Finding Roger, Rick Elice's Memoir of Late Husband Roger Rees, Is Released

Rick Elice's new memoir Finding Roger: An Improbably Theatrical Love Story, covering the 34 years spent with his late husband, the inimitable Tony winner Roger Rees, is released on October 3 by Disney Book Group.

"Rog inspired whole legions of us—actors, writers, designers, directors, students, teachers—all of us raised up by his rare and great spirit. No one more than me. I have many thank-yous to make in my life, but my deepest will always be to that kind and gentle man, my beautiful husband, Roger Rees," Elice told Broadway.com. "The book is a love letter to that lovely fellow, and to the place where we first met, the place that gives so many of us a center of gravity, a reason for being, and a home—the theater. The book is me searching for that piece of Rog, any piece of him, and finally finding it. And who knows? Somewhere in this story of love and loss, you might find yourself as well."

Rees, whose Broadway résumé was extensive, was perhaps best known as the star of Charles Dickens' The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, for which Rees won the 1982 Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in Play. He died of brain cancer at age 71 in July of 2015, shortly following his final Broadway appearance in The Visit.

Elice is a charter member of Cambridge, Massachusetts' American Repertory Theater. From 1982-1999 he was a copywriter, producer and eventually vice president of Broadway advertising agency Serino Coyne. From 1999-2009, he served as a creative consultant for Disney. He co-wrote the librettos for the musicals Jersey Boys and The Addams Family and is currently at work on the upcoming Broadway musical The Cher Show.

Elice and Rees married in 2011. They collaborated on the 2012 Broadway play Peter and the Starcatcher, with Elice as playwright and Rees as co-director.

The book cover of Finding Roger: An Improbably Theatrical Love Story by Rick Elice