David Zippel

Last updated
David Zippel
Born
David Joel Zippel

(1954-05-17) May 17, 1954 (age 69)
Easton, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Education University of Pennsylvania (B.A., 1976)
Harvard Law School {J.D., 1979)
OccupationLyricist

David Joel Zippel (born May 17, 1954) is an American musical theatre lyricist, director, and producer.

Contents

Early life and education

Zippel was born and raised in Easton, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. Falling in love with theater as a child, Zippel first articulated his life's ambition to become a lyricist and director in junior high school.

He attended the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where he contributed lyrics to an equity production of "a bizarre political musical" called Rotunda, which had a brief run in Washington, D.C. before graduating with a B.A. in 1976. Zippel then obtained a J.D. degree from Harvard Law School, graduating in the class of 1979. At Harvard, Zippel continued to pursue his ambition of writing several pop songs with singer Pamala Stanley that appeared on her 1979 debut album, This Is Hot, and collaborating on three songs with Wally Harper, Barbara Cook's musical director, whose performance of the songs at Carnegie Hall in 1980 marked Zippel's own New York City theatrical debut. [1]

Career

Theatre

As lyricist and writer

As conceiver and director

  • Princesses (2004), loosely inspired by A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Zippel conceived and directed; book by Bill and Cheri Steinkellner, music by Matthew Wilder. The musical was produced at the 5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle, Washington, in August 2005, after a "developmental" production at Goodspeed Musicals' Norma Terris Theatre in fall 2004. [2]
  • The Best Is Yet To Come: The Music of Cy Coleman, [3] Indy Award for Best Direction (2010); [4] Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revue (2012)
  • They're Playing His Songs: The Music of Marvin Hamlisch (2013) [5]
  • The Importance of Being Earnest (In New York) (2015) [6]

As producer

Film and television

As lyricist and writer

Zippel contributed lyrics to The Swan Princess (1994) and provided the singing voice of Jean-Bob the Frog. He also wrote the lyrics for the Disney films Hercules (1997), with music by Alan Menken (the song "Go the Distance" received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song), and Mulan (1998), with music by Matthew Wilder. The music and lyrics received an Academy Award nomination for Best Musical or Comedy Score and an Annie Award nomination for Music in an Animated Feature Production. He was in his agent Richard Kraft's film Finding Kraftland .

Pamela's First Musical, written with Coleman and Wendy Wasserstein, based on Wasserstein's children's book, received its world premiere in a concert staging at Town Hall in New York City on May 18, 2008. [8] [9]

In 2011, Zippel wrote the lyrics to the song "Star Spangled Man" featured in the film Captain America: The First Avenger . Alan Menken composed the music for the song, which was an affectionate send-up of 1940s Irving Berlin songs. [10] [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Schwartz</span> American musical theatre lyricist and composer (born 1948)

Stephen Lawrence Schwartz is an American musical theatre lyricist and composer. In a career spanning over five decades, Schwartz has written such hit musicals as Godspell (1971), Pippin (1972), and Wicked (2003). He has contributed lyrics to a number of successful films, including Pocahontas (1995), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), The Prince of Egypt, and Enchanted (2007).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Menken</span> American composer (born 1949)

Alan Irwin Menken is an American composer, pianist, music director, and record producer, best known for his scores and songs for films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Menken's music for The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), and Pocahontas (1995) has each won him two Academy Awards. He also composed the scores and songs for Little Shop of Horrors (1986), Newsies (1992), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Hercules (1997), Home on the Range (2004), Enchanted (2007), Tangled (2010), and Disenchanted (2022), among others. His accolades include winning eight Academy Awards — becoming the second most prolific Oscar winner in the music categories after Alfred Newman, a Tony Award, eleven Grammy Awards, seven Golden Globe Awards, and a Daytime Emmy Award. Menken is one of nineteen people to have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cy Coleman</span> American composer, songwriter, and jazz pianist (1929–2004)

Cy Coleman was an American composer, songwriter, and jazz pianist.

Lynn Ahrens is an American songwriter, and librettist for the musical theatre, television and film. She has collaborated with Stephen Flaherty for many years. She won the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award for the Broadway musical Ragtime. Together with Flaherty, she has written many musicals, including Lucky Stiff, My Favorite Year, Ragtime, Seussical, A Man of No Importance, Dessa Rose, The Glorious Ones, Rocky, Little Dancer and, recently on Broadway, Anastasia and Once on This Island.

Carolyn Leigh was an American lyricist for Broadway, film, and popular songs. She is best known as the writer with partner Cy Coleman of the pop standards "Witchcraft" and "The Best Is Yet to Come". With Johnny Richards, she wrote the million-seller "Young at Heart" for the film of the same name, starring Frank Sinatra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judy Kuhn</span> American actress and singer (born 1958)

Judy Kuhn is an American actress, singer and activist, known for her work in musical theatre. A four-time Tony Award nominee, she has released four studio albums and sang the title role in the 1995 film Pocahontas, including her rendition of the song "Colors of the Wind", which won its composers the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Edward "Ed" Kleban was an American musical theatre composer and lyricist. Kleban was born in the Bronx, New York City, in 1939 and graduated from New York's High School of Music & Art and Columbia University, where he attended with future playwright Terrence McNally.

Glenn Slater is an American lyricist for musical theatre. He has collaborated with Alan Menken, Christopher Lennertz, Andrew Lloyd Webber, among other composers. He was nominated for three Tony Awards for Best Original Score for the Broadway version of The Little Mermaid at the 62nd Tony Awards in 2008, Sister Act at the 65th Tony Awards in 2011, and School of Rock at the 70th Tony Awards in 2016.

Mark Bramble was an American theatre director, author, and producer. He was nominated for a Tony Award three times, for the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for Barnum and 42nd Street (1981) and Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical, 42nd Street (2001).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew Sklar</span> American composer for musical theatre, television, and film

Matthew Sklar is an American composer for musical theatre, television, and film. His works have appeared on Broadway, the West End, and theatres worldwide. Sklar has written primarily with lyricist Chad Beguelin, having written music for their Broadway shows The Prom, Elf the Musical, and The Wedding Singer. The Prom and The Wedding Singer earned him nominations for the Tony Award for Best Original Score.

Chad Beguelin is an American playwright and lyricist. He wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the book for The Prom. He also wrote the book for Disney's Aladdin, as well as additional lyrics for the score. He was nominated for Best Original Book and Best Original Score for Aladdin. He is also known for his collaborations with composer Matthew Sklar, having written the lyrics and co-written the book for the Broadway musical The Wedding Singer and the lyrics for the Broadway musical Elf the Musical. Beguelin was nominated for two Tony Awards for his work on The Wedding Singer, as well as a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics.

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

Debbie Shapiro Gravitte is an American actress and singer. She was born in Los Angeles, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">61st Tony Awards</span>

The 61st Annual Tony Award ceremony was held on June 10, 2007 at Radio City Music Hall, with CBS television broadcasting live. The cut-off date for eligibility was May 9, meaning that to be qualified for the 2006-2007 season, shows must have opened before or on this date.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerard Alessandrini</span> American dramatist

Gerard Alessandrini is an American playwright, parodist, actor and theatre director best known for creating the award-winning off-Broadway musical theatre parody revue Forbidden Broadway. He is the recipient of Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre, an Obie Award, four Drama Desk Awards, an Outer Critics Circle Award, and two Lucille Lortel Awards, as well as the Drama League Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre.

<i>Diamonds</i> (musical) Musical revue about baseball

Diamonds is a musical revue about baseball. The book and music were created by many writers, composers, and lyricists. Among them were Ellen Fitzhugh, Roy Blount, Jr., and John Weidman (book); and Larry Grossman, Comden and Green, Howard Ashman, and Cy Coleman, music.

Robert Longbottom is a New York City-based choreographer and director, primarily for theatre and opera.

Larry Hochman is an American orchestrator and composer. He has won four Emmy Awards for his original music on the TV series Wonder Pets! and a Tony Award for his orchestrations for The Book of Mormon.

Douglas Besterman is an American orchestrator, musical arranger and music producer. He is the recipient of three Tony Awards out of six total nominations and two Drama Desk Awards out of six total nominations, and was a 2009 Grammy Award nominee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judy Gordon (producer)</span> American theater producer

Judy Gordon is an American theater producer of plays and musicals on Broadway and off-Broadway as well as internationally. Her productions include the musical Barnum with music by Cy Coleman, starring Jim Dale and Glenn Close on Broadway and Michael Crawford in London. She also produced A History of the American Film by Christopher Durang on Broadway, and 2x5 by John Kander and Fred Ebb off Broadway.

References

  1. 1 2 "David Zippel". Masterworks Broadway. Retrieved 2014-07-04.
  2. ↑ Jones, Kenneth (August 17, 2005). "Princesses, the Broadway-Aimed New Musical by Zippel & Company, Opens in Seattle Aug. 17". Playbill.
  3. ↑ Spindle, Les (July 20, 2009). "The Best Is Yet to Come: The Music of Cy Coleman". Backstage.
  4. ↑ Donelan, Charles (May 27, 2010). "2010 Indy Awards". The Santa Barbara Independent. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
  5. ↑ Jones, Kenneth (January 23, 2013). "They're Playing His Songs: The Music of Marvin Hamlisch". Playbill.
  6. ↑ Green, David (November 25, 2015). "BWW Review: Coyote Stageworks' Zippel-Directed BEING EARNEST IN NEW YORK a Triumph at the Annenberg". BroadwayWorld.
  7. ↑ "Spamilton: An American Parody". spamilton.com.
  8. ↑ Blank, Matthew (May 19, 2008). "PHOTO CALL: Pamela's First Musical Premieres at Town Hall". Playbill. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
  9. ↑ David, Cara Joy (July 17, 2014). "A Playwright's Well-Traveled Valentine to Broadway". The New York Times.
  10. ↑ Jones, Kenneth (June 15, 2011). "Alan Menken and David Zippel Pen Song for 'Captain America' Movie". Playbill. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
  11. ↑ Newman, Melinda (July 21, 2008). "Interview: Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken talks 'Captain America'". HitFix. Retrieved January 8, 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.