American musical theatre lyricist
David Joel Zippel (born May 17, 1954) is an American
musical theatre
lyricist , director, and producer.
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
City of Angels (1989), an original musical with book by
Larry Gelbart and music by
Cy Coleman .
Tony Award for Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book, Best Actor (
James Naughton ) Best Featured Actress (
Randy Graff ), and Best Set Design (
Robin Wagner );
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics ;
Olivier Awards for Best New Musical (1994), Best Musical Revival (2015) ; The Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Musical (1993)
The Goodbye Girl (1993), a musical based on
Neil Simon 's
1977 screenplay , with music by
Marvin Hamlisch . Nominated for five Tony Awards including Best Musical; Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Lyrics.
[1]
The Woman in White (2004), an adaptation of the novel by
Wilkie Collins , with music by
Andrew Lloyd Webber , book by Charlotte Jones. The music and lyrics received a Tony Award nomination for Best Original Score. The show was nominated for five
Laurence Olivier Awards , including Best Musical.
Liza's at the Palace (2009), script co-written with
Liza Minnelli , special lyrics with music by
John Kander and
Billy Stritch ; Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event (2009)
Cinderella (2020), a new adaptation of the
classic story , with music by
Andrew Lloyd Webber , based on the book by
Emerald Fennell
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]
References
^
a
b
"David Zippel" . Masterworks Broadway . Retrieved 2014-07-04 .
^ Jones, Kenneth (August 17, 2005).
"Princesses , the Broadway-Aimed New Musical by Zippel & Company, Opens in Seattle Aug. 17" . Playbill .
^ Spindle, Les (July 20, 2009).
"The Best Is Yet to Come: The Music of Cy Coleman" . Backstage .
^ Donelan, Charles (May 27, 2010).
"2010 Indy Awards" . The Santa Barbara Independent . Retrieved January 8, 2022 .
^ Jones, Kenneth (January 23, 2013).
"They're Playing His Songs: The Music of Marvin Hamlisch" . Playbill .
^ Green, David (November 25, 2015).
"BWW Review: Coyote Stageworks' Zippel-Directed BEING EARNEST IN NEW YORK a Triumph at the Annenberg" . BroadwayWorld .
^
"Spamilton: An American Parody" . spamilton.com .
^ Blank, Matthew (May 19, 2008).
"PHOTO CALL: Pamela's First Musical Premieres at Town Hall" . Playbill . Retrieved January 8, 2022 .
^ David, Cara Joy (July 17, 2014).
"A Playwright's Well-Traveled Valentine to Broadway" . The New York Times .
^ Jones, Kenneth (June 15, 2011).
"Alan Menken and David Zippel Pen Song for 'Captain America' Movie" . Playbill . Retrieved January 8, 2022 .
^ Newman, Melinda (July 21, 2008).
"Interview: Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken talks 'Captain America' " . HitFix . Retrieved January 8, 2022 .
External links
Awards for David Zippel
Alan Menken and
Stephen Schwartz (1995)
Randy Newman (1996)
Randy Newman (1997)
Matthew Wilder ,
David Zippel and
Jerry Goldsmith (1998)
Michael Kamen (1999)
Randy Newman (2000)
John Powell and
Harry Gregson-Williams (2001)
Joe Hisaishi (2002)
Thomas Newman (2003)
Michael Giacchino (2004)
Julian Nott (2005)
Randy Newman (2006)
Michael Giacchino (2007)
Hans Zimmer and
John Powell (2008)
Bruno Coulais (2009)
John Powell (2010)
John Williams (2011)
Henry Jackman ,
Skrillex ,
Adam Young ,
Matthew Thiessen , Jamie Houston and
Yasushi Akimoto (2012)
Kristen Anderson-Lopez ,
Robert Lopez and
Christophe Beck (2013)
John Powell and
Jónsi (2014)
Michael Giacchino (2015)
Hans Zimmer ,
Richard Harvey , and
Camille (2016)
Kristen Anderson-Lopez ,
Robert Lopez ,
Germaine Franco ,
Adrian Molina and
Michael Giacchino (2017)
Michael Giacchino (2018)
Dan Levy (2019)
Trent Reznor ,
Atticus Ross and
Jon Batiste (2020)
Germaine Franco and
Lin-Manuel Miranda (2021)
Alexandre Desplat , Roeban Katz,
Guillermo del Toro and
Patrick McHale (2022)
Daniel Pemberton and
Metro Boomin (2023)
1969–1975 1976–2000 2001–present
1947–1975 1976–2000 2001–present
International National Artists Other