Rob Rokicki

Last updated
Rob Rokicki
Birth nameRobert Rokicki
Born Denver, Colorado, U.S.
OccupationsComposer, lyricist, musician, music director, actor
Instrument(s) Melodica
Years active2003–present
Website www.robrokicki.com
Education University of Michigan BA in English, BFA in Musical Theatre

Rob Rokicki is an American composer, lyricist, and musician. He is best known for writing the music and lyrics to the Broadway musical The Lightning Thief.

Contents

Career

Rokicki wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musical The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical (book by Joe Tracz), which debuted at the Lucille Lortel Theatre by Theatreworks USA in 2014 [1] and opened on Broadway at the Longacre Theatre in 2019. [2]

Rokicki performed the orchestrations and co-arrangements for the jukebox musical Punk Rock Girl (book and co-arrangements by Joe Iconis). [3] The show features songs from female-fronted bands, including Blondie, Avril Lavigne, Pat Benetar, No Doubt, and Pink. Rokicki created some song mashups for the musical that debuted in 2022 at The Argyle Theatre in Babylon Village, NY. [4]

A recording of Rokicki’s graphic novel musical Monstersongs was released by Broadway Records in 2017. [5] Rokicki cowrote the song "Footprints" with friend and collaborator Joe Iconis and the album features a number of performers, including Megan Hilty, Katrina Rose Dideriksen, and Jelani Alladin. Reviewers called Monstersongs "a delightfully clever, fun, catchy album" [6] and "the mature distillation of many years’ creativity". [7] It is being developed as a virtual reality video game. [8]

LOVE, NY, a musical co-written with Mike Ruby, won the 2009 American Harmony Award and has been presented at New World Stages, Curtain Call Kweskin Theatre in Connecticut, and Oklahoma University. [9] 11:11 (formerly known as Relativity), also co-created with Ruby, was first presented at Feinstein's/54 Below in 2014 [10] and selected for development at the University of Southern California School of Dramatic Arts in 2018. [11] Together, they also wrote Strange Tails, which was presented at several festivals between 2010 and 2012. [12]

Rokicki wrote the music and lyrics for Experience Marianas, a dark rock musical, which had an eight-week workshop presentation at Cap21/Molloy College in 2019. [13] He co-wrote the book with Sarah Beth Pfiefer following two years of research about cults [14]

As a music director, Rokicki was involved in the New York premiere of Departure Lounge, directed by Christopher Gattelli, at The Public Theater. He also served as music director on Joe Iconis' ReWrite at The Goodspeed Opera; Hairspray at the John W. Engeman Theater; The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas at TriArts at Sharon Playhouse; among others. [15]

As an actor, Rokicki performed in the Evita 25th Anniversary national tour and a tour of Miss Saigon . He was featured in a concert of South Pacific at Carnegie Hall that was recorded for television. He has a number of Off-Broadway and regional theater credits, including parts in productions of Beauty & the Beast and Thoroughly Modern Millie. [16]

Works

Theatre

Music

Awards

Related Research Articles

Annie Golden is an American actress and singer. She first came to prominence as the lead singer of the punk band the Shirts from 1975 to 1981 with whom she recorded three albums. She began her acting career as Mother in the 1977 Broadway revival of Hair; later taking on the role of Jeannie Ryan in the 1979 film version of the musical. Other notable film credits include Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Baby Boom (1987), Longtime Companion (1989), Strictly Business (1991), Prelude to a Kiss (1992), 12 Monkeys (1995), The American Astronaut (2001), It Runs in the Family (2003), Adventures of Power (2008), and I Love You Phillip Morris (2009).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Megan Hilty</span> American musical theatre actress (born 1981)

Megan Kathleen Hilty is an American actress and singer. She rose to prominence for her roles in Broadway musicals, including her performance as Glinda in Wicked, Doralee Rhodes in 9 to 5: The Musical, and her Tony Award–nominated role as Brooke Ashton in Noises Off. She also starred as Ivy Lynn on the musical-drama series Smash, on which she sang the Grammy Award-nominated "Let Me Be Your Star", and portrayed Liz on the sitcom Sean Saves the World.

<i>Little Shop of Horrors</i> (musical) 1982 horror comedy rock musical by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman

Little Shop of Horrors is a horror comedy rock musical with music by Alan Menken and lyrics and a book by Howard Ashman. The story follows a hapless florist shop worker who raises a plant that feeds on human blood and flesh. The musical is loosely based on the low-budget 1960 black comedy film The Little Shop of Horrors. The music, composed by Menken in the style of early 1960s rock and roll, doo-wop and early Motown, includes several well-known tunes, including the title song, "Skid Row (Downtown)", "Somewhere That's Green", and "Suddenly, Seymour".

<i>The Lightning Thief</i> American childrens novel, 2005, first in the Percy Jackson series

The Lightning Thief is a 2005 American fantasy-adventure novel based on Greek mythology, the first young adult novel written by Rick Riordan in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. It won the Adult Library Services Association Best Books for Young Adults, among other awards. The novel is followed by The Sea of Monsters and spawned two sequel series and the extended universe of the Camp Half-Blood Chronicles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucille Lortel Theatre</span> Off-Broadway theater in New York City

The Lucille Lortel Awards recognize excellence in New York Off-Broadway theatre. The Awards are named for Lucille Lortel, an actress and theater producer, and have been awarded since 1986. They are produced by the League of Off-Broadway Theatres and Producers by special arrangement with the Lucille Lortel Foundation, with additional support from the Theatre Development Fund.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zina Goldrich</span> American composer (born 1964)

Zina Goldrich is an American composer known for her work in musical theatre in collaboration with the lyricist Marcy Heisler. Her best-known works as composer include "Ever After The Musical", "Taylor The Latte Boy" and "Alto's Lament".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irish Repertory Theatre</span> Off-Brodway theatre

The Irish Repertory Theatre is an Off Broadway theatre founded in 1988.

Derek McLane is an American set designer for theatre, opera, and television. He graduated with a BA from Harvard College and an MFA from the Yale School of Drama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Timbers</span> American dramatist

Alex Timbers is an American writer and director and the recipient of Tony, Golden Globe, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and London Evening Standard Awards, as well as two OBIE and Lucile Lortel Awards. He also received the 2019 Drama League Founder's Award for Excellence in Directing and the 2016 Jerome Robbins Award for Directing. He was nominated for a 2020 Grammy Award. For his work on Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Timbers won a 2021 Tony Award for Best Director of a Musical.

Joseph Peter Philip Iconis is an American composer, lyricist, and playwright. He is best known for writing the music and lyrics to the Broadway musical Be More Chill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Salazar</span> American actor, singer, and musician (born 1986)

George Ernest Salazar is an American actor, singer, and musician known for his work on and off-Broadway. He made his Broadway debut in the 2011 revival of Stephen Schwartz's Godspell. Salazar originated in the role of Michael Mell in the 2015 musical Be More Chill and performed in the musical's 2018 Off-Broadway and Broadway in 2019 at the Lyceum Theater in New York City, New York. He originated the role of Grover in The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical and starred in Pasadena Playhouse's production of Little Shop of Horrors as Seymour Krelborn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brad Alexander</span> American songwriter and composer (born 1971)

Brad Alexander is an American composer for television and musical theater. He was Lead Composer for the 2019-2020 animated series Clifford The Big Red Dog (Scholastic/PBSKids/Amazon) and wrote the music for See Rock City & Other Destinations, which won the 2011 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical, the Richard Rodgers Award and the BMI Foundation's Jerry Bock Award. He wrote the music for TheatreWorksUSA’s Dog Man: The Musical, which premiered Off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theater and toured the US and Canada from 2019-2020. He also wrote the music and orchestrations for Click, Clack, Moo, which premiered Off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theater and received a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Lyrics and Lucille Lortel Award nominations for Outstanding Choreographer, Outstanding Lyrics and Outstanding Musical. His songs have been featured on Sony Records, Select Records, Showtime’s The L Word, VH1's “Celebreality” campaign, Sirius XM Radio and web series Submissions Only. He is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, National Alliance for Musical Theatre, Dramatists Guild of America and member Emeritus of The BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. He is married to actress and writer Jill Abramovitz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Malloy</span> American composer and actor

Dave Malloy is an American composer, playwright, lyricist, and actor. He has written several theatrical works, often based on classic works of literature. They include Moby-Dick, an adaptation of Herman Melville's classic novel; Octet, a chamber choir musical about internet addiction; Preludes, a musical fantasia set in the mind of romantic composer Sergei Rachmaninoff; Ghost Quartet, a song cycle about love, death, and whiskey; and the Tony Award winning Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, an electropop opera based on War and Peace.

Chris McCarrell is an American theater and television actor and singer. He is best known for portraying Marius Pontmercy in the Broadway revival of Les Misérables, and for originating the titular character in The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical in its Off-Broadway premiere, 2019 tour, and Broadway production.

<i>The Lightning Thief</i> (musical) 2014 musical

The Lightning Thief is a musical with music and lyrics by Rob Rokicki and a book by Joe Tracz, based on the 2005 novel of the same name by Rick Riordan. The musical follows Percy Jackson, a 12-year-old boy who newly discovers that he is a demigod and goes on a quest to find Zeus' missing lightning bolt and prevent a war between the Greek gods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethan Slater</span> American actor and singer (born 1992)

Ethan Samuel Slater is an American actor, singer, writer and composer, known for his role as SpongeBob SquarePants in the musical of the same name, for which he received a Tony Award nomination and won a Drama Desk Award in 2018. During his career he has also acted in musicals directed by Kathleen Marshall, Barry Levinson, John Tartaglia, Bartlett Sher, and John Doyle.

Cost of Living is a 2016 play by playwright Martyna Majok. It premiered in Williamstown, Massachusetts, at the Williamstown Theatre Festival on June 29, 2016, and had an Off-Broadway engagement in 2017. The play won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama as well as two Lucille Lortel Awards, including Outstanding Play.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">L Morgan Lee</span> American musical theater actress

L Morgan Lee is an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the 2022 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance in A Strange Loop on Broadway, making history as the first openly transgender actor to be nominated for a Tony Award.

Stephen Brackett is an American stage director best known for directing the Broadway musicals A Strange Loop, Be More Chill, and The Lightning Thief. For his work on A Strange Loop, Brackett received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical at the 75th Tony Awards.

References

  1. ↑ Jaworowski, Ken (25 July 2014). "Sing a Song, End a War: All in a Supernatural Camp Routine". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  2. ↑ "The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical Opens on Broadway October 16". Playbill. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  3. ↑ Schuler, Barbara (21 January 2022). "LI's Joe Iconis unleashes 'Punk Rock Girl!' power at Argyle Theatre". Newsday. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  4. ↑ "'Punk Rock Girl' Creators Share How They Brought this Fun-filled Musical To Life". Broadway & Main. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  5. ↑ "Megan Hilty, Joe Iconis & More Featured on Graphic Novel Rock Album 'Monstersongs'". Broadway World. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  6. ↑ Kahn, Erin (20 October 2017). "Album Review: Top 5 'Monstersongs' Songs". Stage Buddy. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  7. ↑ Eaves, Julian (12 November 2018). "Julian Eaves reviews Rob Rokicki's Monstersongs at The Other Palace Studio Theatre". British Theatre. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  8. ↑ "Monstersongs The Game". Monstersongs The Game. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  9. ↑ "'LOVE, NY' Wins The American Harmony Prize". Broadway World. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  10. ↑ "RELATIVITY: A NEW MUSICAL IN CONCERT". 54 Below. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  11. ↑ "New musicals 'Relativity' and 'Modern' selected for 2018-19 LiveRead@SDA". USC School of Dramatic Arts. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  12. ↑ "Strange Tails". Robert Rokicki. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  13. ↑ "Rob Rokicki & Eric Price To Present Musicals At Molloy College/CAP21". Broadway World. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  14. ↑ "EXPERIENCE MARIANAS – Bringing Broadway to Weston". University Centre Weston. November 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  15. ↑ "Rob Rokicki". Concord Theatricals. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  16. ↑ "About Rob Rokicki". Robert Rokicki. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  17. ↑ "Rob Rokicki Releases New EP 'Smart Girls'". Broadway World. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  18. ↑ "2015 Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway". Lortel Award. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  19. ↑ "NOMINEES ANNOUNCED FOR 5TH ANNUAL OFF BROADWAY ALLIANCE AWARDS". Off Broadway Alliance. 6 May 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  20. ↑ "Drama Desk Awards 2017: Meet The Nominees". New York Theatre Guide. 19 October 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.