Amy Powers is an Emmy Award and Annie Award nominated lyricist, songwriter and producer who creates songs for film, television, theater, animation, pop and country artists, theme parks and children’s brands. Her work has been featured in Oscar and Tony winning productions and recorded by #1-selling and multi-platinum artists worldwide as well as on Fox's hit TV series, Glee.
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Amy Powers was born on March 29, 1961, in Bethpage, Long Island and grew up in Seaford and Merrick, New York. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Vassar College with a B.A. in Cognitive Science, was awarded a full fellowship to Columbia University, where she received her M.B.A. in 1984, and went on to complete her J.D. at Harvard Law School in 1987. After law school, Powers took a job in the Real Estate Finance department at White & Case in New York, where she remained for 2 1/2 years.
Powers' musical training began in 1988 when she was accepted to the prestigious BMI Musical Theater Workshop in New York. Her first project was The Game, a musical version of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, performed at NYU, in 1989, directed by Frank Ventura.[1] In 1991, Powers collaborated with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Don Black on songs for the Tony Award winning musical Sunset Boulevard, including "As If We Never Said Goodbye" and "With One Look." [2] She went on to co-write Cinderella: A Musical with composer Dan Levy for Riverside Shakespeare Company at Playhouse 91 in New York,[3] and then Lizzie Borden with composer Christopher McGovern in 2001, starring Christiane Noll which played at the Goodspeed Opera House.[4] In 2003, The Game was produced at Barrington Stage Company, starring Sara Ramirez.[5] An encore production of The Game will take place at Barrington Stage Company in August 2011.[6] Her next musical, Zhivago, based on the 20th century novel Doctor Zhivago, by Boris Pasternak, played at the La Jolla Playhouse, in CA in 2006.[7] It was revised and premiered as Doctor Zhivago at the Lyric Theatre, Sydney in February 2011, starring Anthony Warlow[8] to critical acclaim.[9][10]
Powers's songs have been recorded by such artists as Barbra Streisand,[2] Alabama, Bryan McKnight,[11] Ashley Tisdale,[12] Patti Lupone, Tina Arena, Avalon, RBD, Sara Paxton, and Katherine McPhee.[13]
Power's first song for Film was the title track for the Oscar-Winning When We Were Kings.[11][14] She has since written songs for films such as Sweet Home Alabama, Ella Enchanted and Aquamarine as well as many TV shows including Guiding Light, All My Children, Laguna Beach, Castle and America's Next Top Model.[15] Most recently, her song, "As If We Never Said Goodbye" was recorded[16] and performed on the episode "Born This Way" of Fox's hit TV series, Glee, on April 26, 2011, and attracted much praise.[17][18][19][20][21]
Power's songs have been featured in Mattel's Barbie Movies including Barbie and the Diamond Castle, Annie Award nominated Disney Princess: Enchanted Tales, The Little Engine That Could (2011 Film), and more.[15]
Powers lives in Los Angeles, CA, with her husband, film and theater producer J. Todd Harris, and their two sons, Jasper and Cole.
Powers was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for "Shine" in Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses in 2007, and for an Annie Award for Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams in 2008.[22]