For their ongoing support, good humor and forbearance, I’m indebted to Patrick Herold, Dan Jinks, Richard Garmise, Todd Ruff, Dana Ivey, Arlene Donovan, Scott Rudin, Jamie Krone, Scott Berlinger, Albert Mellinkoff, Kim Beaty, Allison Silver, Adrienne Halpern, Candida Scott Piel, William Ivey Long (a true royalist), Christopher Clarens, David Colman, and the Klahr sisters, who are no longer with us but remain a glorious inspiration.

I began writing Playing the Palace long before the COVID-19 crisis, but it was rewritten and edited during that awful period, so I’d like to salute the healthcare workers who’ve been so brave and tireless, along with everyone else who’s been staying safe and doing their best to keep our world functioning.

I’ll also pay tribute to the English royal family, especially Queen Elizabeth, a group that’s fascinated and entertained us all. It’s strange that Americans, in particular, are often so obsessed with a monarchy, but the personalities involved can be hilarious, admirable, questionable and delicious fun.

Finally, and with love, I need to thank John Raftis, who’s willing to make German chocolate cake frosting from scratch, create the most beautiful garden, explain so many things and keep me sane or thereabouts.

About the Author

Photo by Matthew Murphy

Paul Rudnick is a novelist, playwright, essayist and screenwriter. His plays have been produced on and off Broadway and around the world and include Jeffrey, I Hate Hamlet, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, Valhalla, Regrets Only and The New Century. He’s won an Obie Award, two Outer Critics Circle Awards and the John Gassner Playwriting Award. His novels include Social Disease and I’ll Take It, and his YA novels include Gorgeous and It’s All Your Fault. The Collected Plays of Paul Rudnick was published by HarperCollins, along with an essay collection entitled I Shudder. Mr. Rudnick is rumored to be quite close to film critic Libby Gelman-Waxner, whose reviews have appeared in Premiere Magazine and Entertainment Weekly, and whose collected columns have been published under the title If You Ask Me. Mr. Rudnick’s articles and essays have appeared in The New York Times, Esquire, Vogue and Vanity Fair, and he’s a frequent contributor to The New Yorker. His screenplays include Addams Family Values, In & Out, the screen adaptation of Jeffrey, Sister Act and HBO’s Coastal Elites.

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