| Mel Atkey | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Born | June 16, 1958 |
| Genres | Musical Theatre |
| Occupations | Composer, Lyricist, Author |
| Instruments | Piano |
| Website | www.melatkey.com |
Mel Atkey (born June 16, 1958) is a Canadian born, English emigrated musical theatre composer and lyricist. He began to write musicals while still in high school. After college, he was a theatre critic in Canada, continued to write musicals and songs and served as director of Cabaret and Musical Theater Alliance until 1991, when he moved to London. He is a member of the Writers' Union of Canada and Mercury Musical Developments. He was a finalist for the Musical of the Year competition in Aarhus, Denmark, and his work has been short-listed for the Vivian Ellis Prize, the Quest for New Musicals, the Ken Hill Prize and Musical Stairs.
Atkey was born to Ken and Marion Atkey (née Holmes), respectively a painter and a teacher, and grew up in Ladner, British Columbia, where he attended Delta Secondary School. Atkey began writing musicals ever since he was in high school in Vancouver. He later attended Langara College in Vancouver.
In 1977, Atkey co-produced a jazz concert with Vancouver impressario Willi Germann and a telethon featuring folk singer Tom Northcott. Atkey's first musical, Shikara, was produced on the radio in Canada. A single was released by singer Janice Jaud of one of the songs, "Far Away", and received airplay across Canada and the U.S. Atkey spent two years as a theatre critic in Vancouver before moving to Toronto to pursue musical theatre writing. He was commissioned to write songs for CBC Radio, and was a member of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop. He was a director of the Cabaret and Musical Theatre Alliance until he moved to London in 1991.
He made his New York debut in April 2001 with an Off-off-Broadway showcase of O Pioneers! with a book by Robert Sickinger. This show was then a finalist for “Stages 2002” at the New Tuners theatre in Chicago. Their second musical, A Little Princess was presented at Wings Theatre in New York in 2003, and his two character musical, Perfect Timing, for which he wrote the book as well as music and lyrics, was recently showcased as part of Greenwich Theatre’s Musical Futures series in London. He wrote the opening number for Janie Dee’s recent critically acclaimed one-woman show. His book When We Both Got to Heaven tells the story of his ancestor James Atkey, who came to Georgian Bay from the Isle of Wight in 1854 as a teacher to the Ojibwa. It was published by Natural Heritage Books, Toronto, in October 2002. A second book, Broadway North: The Dream of a Canadian Musical Theatre was published by Natural Heritage in 2006.[1]
His other musicals include Shikara, broadcast on the radio, and Perfect Timing (showcased at Greenwich Theatre, London, 2005). He has written songs for CBC Radio and for Janie Dee.