Michael John LaChiusa
Encyclopedia
Michael John LaChiusa is an American
musical theatre
and opera
composer, lyricist, and librettist
. He is best known for complex, musically challenging shows such as Hello Again
, Marie Christine
, The Wild Party
, and See What I Wanna See
. He has been nominated for the Tony Award
for his score and book for Marie Christine, and for his books for The Wild Party and Chronicle of a Death Foretold
.
, the eldest of three boys in an Italian Catholic
family. His parents had a "[v]ery mentally abusive" relationship; Michael was not close to his father, but was encouraged by his mother to pursue his interest in music. He taught himself to play piano at the age of seven and had little formal music training. LaChiusa was influenced early on by the music of "modern American composers" such as John Corigliano
, John Adams, and Philip Glass
, as well as the musical theatre
composers George Gershwin
, Richard Rodgers
, and Stephen Sondheim
. LaChiusa graduated high school early and enrolled in a television journalism program, but he dropped out after a semester.
In 1980, LaChiusa moved to New York City, where he took jobs as a music director and accompanist while trying to find songwriting work. In the mid-1980s, he joined the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop
, where he was strongly influenced by a series of mentors and where he segued from writing "camp" songs to more serious work. In 1993, The Public Theater's producer George C. Wolfe
presented LaChiusa's First Lady Suite
. A year later, Lincoln Center produced his musical Hello Again
Off Broadway. A series of interconnected stories about love based on Arthur Schnitzler
's play La Ronde
, Hello Again was nominated for ten Drama Desk Award
s, including three (Outstanding Book of a Musical, Outstanding Music, and Outstanding Lyrics) for LaChiusa.
In 1995, LaChiusa wrote additional book material for the Broadway
musical Chronicle of a Death Foretold
(an adaptation of Gabriel García Márquez
's 1981 novella of the same name
.) For the book, written with Graciela Daniele
and Jim Lewis, LaChiusa received a Tony Award
nomination for Best Book of a Musical
.
During the 1999-2000 season, two of LaChiusa's large-scale musicals premiered on Broadway: Marie Christine
and The Wild Party
. Marie Christine, a retelling of the Medea
myth set in 19th-century Louisiana
, starred Audra McDonald
and attracted controversy due to its grim subject matter and demanding score—The New York Times
reported that "even the formidable and classically trained McDonald could sing it only six times a week, rather than the standard eight." Marie Christine closed after 42 performances; LaChiusa later said that the show "in my mind should have been performed for three performances.... Only three. It's huge, and it's intensely difficult". The Wild Party was based on the 1928 poem of the same name
by Joseph Moncure March
and starred Toni Collette
, Mandy Patinkin
, and Eartha Kitt
. The Wild Party struggled commercially; after receiving seven Tony nominations but failing to win a single one, producers closed the show. For both Marie Christine and The Wild Party, LaChiusa received Tony nominations for Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score
.
In 2003, Little Fish
, an uncharacteristically cheerful one-act musical for LaChiusa, based on two short stories by Deborah Eisenberg, premiered Off-Broadway. The show's failure sent LaChiusa into a funk; he recalled, "I went, 'My God, they don't want the hard stuff and more challenging material here in this city from me. They don't want something nice and fun, either. What am I supposed to do?'"
In August 2005, LaChiusa published an article in Opera News
that disparaged several successful, upbeat Broadway musicals of the 2000s, among them The Producers
and Hairspray
, which LaChiusa dubbed a "faux-musical". He continued, "Instead of choreography, there is dancing. Instead of crafted songwriting, there is tune-positioning. Faux-musicals are mechanical; they have to be. For expectations to be met, there can be no room for risk, derring-do or innovation." The article caused a great deal of controversy and provoked shocked responses from several of LaChiusa's colleagues, who saw it as an attack.
In Fall 2005, LaChiusa's show See What I Wanna See
, based on the stories "In a Grove," "The Dragon," and "Kesa and Morito" by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
, had a successful Off-Broadway run at the Public Theater. LaChiusa was nominated for Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Music and Outstanding Lyrics.
In September 2008, he was quoted in Opera News
Online as working on an adaptation of Bizet's opera Carmen
with Tony
winner Audra McDonald
in mind.
In April 2009, the Signature Theatre, Arlington, Virginia, premiered Giant
, a musical adaptation of Edna Ferber
's 1952 novel of the same name with music and lyrics by LaChiusa and book by Sybille Pearson
, who wrote the book for the 1983 musical Baby
.
LaChiusa's most recent work, Queen of the Mist, is a musical adaption of the story of Annie Edson Taylor
, the first person to survive going over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Commissioned by Off-Broadway theatre company the Transport Group
Queen of the Mist received a developmental lab in fall 2010, and opened in November 2011 at The Gym at Judson. With direction by Jack Cummings III and choreography by Scott Rink, the musical stars Mary Testa
and Julia Murney
.
at New York University
.
that he was a "gay man, happily single".
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
and opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
composer, lyricist, and librettist
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
. He is best known for complex, musically challenging shows such as Hello Again
Hello Again (musical)
Hello Again is musical with music, lyrics and book by Michael John LaChiusa. It is based on the 1897 play La Ronde by Arthur Schnitzler...
, Marie Christine
Marie Christine
Marie Christine is a musical written by Michael John LaChiusa. It opened on Broadway in 1999. Set in 1890s New Orleans and then 5 years later in Chicago; the story is loosely based on the Greek play Medea, and uses elements of voodoo rituals and practices...
, The Wild Party
The Wild Party (LaChiusa musical)
The Wild Party is a musical with a book by Michael John LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe and music and lyrics by LaChiusa. It is based on the 1928 Joseph Moncure March narrative poem of the same name...
, and See What I Wanna See
See What I Wanna See
See What I Wanna See is a musical by Michael John LaChiusa based on three short stories by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa: "Kesa and Morito", "In a Grove" and "The Dragon". The story is told in two parts with two prologues. Each prologue involves the medieval lovers/killers Kesa and Morito...
. He has been nominated for the Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for his score and book for Marie Christine, and for his books for The Wild Party and Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Chronicle of a Death Foretold is a novella by Gabriel García Márquez, published in 1981...
.
Biography
LaChiusa grew up in Chautauqua, New YorkChautauqua, New York
Chautauqua is a town in Chautauqua County, New York, U.S. . The population was 4,666 at the 2000 census. The town is named after Chautauqua Lake. The traditional meaning remains 'bag tied in the middle'...
, the eldest of three boys in an Italian Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
family. His parents had a "[v]ery mentally abusive" relationship; Michael was not close to his father, but was encouraged by his mother to pursue his interest in music. He taught himself to play piano at the age of seven and had little formal music training. LaChiusa was influenced early on by the music of "modern American composers" such as John Corigliano
John Corigliano
John Corigliano is an American composer of classical music and a teacher of music. He is a distinguished professor of music at Lehman College in the City University of New York.-Biography:...
, John Adams, and Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...
, as well as the musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
composers George Gershwin
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
, Richard Rodgers
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
, and Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
. LaChiusa graduated high school early and enrolled in a television journalism program, but he dropped out after a semester.
In 1980, LaChiusa moved to New York City, where he took jobs as a music director and accompanist while trying to find songwriting work. In the mid-1980s, he joined the 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 ....
, where he was strongly influenced by a series of mentors and where he segued from writing "camp" songs to more serious work. In 1993, The Public Theater's producer George C. Wolfe
George C. Wolfe
George Costello Wolfe is an American playwright and director of theater and film. He won a Tony Award in 1993 for directing Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and another Tony Award in 1996 for his direction of the musical, Bring in 'da Noise/Bring in 'da Funk.-Early life and...
presented LaChiusa's First Lady Suite
First Lady Suite
First Lady Suite is a chamber musical by Michael John LaChiusa. The musical contains four separate segments about four of the First Ladies of the United States of America and the people surrounding them. They are: Eleanor Roosevelt, Mamie Eisenhower, Bess Truman, and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy...
. A year later, Lincoln Center produced his musical Hello Again
Hello Again (musical)
Hello Again is musical with music, lyrics and book by Michael John LaChiusa. It is based on the 1897 play La Ronde by Arthur Schnitzler...
Off Broadway. A series of interconnected stories about love based on Arthur Schnitzler
Arthur Schnitzler
Dr. Arthur Schnitzler was an Austrian author and dramatist.- Biography :Arthur Schnitzler, son of a prominent Hungarian-Jewish laryngologist Johann Schnitzler and Luise Markbreiter , was born in Praterstraße 16, Leopoldstadt, Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian...
's play La Ronde
La Ronde (play)
La Ronde is a 1900 play by Arthur Schnitzler. It scrutinizes the sexual morals and class ideology of its day through a series of encounters between pairs of characters . By choosing characters across all levels of society, the play offers social commentary on how sexual contact transgresses...
, Hello Again was nominated for ten Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
s, including three (Outstanding Book of a Musical, Outstanding Music, and Outstanding Lyrics) for LaChiusa.
In 1995, LaChiusa wrote additional book material for the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Chronicle of a Death Foretold (musical)
Chronicle of a Death Foretold is a musical with a book and lyrics by Graciela Daniele and Jim Lewis and music by Bob Telson...
(an adaptation of Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo throughout Latin America. He is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in...
's 1981 novella of the same name
Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Chronicle of a Death Foretold is a novella by Gabriel García Márquez, published in 1981...
.) For the book, written with Graciela Daniele
Graciela Daniele
Graciela Daniele is an Argentine-American dancer, choreographer, and theatre director.-Biography:Born at Buenos Aires, Daniele began her dance training at the age of seven at Teatro Colón, Argentina's equivalent of Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre...
and Jim Lewis, LaChiusa received a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nomination for Best Book of a Musical
Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical
The Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical is awarded to librettists of the spoken, non-sung dialogue, and storyline of a musical play. Eligibility is restricted to works with original narrative framework; plotless revues and revivals are ineligible...
.
During the 1999-2000 season, two of LaChiusa's large-scale musicals premiered on Broadway: Marie Christine
Marie Christine
Marie Christine is a musical written by Michael John LaChiusa. It opened on Broadway in 1999. Set in 1890s New Orleans and then 5 years later in Chicago; the story is loosely based on the Greek play Medea, and uses elements of voodoo rituals and practices...
and The Wild Party
The Wild Party (LaChiusa musical)
The Wild Party is a musical with a book by Michael John LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe and music and lyrics by LaChiusa. It is based on the 1928 Joseph Moncure March narrative poem of the same name...
. Marie Christine, a retelling of the Medea
Medea
Medea is a woman in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, niece of Circe, granddaughter of the sun god Helios, and later wife to the hero Jason, with whom she had two children, Mermeros and Pheres. In Euripides's play Medea, Jason leaves Medea when Creon, king of...
myth set in 19th-century Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, starred Audra McDonald
Audra McDonald
Audra Ann McDonald is an American actress and singer. She currently stars in the ABC television drama Private Practice as Dr. Naomi Bennett. She has appeared on the stage in both musicals and dramas, such as Ragtime and A Raisin in the Sun...
and attracted controversy due to its grim subject matter and demanding score—The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reported that "even the formidable and classically trained McDonald could sing it only six times a week, rather than the standard eight." Marie Christine closed after 42 performances; LaChiusa later said that the show "in my mind should have been performed for three performances.... Only three. It's huge, and it's intensely difficult". The Wild Party was based on the 1928 poem of the same name
The Wild Party (poem)
The Wild Party is a narrative poem. Written in the classical epic style, it is Joseph Moncure March's first published work.Upon its 1928 publication, the poem was widely banned, first in Boston, for having content viewed as wild as the titular party...
by Joseph Moncure March
Joseph Moncure March
Joseph Moncure March was an American poet and essayist, best known for his long narrative poems The Wild Party and The Set-Up.- Life :...
and starred Toni Collette
Toni Collette
Antonia "Toni" Collette is an Australian actress and musician, known for her acting work on stage, television and film as well as a secondary career as the lead singer of the band Toni Collette & the Finish....
, Mandy Patinkin
Mandy Patinkin
Mandel Bruce "Mandy" Patinkin is an award-winning American actor of stage and screen and a tenor vocalist. He is a noted interpreter of the musical works of Stephen Sondheim, and is best-known for his work in musical theatre, originating iconic roles such as Georges Seurat in Sunday in the Park...
, and Eartha Kitt
Eartha Kitt
Eartha Mae Kitt was an American singer, actress, and cabaret star. She was perhaps best known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 hit recordings of "C'est Si Bon" and the enduring Christmas novelty smash "Santa Baby." Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the...
. The Wild Party struggled commercially; after receiving seven Tony nominations but failing to win a single one, producers closed the show. For both Marie Christine and The Wild Party, LaChiusa received Tony nominations for Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score
Tony Award for Best Original Score
The Tony Award for Best Original Score is the Tony Award given to the composers and lyricists of the best original score written for a musical in that year. The score consists of music and lyrics...
.
In 2003, Little Fish
Little Fish (musical)
Little Fish is a musical with music, lyrics and book by Michael John LaChiusa. The musical is suggested by two short stories by Deborah Eisenberg, "Days " and "Flotsam ". It concerns a group of friends living in New York City, one of whom, Charlotte, decides to stop smoking and then swims to...
, an uncharacteristically cheerful one-act musical for LaChiusa, based on two short stories by Deborah Eisenberg, premiered Off-Broadway. The show's failure sent LaChiusa into a funk; he recalled, "I went, 'My God, they don't want the hard stuff and more challenging material here in this city from me. They don't want something nice and fun, either. What am I supposed to do?'"
In August 2005, LaChiusa published an article in Opera News
Opera News
Opera News is an American classical music magazine. It has been published since 1936 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, a non-profit organization located at Lincoln Center which was founded to support the Metropolitan Opera of New York City...
that disparaged several successful, upbeat Broadway musicals of the 2000s, among them The Producers
The Producers (musical)
The Producers is a musical adapted by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan from Brooks' 1968 film of the same name, with lyrics written by Brooks and music composed by Brooks and arranged by Glen Kelly and Doug Besterman. As in the film, the story concerns two theatrical producers who scheme to get rich...
and Hairspray
Hairspray (musical)
Hairspray is a musical with music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman and a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues...
, which LaChiusa dubbed a "faux-musical". He continued, "Instead of choreography, there is dancing. Instead of crafted songwriting, there is tune-positioning. Faux-musicals are mechanical; they have to be. For expectations to be met, there can be no room for risk, derring-do or innovation." The article caused a great deal of controversy and provoked shocked responses from several of LaChiusa's colleagues, who saw it as an attack.
In Fall 2005, LaChiusa's show See What I Wanna See
See What I Wanna See
See What I Wanna See is a musical by Michael John LaChiusa based on three short stories by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa: "Kesa and Morito", "In a Grove" and "The Dragon". The story is told in two parts with two prologues. Each prologue involves the medieval lovers/killers Kesa and Morito...
, based on the stories "In a Grove," "The Dragon," and "Kesa and Morito" by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
Ryunosuke Akutagawa
was a Japanese writer active in the Taishō period in Japan. He is regarded as the "Father of the Japanese short story". He committed suicide at age of 35 through an overdose of barbital.-Early life:...
, had a successful Off-Broadway run at the Public Theater. LaChiusa was nominated for Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Music and Outstanding Lyrics.
In September 2008, he was quoted in Opera News
Opera News
Opera News is an American classical music magazine. It has been published since 1936 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, a non-profit organization located at Lincoln Center which was founded to support the Metropolitan Opera of New York City...
Online as working on an adaptation of Bizet's opera Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
with Tony
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
winner Audra McDonald
Audra McDonald
Audra Ann McDonald is an American actress and singer. She currently stars in the ABC television drama Private Practice as Dr. Naomi Bennett. She has appeared on the stage in both musicals and dramas, such as Ragtime and A Raisin in the Sun...
in mind.
In April 2009, the Signature Theatre, Arlington, Virginia, premiered Giant
Giant (musical)
Giant is a musical based on the 1952 Edna Ferber novel of the same name, with music and lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa and book by Sybille Pearson. The musical premiered at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia in 2009...
, a musical adaptation of Edna Ferber
Edna Ferber
Edna Ferber was an American novelist, short story writer and playwright. Her novels were especially popular and included the Pulitzer Prize-winning So Big , Show Boat , and Giant .-Early years:Ferber was born August 15, 1885, in Kalamazoo, Michigan,...
's 1952 novel of the same name with music and lyrics by LaChiusa and book by Sybille Pearson
Sybille Pearson
Sybille Pearson is a playwright, musical theatre lyricist and librettist.-Biography:Pearson was a graduate student in the creative writing program at the City College of New York in 1980, when her play, the two-person comedy-drama Sally and Marsha was chosen to be produced at the Playwrights...
, who wrote the book for the 1983 musical Baby
Baby (musical)
Baby is a musical with a book by Sybille Pearson, based on a story developed with Susan Yankowitz, music by David Shire, and lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr.. It concerns the reactions of three couples each expecting a child. The musical first ran on Broadway from 1983 to 1984.-Synopsis:Three...
.
LaChiusa's most recent work, Queen of the Mist, is a musical adaption of the story of Annie Edson Taylor
Annie Edson Taylor
Annie Edson Taylor was an American adventurer who, on her 63rd birthday, October 24, 1901, became the first person to survive a trip over Niagara Falls in a barrel.-Early life:...
, the first person to survive going over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Commissioned by Off-Broadway theatre company the Transport Group
Transport Group
The Transport Group Theatre Company is a non-profit, off-Broadway theatre company in New York City. The company was founded in 2001 by Artistic Director Jack Cummings III and Robyn Hussa. The Transport Group's mission is to stage new works and reimagine revivals by American writers...
Queen of the Mist received a developmental lab in fall 2010, and opened in November 2011 at The Gym at Judson. With direction by Jack Cummings III and choreography by Scott Rink, the musical stars Mary Testa
Mary Testa
Mary Testa is an American stage actress. She is a two-time Tony Award nominee, for performances in revivals of Leonard Bernstein's On the Town and 42nd Street ....
and Julia Murney
Julia Murney
Julia Kathleen Murney is an American actress, singer and theatre performer, primarily featured in theatre and television commercial voice-overs. Until 2005, she was commonly known as the Broadway actress who had technically never appeared on Broadway...
.
Teaching
LaChiusa is an adjunct professor at the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at the Tisch School of the ArtsTisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts is one of the 15 schools that make up New York University ....
at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
.
Performing
LaChiusa also performs at various cabaret and concert venues, including:- La La Chiusa at Joe's PubJoe's PubJoe's Pub at Public Theater is a nightclub that hosts live performances regularly. The venue, which is a non-profit operation, is located at 425 Lafayette Street near Astor Place in Manhattan, New York City...
(October 16, 2000-November 5, 2000); - The Girly Show, as part of Lincoln Center's American Songbook Series (May 17, 2004) and at Cinespace, Hollywood (August 15, 2005);
- Platform Series at Lincoln Center Theatre (March 29, 2006);
- Little Fish in Concert at Joe's Pub (July 10, 2006);
- Concert that featured music from Bernarda Alba and other LaChiusa scores as well as a Little Fish CD Release party ; Alice Ripley and Lea DeLaria, appeared at Joe's Pub (September 8, 2008);
Personal life
In 2004, LaChiusa told The Washington PostThe Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
that he was a "gay man, happily single".
Broadway productions
- Chronicle of a Death ForetoldChronicle of a Death Foretold (musical)Chronicle of a Death Foretold is a musical with a book and lyrics by Graciela Daniele and Jim Lewis and music by Bob Telson...
(additional material only) (1995) - Marie ChristineMarie ChristineMarie Christine is a musical written by Michael John LaChiusa. It opened on Broadway in 1999. Set in 1890s New Orleans and then 5 years later in Chicago; the story is loosely based on the Greek play Medea, and uses elements of voodoo rituals and practices...
(1999) - The Wild PartyThe Wild Party (LaChiusa musical)The Wild Party is a musical with a book by Michael John LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe and music and lyrics by LaChiusa. It is based on the 1928 Joseph Moncure March narrative poem of the same name...
(book with George C. WolfeGeorge C. WolfeGeorge Costello Wolfe is an American playwright and director of theater and film. He won a Tony Award in 1993 for directing Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and another Tony Award in 1996 for his direction of the musical, Bring in 'da Noise/Bring in 'da Funk.-Early life and...
) (2000)
Off-Broadway productions
- First Lady SuiteFirst Lady SuiteFirst Lady Suite is a chamber musical by Michael John LaChiusa. The musical contains four separate segments about four of the First Ladies of the United States of America and the people surrounding them. They are: Eleanor Roosevelt, Mamie Eisenhower, Bess Truman, and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy...
(1993) - Hello AgainHello Again (musical)Hello Again is musical with music, lyrics and book by Michael John LaChiusa. It is based on the 1897 play La Ronde by Arthur Schnitzler...
(1994) - The Petrified Prince (book by Edward Gallardo) (1994)
- Little FishLittle Fish (musical)Little Fish is a musical with music, lyrics and book by Michael John LaChiusa. The musical is suggested by two short stories by Deborah Eisenberg, "Days " and "Flotsam ". It concerns a group of friends living in New York City, one of whom, Charlotte, decides to stop smoking and then swims to...
(2003) - See What I Wanna SeeSee What I Wanna SeeSee What I Wanna See is a musical by Michael John LaChiusa based on three short stories by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa: "Kesa and Morito", "In a Grove" and "The Dragon". The story is told in two parts with two prologues. Each prologue involves the medieval lovers/killers Kesa and Morito...
(2005) - Bernarda AlbaBernarda Alba (musical)Bernarda Alba is a one-act musical with music, lyrics and book by Michael John LaChiusa, based on Federico García Lorca's 1936 play The House of Bernarda Alba. Bernarda Alba tells the story of a controlling, newly-widowed mother who is challenged by her five rebellious daughters. The musical...
(2006) - Queen of the Mist (2011)
Other theatre
- Triplets in Uniform, book and lyrics by Jeffrey Essmann, commissioned by Meryl VladimerMeryl VladimerMeryl F. Vladimer is an artist, theatrical producer, and political activist.Born in Brooklyn, New York, Meryl Vladimer began her career as a noted and critically reviewed sculptor, and was featured on the cover of Artforum Magazine...
for The Club at La MaMaLa MamaLa Mama may refer to:* La Mama - a German disco group* La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in East Village, Manhattan, New York City, founded 1961* La Mama Theatre in Carlton, Victoria, Australia, founded 1967...
, New York City (background music by LaChiusa) (1989) - Buzzsaw Berkeley, book by Doug WrightDoug WrightDoug Wright is an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2004 for his play, I Am My Own Wife.-Early years:Wright was born in Dallas, Texas...
, music and lyrics by LaChiusa, WPA Theater, New York City (1989) - Artificial Reality book and lyrics by Jeffrey Essmann, one-man sketch comedy, Perry Street Theater, New York City, music and piano accompaniment by LaChiusa (1991)
- Broken Sleep book by Donald MarguliesDonald MarguliesDonald Margulies is an American playwright and a professor of English and Theater Studies at Yale University...
, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Williamstown, MA, 3 plays with music (1997) - The Nutcracker, new musical theatre version (translated into Japanese) of The Nutcracker, book by Amon MiyamotoAmon MiyamotoAmon Miyamoto is a Japanese stage director and choreographer.-Biography:Beginning his career in theater as an actor and choreographer, Amon Miyamoto went to study in London and New York for two years...
, music and lyrics by LaChiusa, premiere in Tokyo (2001) - The Highest Yellow, music and lyrics by LaChiusa, book by John Strand, musical commissioned and premiered by Signature Theatre Arlington, Virginia (2004)
- Hotel C'est L'Amour, musical with music and lyrics by LaChiusa and conceived by Daniel Henning, premiere at The Blank Theatre Company, Los Angeles, California (2006)
- Inner Voices: Solo Musicals, three musicals in one act: Act 1 is Tres Ninas, lyrics and music by Ellen Fitzhugh and LaChiusa, Zipper Theater, New York City (2008)
- GiantGiant (musical)Giant is a musical based on the 1952 Edna Ferber novel of the same name, with music and lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa and book by Sybille Pearson. The musical premiered at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia in 2009...
, music and lyrics by LaChiusa, book by Sybille PearsonSybille PearsonSybille Pearson is a playwright, musical theatre lyricist and librettist.-Biography:Pearson was a graduate student in the creative writing program at the City College of New York in 1980, when her play, the two-person comedy-drama Sally and Marsha was chosen to be produced at the Playwrights...
, Signature Theatre, Arlington, Virginia (2009)
Opera, song cycles and other music
- Four Short Operas: Break, Agnes, Eulogy For Mr. Hamm, Lucky Nurse, book, music and lyrics by LaChiusa, Playwrights HorizonsPlaywrights HorizonsPlaywrights Horizons is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work....
(14 performances) (1991) - Bella, Belle of Bylorussia, book and lyrics by Jeffrey Essmann, music by LaChiusa, WPA Theatre (1992)
- Desert of Roses, libretto by LaChiusa, music by Robert MoranRobert MoranRobert Moran is an American composer of operas and ballets as well as numerous orchestral, vocal, chamber and dance works.-Life:...
, an opera commissioned and premiered by Houston Grand OperaHouston Grand OperaHouston Grand Opera Houston Grand Opera was founded in 1955 through the joint efforts of Maestro Walter Herbert and cultural leaders Mrs. Louis G. Lobit, Edward Bing and Charles Cockrell...
(1992) - From the Towers of the MoonFrom the Towers of the MoonFrom the Towers of the Moon is an opera in one act by Robert Moran, with a libretto by Michael John LaChiusa. It is Moran's third opera and is based upon an ancient Japanese legend, called Princess Kaguya, of a Moon Goddess who comes to Earth...
, libretto by LaChiusa, music by Robert Moran, an opera commissioned and premiered by Minnesota OperaMinnesota OperaThe Minnesota Opera is a performance organization based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was founded in 1963 by the Walker Art Center, and is known for premiering such diverse works as Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak and Frankenstein by Libby Larsen...
(1992) - Tania, libretto by LaChiusa, music by Anthony DavisAnthony Davis (composer)Anthony Davis, better known as Tony Davis , is an American composer, jazz pianist, and student of gamelan music.-Biography:...
, Plays and Players Theater, New York City, and recorded (1992) - Lovers and Friends (Chautauqua Variations), commissioned and performed by Lyric Opera of ChicagoLyric Opera of ChicagoLyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1952, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicolà Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria Callas's American debut in Norma...
, book, music and lyrics by LaChiusa (2001) - The Seven Deadly Sins: A Song Cycle, "The Christian Thing to Do", contribution to song cycle commissioned for Audra McDonaldAudra McDonaldAudra Ann McDonald is an American actress and singer. She currently stars in the ABC television drama Private Practice as Dr. Naomi Bennett. She has appeared on the stage in both musicals and dramas, such as Ragtime and A Raisin in the Sun...
, performed at Carnegie HallCarnegie HallCarnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
, New York City (2004) - The Cello Project, chamber work for cello, part of a song cycle for Peter Sachon, cellist, premiered at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Symphony SpaceSymphony SpaceSymphony Space is a multi-disciplinary performing arts organization at 2537 Broadway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Performances take place in the 760-seat Peter Jay Sharp Theatre or the 160-seat Leonard Nimoy Thalia theater. Programs include music, dance, theater, film, and literary readings...
, New York City (2005) - pre.view, choreography by Taye DiggsTaye DiggsScott Leo "Taye" Diggs is an American theatre, film and television actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the Broadway musical Rent, the motion picture How Stella Got Her Groove Back, and the television series Private Practice...
and Andrew Palermo, music by LaChiusa, Ailey Citigroup Theater, New York City (2006) - Send (who are you? i love you) music and libretto by LaChiusa, co-conceived by LaChiusa and Lonny Price for Audra McDonaldAudra McDonaldAudra Ann McDonald is an American actress and singer. She currently stars in the ABC television drama Private Practice as Dr. Naomi Bennett. She has appeared on the stage in both musicals and dramas, such as Ragtime and A Raisin in the Sun...
, performed by McDonald with Houston Grand Opera (2006)
Television
- Wonder PetsWonder PetsWonder Pets is an American animated children's television series. It debuted on March 3, 2006, on the Nick Jr. block of the Nickelodeon cable television network and Noggin on the same day...
: LaChiusa wrote music for 15 episodes of this animated series (2006–07) - Broadway: The Golden Age: LaChiusa was one of many Broadway insiders interviewed for this documentary (2003)
External links
- Internet Broadway Database page for Michael John LaChiusa
- Internet Off-Broadway Database listing
- Michael John LaChiusa - Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.orgAmerican Theatre WingThe American Theatre Wing is a New York City-based organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre," according to its mission statement...
- Composers and their stage works (Michael John LaChiusa