Kellen is the Drama Desk nominated co-creator of Murder For Two, the murder mystery musical comedy that ran for a year off-Broadway and has been touring internationally since 2014. The show earned Kellen (and co-writer Joe Kinosian) the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Musical Work in Chicago and the ASCAP Foundation Mary Rodgers / Lorenz Hart Award for their contribution to musical theatre.

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In 2022, "It Came From Outer Space" (written with Joe Kinosian) will premiere at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. This new musical comedy is an adaptation of the Universal Film with a story by Ray Bradbury.

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"Just Between the All of Us" (written with Sarah Ziegler and David Christensen) is also set to premiere in 2021, at the Bloomington Playwrights Project. This immersive musical comedy was originally commissioned by Pittsburgh CLO and is the winner of the 2020 Reva Shiner Comedy Award. 

 

Kellen’s lyrics have been heard on Broadway stages (at the Theatre World Awards), at the Kennedy Center, and in theaters across the country. His other musical works include Scrooge in Love (available to license through Tams-Witmark), and Diane Steals the Show (being developed with Second Stage Theatre and the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center).

 

In addition to writing for the theater, Kellen enjoys writing fiction and poetry. He teaches film and playwriting in New York City, where he lives with his wife and two sons.