# Itamar Moses

Itamar Moses (born 1977) is an American playwright, author, producer and television writer. He gained acclaim for writing the book for the Broadway musical The Band's Visit (2017) receiving the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical. He wrote the play Completeness (2011) earning a nomination for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play. He wrote books for the musicals Nobody Loves You (2012), and Fortress of Solitude (2014). His latest play The Ally (2024) about a college teacher conflicted about signing a petition debuted at The Public Theatre.
Moses started his television career writing for the TNT comedy-drama Men of a Certain Age (2010–2011), and the HBO drama series Boardwalk Empire (2011), the later of which earned him nominations for two Writers Guild of America Awards. He also served as a writer and producer for the WGN drama series Outsiders in 2017 and the Showtime drama series The Affair from 2018 to 2019.

## Early life and education

Moses grew up in a Jewish family in Berkeley, California, earned his bachelor's degree at Yale University, and his Master of Fine Arts degree in dramatic writing from New York University. He has taught playwriting at both Yale and New York University.

## Career

Moses wrote the play Completeness (2011) which premiered at the South Coast Repertory Theatre before transferring to Playwrights Horizons, New York City. The play revolves around young people, in the Computer Science and Biology Departments of a university, talking about love, molecular biology and computer science, while going through a variety of partners. Bob Verini of Variety in a mixed review praised his writing declaring, "[Moses] writes Completeness for both genders — quite well, too — with an unexpectedly fine ear for contempo sexual politics’ dizzying conversational loops". The play went on to receive a nomination for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play. He has written for the TNT comedy-drama Men of a Certain Age (2010–2011) and HBO drama series Boardwalk Empire (2011), the latter of which earned him nominations for two Writers Guild of America Awards.
In 2014 he wrote the book to the musical The Fortress of Solitude with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman. The musical premiered at The Public Theatre starring Adam Chanler-Berat, Andre de Shields, Brian Tyree Henry, and Rebecca Naomi Jones. The musical is a coming-of-age story about teenagers in 1970s Brooklyn. Marilyn Stasio of Variety praised the production but questioned its Broadway potential writing, "Is there an audience for this extraordinary show? Yes. Is there a Broadway audience? Maybe not" she added, "Make no mistake about it; this is no nostalgia piece, but the tragedy of friends who lost touch with one another and the music they grew up with."
His most prominent work, the musical The Band's Visit, opened on December 8, 2016, at the Atlantic Theater Company. That production won the 2017 Obie Award for Musical Theatre Off-Broadway. After closing on January 9, 2017, the musical moved to Broadway. It began previews on October 7, 2017, and officially opened on November 9, 2017, at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. For his work on The Band's Visit, Moses won the 2018 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical.
In 2024 Moses wrote the comedy-drama The Ally starring Josh Radnor as a Jewish college professor who deals with the moral quandary of being asked to sign a petition involving the denouncement of the state of Israel. The play was originally conceived during the Obama years and was slated to premiere in 2020 but was halted due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The production directed by Lila Neugebauer has received positive reviews with Sara Holdren of Vulture praising the performances and writing adding, "Pulsing ominously at the heart of The Ally is a question — a truly frightening one for artists, for scholars, for critics — about the more perilous face of nuance." In a mixed review from Jesse Green of The New York Times he wrote that while "Moses’s play offers eloquent arguments on all sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict" it lacks certain narrative stakes adding, "I felt the need for more wisdom than craft".

## Works
### Theatre

| Year | Title | Role | Venue |
| 2001 | Dorothy and Alice | Playwright | Short play at Manhattan Theatre Source |
| 2002 | Bach at Leipzig | Playwright | Hangar Theatre in Ithaca, New York |
| 2003 | Outrage | Playwright | Portland Center Stage |
| 2005 | Authorial Intent / Idea | Playwright | Manhattan Theatre Source, New York |
| 2006 | Celebrity Row | Playwright | Portland Center Stage |
| 2007 | The Four of Us | Playwright | San Diego Old Globe Theatre |
| 2007 | Szinhaz | Playwright | Duke Theater, New York City |
| 2008 | Yellowjackets | Playwright | Berkeley Repertory Theatre |
| 2008 | Back Back Back | Playwright | San Diego Old Globe Theatre |
| 2009 | Love/Stories (Or, But You Will Get Used to It) | Playwright | Flea Theater, New York City |
| 2011 | Completeness | Playwright | South Coast Repertory Theatre |
| 2011 | Completeness | Playwright | Playwrights Horizons, New York City |
| 2012 | Nobody Loves You | Book by | San Diego Old Globe Theatre |
| 2013 | Nobody Loves You | Book by | Second Stage Theatre |
| 2014 | The Fortress of Solitude | Book by | The Public Theater, New York City |
| 2016 | The Band's Visit | Book by | Atlantic Theatre Company, New York City |
| 2017 | The Band's Visit | Book by | Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway |
| 2022 | The Band's Visit | Book by | Donmar Warehouse, West End |
| 2024 | Dead Outlaw | Book by | Minetta Lane Theatre, New York City |
| 2024 | The Ally | Playwright | The Public Theatre, New York City |

### Television

| Year | Title | Writer | Producer | Notes |
| 2010–2011 | Men of a Certain Age | Yes | No | Writer 2 episodes |
| 2011 | Boardwalk Empire | Yes | No | Writer 12 episodes |
| 2017 | Outsiders | Yes | Yes | Writer 2 episodes; Co-producer 5 episodes |
| 2018–2019 | The Affair | Yes | Yes | Writer 2 episodes; Consulting producer 7 episodes |
| 2020 | Brave New World | No | Yes | Consulting producer 2 episodes |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 2012 | Writers Guild of America Awards | Dramatic Series | Boardwalk Empire | Nominated |
| 2012 | Writers Guild of America Awards | Episodic Drama | Boardwalk Empire | Nominated |
| 2012 | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Play | Completeness | Nominated |
| 2017 | New York Drama Critics Circle | Best Musical | The Band's Visit | Won |
| 2017 | Outer Critics Circle Award | Outstanding Book of a Musical | The Band's Visit | Nominated |
| 2017 | Lucille Lortel Award | Outstanding Musical | The Band's Visit | Won |
| 2017 | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Book of a Musical | The Band's Visit | Nominated |
| 2018 | Tony Award | Best Book of a Musical | The Band's Visit | Won |
| 2018 | Drama League Award | Outstanding Production of a Musical | The Band's Visit | Won |