Terrence McNally, known primarily for Next, Where Has Tommy Flowers Gone", Bad Habits, and The Ritz, achieved prominence as a bitingly comic writer in 1968, when six of his plays were produced. His subjects are the major upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s: the Vietnam War, fascism, the draft, middle-class morality, political revolution, presidential assassination, youth and rebellion, popular culture, and changes in sexual codes. His more recent work is exuberant, lyrical, and farcical, sharply contrasting with the tone of outrage and anger noted in the beginning of his career.

Born in Saint Petersburg, Florida, McNally grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas. His parents, Hubert Arthur and Dorothy Rapp McNally, both native New Yorkers, introduced him to the theatre by taking him at the age of seven to see Annie Get Your Gun (1946), starring Ethel Merman. After his graduation from high school, McNally left Corpus Christi in 1956 to attend...