Sandy Rustin

Sandy Rustin

Sandy Rustin is a Broadway playwright and actress.

One of the most produced playwrights in America, Sandy penned the adaptation of the cult-hit film, CLUE which has enjoyed over 3,500 productions worldwide. The NY TIMES called CLUE “a welcome throwback to an era of physical comedy!” CLUE will launch a national tour in February 2024 (touring schedule here) and is available for licensing via...
Sandy Rustin is a Broadway playwright and actress.

One of the most produced playwrights in America, Sandy penned the adaptation of the cult-hit film, CLUE which has enjoyed over 3,500 productions worldwide. The NY TIMES called CLUE “a welcome throwback to an era of physical comedy!” CLUE will launch a national tour in February 2024 (touring schedule here) and is available for licensing via Broadway Licensing.

Sandy’s original comedy, THE COTTAGE, (“Laugh Out Loud!” – The NY Times), directed by Jason Alexander (Seinfeld) is running now at The Hayes Theatre for a limited-engagement on Broadway, starring Eric McCormick and Laura Bell Bundy.

Sandy’s musical adaptation of MGM’s film, MYSTIC PIZZA, directed by Casey Hushion will premiere on the West Coast in January 2024 and is available for licensing via Concord Theatricals.

For television, Sandy is working with Jim Henson Company on developing a new family dramedy for television that utilizes their newly patented HDPS (Henson Digital Puppeteering System) and with the Australian company, JC Media Consulting, on a Broadway musical series for children.

Upcoming theatrical projects include HOUSTON, recipient of the New American Musical Award - now in development with Grammy winner, Edie Brickell, THE LOCH NESS, a new musical in collaboration with Marshall Pailet and AD Penado, THE SUFFRAGETTE’S MURDER, a new play premiering at The Denver Center for Performing Arts in January 2025, and ALWAYS SOMETHING THERE … a new original juke box musical for Primary Wave Music.

In partnership with Disney, Sandy created a musical review: JOLLY HOLIDAY with DISNEY ON BROADWAY, which premiered at Paper Mill Playhouse, the new YA musical: IN THIS TOGETHER for their Junior division, and A STORY FOR BELLE for their cruise lines. For Mattel, Sandy created and wrote the book & lyrics for the national tour of American Girl Live.

For NY’s City Center’s Encores!, Sandy adapted Jerry Herman’s DEAR WORLD, a NY Times Critic's Pick, directed by Josh Rhodes and starring Donna Murphy, and with collaborator Sarah Saltzberg, gave a “thorough feminist scouring” (NY Times) to Rogers & Hart’s I MARRIED AN ANGEL, directed by Joshua Bergasse.

Sandy’s play, EVERYTHING SEEMS LIKE MAYBE, is published and licensed by Playscripts and her sketch comedy musical, Rated P … FOR PARENTHOOD, (“Wistfully Funny!” – The NY Times) opened Off-Broadway at the Westside Theatre, was optioned for TV development with ABC Studios, and is available for licensing through Broadway Licensing. Sandy’s play, STRUCK (“A Charming Comedy!” – The NY Times) enjoyed two critically acclaimed productions at NJ REP and Theatre Raleigh. Her comedy, ELIJAH, was named amongst the Jewish Plays Project “Top Plays of 2020” and selected as a semi-finalist in the Eugene O’Neill Festival.

Sandy was the voice director of the YA Panoply Podcast, Jessica Majors from the Peabody Award Winning Gen-Z Team and wrote a kids’ scripted podcast for Gen-Z called, The Magic Sash, hosted by Olympic gold medalist, Aly Raisman.

After being named to Florida Studio Theatre's Playwright Collective in 2020, Sandy developed a masterclass: Writing Comedy for the Stage, which she teaches to a wide range of students all over the globe (thank you Zoom).

As an actress, Sandy regularly appeared at New York’s The Upright Citizen’s Brigade in “Gravid Water” (named “Best Improv Show” by Time Out NY) for 15 years. She has worked with Loopers Unlimited as a voiceover actress on hundreds of TV shows and films and is an award-winning audiobook narrator. Favorite NY acting credits include Found (Atlantic Theatre Company), Modern Orthodox (New World Stages), I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (Westside Theatre), Jolson & Company (Century Center), Sarah, Plain and Tall (Lucille Lortel), and Neil Simon’s Hotel Suite (Roundabout). TV credits include “Inside Amy Schumer,” “The Scariest Show on TV” (Comedy Central), “Law and Order; SVU,” “As the World Turns,” “All My Children” and “Guiding Light.” Sandy was co-founding artistic director of Midtown Direct Rep.

With her family, Sandy created the Jerry Kraut Memorial Fund, which supports the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Chicago. She also serves on the advisory board for Camp Kesem, a national movement dedicated to helping children through and beyond their parent’s cancer. Northwestern University graduate. Sandy is a member of ASCAP, SAG, AEA, and the Dramatists Guild and is represented by A3 Artists Agency and The Cartel.

Plays

  • Elijah
    A new dark comedy with Jews, Blacks, Gays, Muslims, Women, Republicans, Magic and Facts. Elijah the Prophet steps in to ward off the plagues when faith, family, science and mysticism collide at one Midwestern family's Passover Seder.
  • The Cottage
    Set in the English countryside in 1923, this tale of sex, betrayal and, oh yes, love, unfolds when Sylvia Van Kipness decides to expose her love affair to her husband and her lover's wife. The true meanings of fate, identity and marriage are called into question as a surprising, hilarious web of secrets unravels in this ridiculous-- potentially murderous-- romantic comedy. https://thecottageonbroadway.com...
    Set in the English countryside in 1923, this tale of sex, betrayal and, oh yes, love, unfolds when Sylvia Van Kipness decides to expose her love affair to her husband and her lover's wife. The true meanings of fate, identity and marriage are called into question as a surprising, hilarious web of secrets unravels in this ridiculous-- potentially murderous-- romantic comedy. https://thecottageonbroadway.com/ (Perusal copy avail via Broadway Licensing).
  • STRUCK
    Vera Resnick was struck by a bicycle in the East Village. Now she feels a strange and out-of-character connection to the college-aged biker who hit her. Was the collision just coincidence, or did larger forces bring them together? Vera, her husband, and their hippy-chic Texan neighbor, seek truth in the face of deception in this surprising and soulful serio-comedy that explores fate, family and identity.
  • Houston
    Houston chronicles two families dealing with leukemia: a Jewish family from Chicago and a Muslim family from Jordan. As the two fathers are isolated in a hospital bubble, waiting for a life-saving bone marrow transplant, MD Anderson Hospital in Houston, TX, becomes the backdrop for an unusual, and often funny, love story between their children, and an uncommon, but beautiful friendship between their wives, who...
    Houston chronicles two families dealing with leukemia: a Jewish family from Chicago and a Muslim family from Jordan. As the two fathers are isolated in a hospital bubble, waiting for a life-saving bone marrow transplant, MD Anderson Hospital in Houston, TX, becomes the backdrop for an unusual, and often funny, love story between their children, and an uncommon, but beautiful friendship between their wives, who are able to find true connection, and kindred spirits in one another.”