Judd Woldin
Encyclopedia
Edwin Judd Woldin was an American composer, most notable for his musical Raisin
.
, New Jersey
. At the age of eight, he began taking piano lessons. In high school, he was attracted to Jazz, and was even working professionally at the time.
He attended Rutgers University
, and received his B.A. in 1958 and his M.A. in 1960. He had started a doctoral program at Columbia University
, but left to write the dance music for a Broadway musical based on James Thurber
's Fables for Our Time and Famous Poems Illustrated
. After being on the road with Don Elliott
and Lionel Hampton
, he attended Black Mountain College
along with Josef Albers
and Heinrich Jalowetz
, and would later go to University of New Mexico
along with Ernst Krenek
.
He also joined BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop
, and while paired with Robert Brittan, they would begin work on Lorraine Hansberry
's play, A Raisin In The Sun
. The result was Raisin
. It premiered May 30, 1973 at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C.
and would move to Broadway at the 46th Street Theatre on October 18, 1973, transferred to the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
on January 13, 1975, and closed on December 8, 1975 after 847 performances. The show won a Tony and a Grammy for Best Musical and Best Original Score From a Musical.
His other work includes Petticoat Lane, loosely based on the novella King of Schnorrers by Israel Zangwill
, which premiered at the George Street Playhouse
in October 1978, and would move to the Harold Clurman Theatre on October 4, 1979.
Lorenzo, a musical based on Mozart librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte
, premiered at the George Street Playhouse
in 1982. It was co-written by Richard Engquist.
Little Ham was written with Engquist as well, and is based on Langston Hughes
' play of the same name, and would be premiered at the George Street Playhouse
in 1987 and would also play at the Westport Country Playhouse
. It also was produced at the Hudson Guild
in 2002.
In 1992, a concert version of Jonah, about the Jonah
from the Old Testament
, was presented at the Merkin Concert Hall
and part of a festival of Jewish music presented by Jack Gottlieb. It would also be produced at the York Theatre
in 2004.
The Prince and The Pauper, written with Marc Elliot, was based on Mark Twain
's novel of the same name
, and it ran at the Peninsula Civic Light Opera
in San Mateo
, California
. It has also been produced at the Starlight Theatre
in Kansas City
, Missouri
, the 5th Avenue Theatre
in Seattle, Washington, and at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts
in Saint Paul
, Minnesota
.
Raisin (musical)
Raisin is a musical theatre adaptation of the Lorraine Hansberry play A Raisin in the Sun, with songs by Judd Woldin and Robert Brittan, and a book by Robert Nemiroff and Charlotte Zaltzberg....
.
Biography
Edwin Judd Woldin was born in SomervilleSomerville, New Jersey
Somerville is a borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 12,098. It is the county seat of Somerset County....
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. At the age of eight, he began taking piano lessons. In high school, he was attracted to Jazz, and was even working professionally at the time.
He attended Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
, and received his B.A. in 1958 and his M.A. in 1960. He had started a doctoral program at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, but left to write the dance music for a Broadway musical based on James Thurber
James Thurber
James Grover Thurber was an American author, cartoonist and celebrated wit. Thurber was best known for his cartoons and short stories published in The New Yorker magazine.-Life:...
's Fables for Our Time and Famous Poems Illustrated
Fables for Our Time and Famous Poems Illustrated
Fables for Our Time and Famous Poems Illustrated is a 1940 book by James Thurber. Thurber updates some old fables and creates some new ones of his own too. Notably there is 'The Bear Who Could Take It Or Leave It Alone' about a bear who lapses in into alcoholism before sobering up and going too far...
. After being on the road with Don Elliott
Don Elliott
Don Elliott was an American jazz trumpeter, vibraphonist, vocalist, and mellophone player. His album Calypso Jazz is considered by some jazz enthusiasts to be one of the definitive calypso jazz albums. Elliott recorded over 60 albums and 5,000 advertising jingles throughout his career...
and Lionel Hampton
Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...
, he attended Black Mountain College
Black Mountain College
Black Mountain College, a school founded in 1933 in Black Mountain, North Carolina, was a new kind of college in the United States in which the study of art was seen to be central to a liberal arts education, and in which John Dewey's principles of education played a major role...
along with Josef Albers
Josef Albers
Josef Albers was a German-born American artist and educator whose work, both in Europe and in the United States, formed the basis of some of the most influential and far-reaching art education programs of the 20th century....
and Heinrich Jalowetz
Heinrich Jalowetz
Heinrich Jalowetz was an Austrian musicologist and conductor who settled in the USA. He was one of the core members of what became known as the Second Viennese School in the orbit of Arnold Schoenberg.A musicology pupil of Guido Adler, Jalowetz was among Schoenberg's first students in Vienna,...
, and would later go to University of New Mexico
University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico at Albuquerque is a public research university located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. It is the state's flagship research institution...
along with Ernst Krenek
Ernst Krenek
Ernst Krenek was an Austrian of Czech origin and, from 1945, American composer. He explored atonality and other modern styles and wrote a number of books, including Music Here and Now , a study of Johannes Ockeghem , and Horizons Circled: Reflections on my Music...
.
He also joined BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop
BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop
The BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop is a workshop in New York for musical theatre composers, lyricists and librettists.-History:The BMI Workshop was founded in 1961 by Lehman Engel and the performing rights organization BMI ....
, and while paired with Robert Brittan, they would begin work on Lorraine Hansberry
Lorraine Hansberry
Lorraine Hansberry was an African American playwright and author of political speeches, letters, and essays...
's play, A Raisin In The Sun
A Raisin in the Sun
A Raisin in the Sun is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. The title comes from the poem "Harlem" by Langston Hughes...
. The result was Raisin
Raisin (musical)
Raisin is a musical theatre adaptation of the Lorraine Hansberry play A Raisin in the Sun, with songs by Judd Woldin and Robert Brittan, and a book by Robert Nemiroff and Charlotte Zaltzberg....
. It premiered May 30, 1973 at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and would move to Broadway at the 46th Street Theatre on October 18, 1973, transferred to the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 205 West 46th Street in midtown-Manhattan.Designed by the architectural firm of Carrere and Hastings, it was built by producer Charles Dillingham and opened as the Globe Theatre, in honor of London's Shakespearean playhouse, on...
on January 13, 1975, and closed on December 8, 1975 after 847 performances. The show won a Tony and a Grammy for Best Musical and Best Original Score From a Musical.
His other work includes Petticoat Lane, loosely based on the novella King of Schnorrers by Israel Zangwill
Israel Zangwill
Israel Zangwill was a British humorist and writer.-Biography:Zangwill was born in London on January 21, 1864 in a family of Jewish immigrants from Czarist Russia, to Moses Zangwill from what is now Latvia and Ellen Hannah Marks Zangwill from what is now Poland. He dedicated his life to championing...
, which premiered at the George Street Playhouse
George Street Playhouse
George Street Playhouse is a theatre in New Brunswick, New Jersey, one of the state's preeminent professional theatres committed to the production of new and established plays....
in October 1978, and would move to the Harold Clurman Theatre on October 4, 1979.
Lorenzo, a musical based on Mozart librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte
Lorenzo Da Ponte
Lorenzo Da Ponte was a Venetian opera librettist and poet. He wrote the librettos for 28 operas by 11 composers, including three of Mozart's greatest operas, Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro and Così fan tutte....
, premiered at the George Street Playhouse
George Street Playhouse
George Street Playhouse is a theatre in New Brunswick, New Jersey, one of the state's preeminent professional theatres committed to the production of new and established plays....
in 1982. It was co-written by Richard Engquist.
Little Ham was written with Engquist as well, and is based on Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance...
' play of the same name, and would be premiered at the George Street Playhouse
George Street Playhouse
George Street Playhouse is a theatre in New Brunswick, New Jersey, one of the state's preeminent professional theatres committed to the production of new and established plays....
in 1987 and would also play at the Westport Country Playhouse
Westport Country Playhouse
Westport Country Playhouse, is a not-for-profit theater in Westport, Connecticut. Under the artistic direction of Mark Lamos the Playhouse produces new and classic plays for the public....
. It also was produced at the Hudson Guild
Hudson Guild
The Hudson Guild is a community-based social services organization rooted in and primarily focused on the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 1897 by Dr. John Lovejoy Elliott as a settlement house, with the intention of helping to alleviate the problems of the...
in 2002.
In 1992, a concert version of Jonah, about the Jonah
Jonah
Jonah is the name given in the Hebrew Bible to a prophet of the northern kingdom of Israel in about the 8th century BC, the eponymous central character in the Book of Jonah, famous for being swallowed by a fish or a whale, depending on translation...
from the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
, was presented at the Merkin Concert Hall
Merkin Concert Hall
Merkin Concert Hall is a 449-seat concert hall in Manhattan, New York City. The hall, named in honor of Hermann and Ursula Merkin, is part of the Kaufman Center, a complex that includes the Lucy Moses School, a community arts school, and the Special Music School , a New York City public school for...
and part of a festival of Jewish music presented by Jack Gottlieb. It would also be produced at the York Theatre
York Theatre
The York Theatre is an Off-Broadway theatre at 619 Lexington Avenue at the corner of 54th Street in the East Midtown section of Manhattan, New York City. It is dedicated to the production of new musicals and concert productions of forgotten musicals from the past. Each season consists of three or...
in 2004.
The Prince and The Pauper, written with Marc Elliot, was based on Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
's novel of the same name
The Prince and the Pauper
The Prince and the Pauper is an English-language novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada before its 1882 publication in the United States. The book represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction...
, and it ran at the Peninsula Civic Light Opera
Broadway by the Bay
Broadway by the Bay, also known as the San Mateo Civic Light Opera, is a theatre company in San Francisco, California, United States. It began as the San Mateo Community Theatre, a community group established by the San Mateo Recreation Department, with Dr...
in San Mateo
San Mateo, California
San Mateo is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area. With a population of approximately 100,000 , it is one of the larger suburbs on the San Francisco Peninsula, located between Burlingame to the north, Foster City to the east, Belmont to the south,...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. It has also been produced at the Starlight Theatre
Starlight Theatre (Kansas City)
Starlight Theatre is a 7,947-seat outdoor theatre in Kansas City, Missouri, United States that stages touring Broadway shows and concerts. It is one of three remaining self-producing outdoor theatres in the U.S.-History:...
in Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, the 5th Avenue Theatre
5th Avenue Theatre
The 5th Avenue Theatre is a landmark theater building located in Seattle, Washington, USA. It has hosted a variety of theatre productions and motion pictures since it opened in 1926. The building and land is owned by the University of Washington and was once part of the original campus...
in Seattle, Washington, and at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts
Ordway Center for the Performing Arts
Ordway Center for the Performing Arts is located in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota and hosts a variety of performing arts, such as touring Broadway musicals, orchestra, opera, and cultural performers. It serves as a home to several local arts organizations, including the Minnesota Opera, The Saint...
in Saint Paul
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
.
Musicals
- 1962 - Railway with a Heart of Gold
- 1973 - RaisinRaisin (musical)Raisin is a musical theatre adaptation of the Lorraine Hansberry play A Raisin in the Sun, with songs by Judd Woldin and Robert Brittan, and a book by Robert Nemiroff and Charlotte Zaltzberg....
(lyrics by Robert Brittan, book by Robert B. Nemiroff and Charlotte Zaltzberg) - 1978 - Pettycoat Lane
- 1982 - Lorenzo (co-librettist Richard Engquist)
- 1987 - Little Ham (co-librettist Engquist)
- 1992 - Jonah
- 1993 - The Prince and the Pauper (music by Woldin and Marc Elliot, lyrics by Elliot)