Graduate Musical Theatre Writing
Michael John LaChiusa |
Biography
Mr. La Chiusa recently premiered Send (who are you? I love you), written for Audra McDonald and commissioned by the Houston Grand Opera. This past season also saw the premieres of two new works: Bernarda Alba, at Lincoln Center Theatre; and See What I Wanna See, which premiered at the Joseph Papp Public Theatre. The Highest Yellow, commissioned by the Signature Theatre, premiered in 2004, and received two Helen Hayes Awards. Mr. LaChiusa was represented on Broadway during the 1999-2000 season by The Wild Party and Marie Christine (written for Ms. McDonald,) receiving Tony nominations for Best Score and Best Book (with George C. Wolfe on The Wild Party) for each show. He was the 1998-1999 Brena and Lee Freeman Composer-in-Residence at the Lyric Opera of Chicago where his Lovers & Friends: (Chautauqua Variations) had its World Premiere in June 2001. Other works include Little Fish, Hello Again, First Lady Suite, Break/Agnes/Eulogy for Mister Hamm, and Chronicle for a Death Foretold for which he received a Tony nomination for Best Book (with Graciela Daniele and Jim Lewis) in 1996. Mr. LaChiusa is an Obie-award winner (Hello Again and First Lady Suite) and the recipient of the Gilman-Gonzalez-Falla Musical Theatre Award.
Recordings include the 2001 Grammy-nominated Original Cast Album of The Wild Party (Decca Broadway), Marie Christine,(RCA Victor), Hello Again (RCA Victor), First Lady Suite (PS Classics), See What I Wanna See and Bernarda Alba, (Ghostlight.) His songs have been recorded by artists ranging from Lea DeLaria to Audra McDonald, and have appeared on McDonald’s best-selling debut album Way Back To Paradise (Nonesuch) and her most recent, Happy Songs (Nonesuch). He has also provided scores for the new children’s television show on Nickelodeon’s Nick Jr., The Wonder Pets.
Mr. LaChiusa has been a contributing writer to The New York Times, Opera News, American Theatre and other periodicals. He is currently on the faculty of New YorkUniversity and has been a guest lecturer on musical theatre at several other universities in theUS.
Mr. LaChiusa was born inChautauqua, New York in 1962, and currently lives inNew York City.
