Adam Gwon | |
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Education | NYU Tisch School of the Arts |
Occupations |
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Notable work | Ordinary Days |
Website | adamgwon |
Adam Gwon is an American composer and lyricist living in New York City. [1]
Gwon was born in Boston, and spent his childhood in Baltimore before attending New York University Tisch School of the Arts. [2] [3] While studying acting at NYU, Gwon was encouraged to pursue writing by a teacher, David Bucknam, and was later mentored by the musical theater writing team of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. [4] Gwon is of Chinese-American and Jewish descent. [5]
Gwon made his off-Broadway debut in 2009 with Ordinary Days , the first musical production in Roundabout Theatre Company's black box space, Roundabout Underground. [6] In 2011, Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia, premiered Gwon's musical The Boy Detective Fails, based on the novel by Joe Meno, as part of their American Musical Voices Project. [7] South Coast Repertory commissioned and premiered his musical Cloudlands, written with Octavio Solis, in 2012. [5] [8]
In 2015, Gwon had two simultaneous world premieres, both co-written with Julia Jordan: Bernice Bobs Her Hair, adapted from the F. Scott Fitzgerald short story, at the Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma, and Cake Off at Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia. [9] Cake Off received a Helen Hayes Award nomination for Outstanding Original Play or Musical Adaptation. [10]
Village Theatre in Issaquah, Washington, produced the world premiere of Gwon's musical String, with a book by Sarah Hammond, in 2018. [11]
Gwon's Ordinary Days was preserved on a cast album and has been produced in London's West End and around the world from Paris to Rio de Janeiro. [12] [13] [14] A 2018 revival by the Keen Company was nominated for a Drama League Award for Best Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical. [15]
Gwon's song "I'll Be Here" was recorded by Audra McDonald on her album Go Back Home. [16] McDonald has performed the song in concert, including at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. [17] [18] It aired on PBS's Live from Lincoln Center in 2013. [19]
He served a three-year term on the Tony Awards Nominating Committee, beginning in 2015. [20]
Gwon's musical Scotland, PA, with book by Michael Mitnick, adapted from the cult 2001 film, premiered at Roundabout Theatre Company's Laura Pels Theatre in 2019. [14]
In 2008, Gwon was the fourth annual recipient of the Fred Ebb Foundation Award, presented to aspiring composer/lyricists. [21]
In 2011, Gwon received the Kleban Prize for most promising musical theater lyricist. The award included a $100,000 cash prize. [22]
Year | Title | Music | Lyrics | Book | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | Ordinary Days | Adam Gwon | [24] | |||
2011 | The Boy Detective Fails | Adam Gwon | Joe Meno | based on the novel by Joe Meno | [25] | |
2012 | Cloudlands | Adam Gwon | Adam Gwon & Octavio Solis | Octavio Solis | [26] | |
2015 | Bernice Bobs Her Hair | Adam Gwon | Adam Gwon & Julia Jordan | Julia Jordan | based on the short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald | [27] |
2015 | Cake Off | Adam Gwon | Adam Gwon & Julia Jordan | Julia Jordan & Sheri Wilner | based on the play Bake Off by Sheri Wilner | [28] |
2018 | String | Adam Gwon | Sarah Hammond | [29] | ||
2019 | Scotland, PA | Adam Gwon | Michael Mitnick | based on the film by Billy Morrissette | [30] | |
2022 | Witnesses | Jordan Beck & Gerald Sternback, Carmel Dean & Mindi Dickstein, Matt Gould, Adam Gwon, and Anna K. Jacobs | Robert L. Freedman | [31] | ||
2025 | All the World's a Stage | Adam Gwon | [32] |