Craig Carnelia

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Craig Carnelia (born 1949) is an American musical theater composer and singer, known for his collaboration on the musicals Working and Sweet Smell of Success .

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Biography

Carnelia grew up in Floral Park, New York. He was exposed to Broadway at the age of fourteen when he was inspired by the Richard Rodgers musical No Strings . He played guitar, was in a folksinging group and taught himself to play the piano. While attending Hofstra University he won the role of The Boy in off-Broadway's The Fantasticks and dropped out of school as a sophomore. [1]

After a short stint in the production, Carnelia pursued songwriting and, later, musical theatre composition. Carnelia has one child, actress Daisy Carnelia, [2] and lives in Springfield, Missouri with his wife, actress Lisa Brescia. [3] His Poster Boy (2016) was performed at the Williamstown Theater Festival in Williamstown, Massachusetts. [4]

Carnelia's songs were heard with the work of other writers in the Stephen Schwartz conceptual revue Working (1978). [5]

From there he wrote full scores, both lyrics and music, for the short-lived Broadway musical Is there life after high school? (1982), which is still performed in stock, amateur, and regional theatres. He composed lyrics and music for Three Postcards, with a book by Craig Lucas, which was staged off-Broadway by Playwrights Horizons in 1987 and revived by Circle Rep in 1994.

For the musical Sweet Smell of Success (2002), he teamed with composer Marvin Hamlisch, [6] with whom he also composed songs for the 2002 Nora Ephron play Imaginary Friends .

He has received the Johnny Mercer Award, "Emerging American Songwriter", the first annual Gilman and Gonzalez-Falla Musical Theater Award, and the Kleban Award. He also is a mentor to young writers through the ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop, the Dramatists Guild Musical Theatre Fellowship and the Eugene O’Neill Musical Theatre Conference. [7]

Awards and nominations

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References

  1. ↑ Filichia, Peter. "A Conversation with Craig Carnelia", theatermania.com, January 8, 2004
  2. ↑ Gans, Andrew (October 22, 2013). "New Sundays Concert Will Spotlight Work of Craig Carnelia, Adam Gwon, Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk". Playbill.
  3. ↑ "Dramatists Guild | Dramatists Guild Member Profile View Edit". Archived from the original on September 20, 2016. Retrieved July 5, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Poster Boy". Williamstown Theatre Festival.
  5. ↑ " 'Working' information musicalschwartz.com. Retrieved February 2, 2010
  6. ↑ Jones, Kenneth."PLAYBILL ON-LINE'S BRIEF ENCOUNTER with Craig Carnelia", Playbill, January 15, 2002
  7. ↑ American Music Theatre Project biography Archived June 24, 2010, at the Wayback Machine amtp.northwestern.edu. Retrieved February 2, 2010
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