Playwright, Composer, Lyricist, Theatrical Producer

Featured as a “Person To Watch in 2011” by the Des Moines Register, Robert John Ford is an award-winning playwright, composer, and lyricist whose plays have been produced throughout the country.  He is the Founding & Producing Director of Right Brain Productions LLC, a theatre production company dedicated to the development and promotion of Iowa theatre artists and their work.  He is a long-time member of the Dramatists Guild of America.

Robert is the book writer, composer, and lyricist of:

• CAUCUS! THE MUSICAL (www.caucusthemusical.com), a musical satirizing the Iowa Presidential Caucuses. The 2008 premiere production was seen by 2,500 people, featured in nearly 200 media stories (including CNN, CBS, ABC, NPR, The New York Times, TIME, and Newsweek), and was called "the hottest new musical in the country" by the Washington Post. The play will be published in fall 2011 and numerous new productions are scheduled.
• UTOPIA (www.stateofutopia.net), a musical revue celebrating the unique people, places, and traditions of Iowa.  The 2010 premiere production was so successful that an open-ended run of the play is scheduled to begin in December 2011.
• SIX-ON-SIX (www.sixonsix.com), a musical comedy celebrating the unique game of girls’ six-on-six basketball in Iowa. Two productions in 2005 and 2009 were seen by more than 8,000 people.
• THE WORLD’S LARGEST ALUMINUM FOIL BALL, a dark musical comedy set in a Midwest roadside attraction. The premiere production was voted "Best Show" in an online poll at the 2007 Iowa Fringe Festival (out of 49 shows) and was designated by the St. Paul Pioneer Press as the first “must see” production of the 2007 Minnesota Fringe Festival (out of 140 shows).

He is also the book writer of:

• FOREVER IN BLUE JEANS: A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH, an irreverent comedy featuring the music of pop icon Neil Diamond set in a Mexican textiles factory.

He is the writer of:

• THE CASSEROLE BRIGADE, a comedy about four widowed women and their creative ways to meet eligible senior bachelors.  In 2007, the play was presented in New York and at the Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Alaska.
• SLEEPING DOGS, a drama about two mothers who are trying to uncover the facts surrounding an accident that has left one mother’s son dead and another mother’s son comatose.  The winner of the 2008 Iowa's Playwright's Workshop competition, the 2009 premiere production was called “riveting” and “remarkable” in a Des Moines Register review. 
• MY DINNER WITH ANDREW, an autobiographical play about the playwright’s daily interactions with serial killer Andrew Cunanan in the year leading up to his cross-country killing spree.  The play will premiere at the 2011 Minnesota and Chicago Fringe Festivals.