escapade; Oh, What a Tangled Web and A Carol for Tiny Tim (both published by Dramatic Publishing); TestingÉTesting and The Folks Next Door which was optioned for a television movie. Carroll has written the book to the musical Babes in Barns which played at Los Angeles' Variety Arts Center before continuing at the New Tuner's Theatre in Chicago for a six-month run. His book for the musical Ship Shapes at the Beverly Hills Playhouse was dubbed "A delightfully absurd plotÉ[playing] havoc with satire and high camp" by The Hollywood Reporter. The Los Angeles Times called it "Exactly what people expect in a summer entertainment [with]Éa script studded with well-honed comedy routines." Putting It on the Line was his next musical for the Skylight Theatre in Los Angeles, while Exactly the Same, Only Different won the Jane Chambers Memorial Award from the Meridian Theatre off-off Broadway. The CD of the songs from his adaptation of The Wind in the Willows received a Parent's Choice magazine Gold Award. Carroll has written more than 20 original musicals and reviews for the Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre in Claremont, California, and is a consulting writer for the Citrus Singers' yearly Christmas musicals at Citrus College, Glendora, California. Additionally, as a freelancer, his work has appeared in publications including The Los Angeles Times, Prime Health and Fitness, Soap Opera Digest, Los Angeles Magazine, Dramatics magazine, New Times and over 100 reviews for the West Coast Review of Books. Carroll is the author of two books: The "What-Do-You-Mean-IÕm-in-Charge-of-the-School-Pageant" Handbook and Plays, Pageants and Programs for Schools, Camps and Organizations.
