Chad Henry was born on October 9, 1946, in
Seattle,
Washington to Robert, a drama teacher, and June (
nee Condit), a human services coordinator. He served in the
United States Army from 1965 to 1968. He attended
University of Washington, where he studied drama and dance, graduating with a B.A. in 1972. He graduated from the
Cornish School of Allied Arts with a B.F.A in 1983. He began writing theatre songs in his early twenties for Empty Space Theatre, for a series of outdoor park shows produced throughout the 1970s and '80s, including titles such as
Carlo Goldoni's
The Venetian Twins,
Voice of the Mountain,
Deadwood Dick, ''Gammer Gurton's Needle
, The Sidewalks of New York'', and many others. He provided songs and theatre material for productions at most of Seattle's then-extant theatres, including
Seattle Repertory Theatre,
ACT Theatre, Skid Road Theatre, The Group Theatre, and others. He co-authored, with
A. M. Collins, the long-running rock musical
Angry Housewives, which played for seven years in Seattle, breaking all long-run records in that city. Although primarily credited with music and lyrics for that production, Henry contributed in part to the script as well. The show also played for a number of years in several other west coast cities—Portland, Vancouver, B.C., Victoria, B.C., Santa Rosa, California, and elsewhere—each of the above for at least five years each.
Angry Housewives played as well in London, Tokyo, Berlin, Sydney, Melbourne, in every major U.S. and Canadian city, had an
Off-Broadway run at the Minetta Lane Theatre in New York, was published by
Samuel French, and optioned several times for film.
Labor of Love toured throughout Japan, the United States, and played in Barcelona at the Olympics Arts Festival in 1992. Labor was reviewed by
Time,
Newsweek, the
Christian Science Monitor, and
NPR, and many arms of the Japanese media. Henry received a Washington State Arts Commission award for his work on
Labor of Love. His novel for young adults,
Dogbreath Victorious, was published by Holiday House. As an actor, Henry has appeared on regional professional stages for the past forty years, playing a variety of roles in theatres such as
Denver Center Theatre Company,
Seattle Repertory Theatre, ACT Seattle, and elsewhere. He currently resides in Denver. ==Works==