Dave Malloy

Dave Malloy
Dave Malloy
Malloy in 2013
Background information
Birth name David Christian Malloy
Born January 4, 1976
Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Genres Musical theatre
Occupation(s) Composer, writer, performer, orchestrator, sound designer
Years active 2000–present

Dave Malloy (born January 4, 1976) is an American composer, primarily known for his award winning electropop opera, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812.

Career

Malloy grew up in Cleveland, and began making theater in San Francisco in 2000.[1] Early work included pieces with Banana Bag & Bodice, for whom has been the composer since 2002.[2]

In 2008 he composed music for Beowulf – A Thousand Years of Baggage, a Banana Bag & Bodice SongPlay written by Jason Craig and commissioned by the Shotgun Players in Berkeley, CA. Beowulf received the 2008 Glickman Award and a 2011 Edinburgh Herald Angel, and has played a number of venues and festivals, including Berkeley Repertory’s Roda Theatre, ART’s Club Oberon, Joe’s Pub, and festivals in England, Ireland, Scotland and Australia.[3]

After Beowulf, he co-created and performed in Three Pianos, a drunken romp through Schubert’s “Winterreise” (directed by Rachel Chavkin) that premiered in 2010 at the Ontological-Hysteric Theater, winning a Special Citation Obie Award, and subsequently had runs at New York Theatre Workshop and American Repertory Theatre.[4]

His next work was Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, for which he was the composer, lyricist, orchestrator, music director and performer (playing Pierre). Comet was commissioned by Ars Nova and premiered there in October 2012, directed by Chavkin; in May 2012 the show transferred Off-Broadway to Kazino, a tent custom-built for the piece, first in the Meatpacking District and then in Times Square. The show won an Obie Award, the 2013 Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theater, the Off Broadway Alliance's Best New Musical Award, 11 Lucille Lortel Awards nominations, 5 Drama Desk nominations and 2 Drama League Award nominations.[5][6]

His latest piece, Ghost Quartet opened in October 2014 at the Bushwick Starr. After an extended sold out run, the piece transferred to the McKittrick Hotel, home of Sleep No More. The piece is a staged concept album, about love, death, and whiskey.[7]

Malloy lives in Brooklyn, NY. Future projects include Preludes, a piece about Rachmaninov premiering at Lincoln Center Theater in spring of 2015, and an adaptation of Moby Dick.[8]

Major works

Honors and awards

He is the winner of two OBIE Awards, a Richard Rodgers Award, Glickman Award, ASCAP New Horizons Award, Jonathan Larson Grant, and New Music USA Grant, a recipient of the 2009 NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Theatre Directors and Designers, and the 2011 Composer-in-Residence at Ars Nova.[10]

References

  1. ↑ Schulman, Michael. "Rocking Out to “War and Peace”". The New Yorker, June 13, 2013
  2. ↑ Cote, David. "Theater in New York: Q&A with Dave Malloy". Time Out New York, March 26, 2013
  3. ↑ "Beowulf". Banana Bag & Bodice (New York).
  4. ↑ Soloski, Alexis. "New York Theatre Workshop Uncorks Three Pianos" Village Voice, November 24, 2010
  5. ↑ Weinert-Kendt, Rob. "The Composer Wears Many Hats" New York Times, May 23, 2013
  6. ↑ Cox, Gordon. "‘Here Lies Love,’ ‘Great Comet’ Shatter Records in Lortel Nominations" Variety, April 1, 2014
  7. ↑ Kozinn, Allan. "Malloy’s ‘Ghost Quartet’ to Play in Chelsea’s McKittrick Hotel" NY Times, December 11, 2014
  8. ↑ Amodio, Joseph. "Dave Malloy talks Tolstoy and new musical, 'Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812'" Newsday, July 10, 2013
  9. ↑ "Resume page". Composer's website (New York).
  10. ↑ "Author biography page". Samuel French (New York).

External links