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American composer and actor From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dave Malloy (born January 4, 1976) is an American composer, playwright, lyricist, singer, orchestrator, and actor. He has written several theatrical works, often based on classic works of literature. His most well known work is the Tony Award winning Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, an electropop opera based on War and Peace. His other works include Ghost Quartet, a song cycle about "love, death, and whiskey"; Preludes, a musical fantasia set in the mind of romantic composer Sergei Rachmaninoff; Octet, a chamber choir musical about internet addiction; and Moby-Dick, an adaptation of Herman Melville's classic novel.
Dave Malloy | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Malloy in 2013 | |
| Born | January 4, 1976 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Ohio University |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, playwright, lyricist, orchestrator, musician, actor, singer, sound designer |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Known for | Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, Ghost Quartet, Preludes, Octet |
Malloy grew up in Lakewood, Ohio and studied music composition and English literature at Ohio University. He began making theater in San Francisco in 2000.[1] Early work included pieces with Banana Bag & Bodice, for whom he 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, California. 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" (with Rick Burkhardt and Alec Duffy, directed by Rachel Chavkin) that premiered in 2010 at the Ontological-Hysteric Theater, winning a Special Citation Obie Award, and had runs at New York Theatre Workshop and American Repertory Theater.[4]
His next work was Beardo, a Russian indie rock musical based on the life of Rasputin, which Malloy wrote with Beowulf collaborator Jason Craig. It played in 2011 in San Francisco and had its New York premiere in February 2017 in a production by Pipeline Theater Company.
For Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, Malloy was the composer, lyricist, orchestrator, music director and performer in the role of Pierre Bezukhov. Comet was commissioned by Ars Nova and premiered there in October 2012, directed by Chavkin; in May 2013 the show transferred to off-Broadway playing in Kazino, a tent custom-built for the piece, first erected in the Meatpacking District and then in Times Square. In December 2015 the show played a pre-Broadway run at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The show has won an Obie Award, the 2013 Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theater, the Off Broadway Alliance's Best New Musical Award, three Elliot Norton Awards, eight IRNE Awards, eleven Lucille Lortel Awards nominations (winning three), five Drama Desk nominations, and two Drama League Award nominations.[5][6]
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, and has since played in a number of cities, including Edinburgh, San Francisco, and Cambridge, where it won an Elliot Norton Award. The piece is a staged concept album, about love, death, and whiskey.[7] This was followed by a high school musical, Don't Stop Me, a "dance-a-thon to the death" with book and co-lyrics by Krista Knight, produced by Youth Musical Theatre Company in Berkeley CA, where he worked as musical director from 2006–09. While the show was in performances, his next musical, Preludes, a piece about Rachmaninoff and hypnosis, premiered at Lincoln Center Theater in June 2015.
Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 opened on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre in October 2016 with Josh Groban as Pierre. The show was nominated for twelve Tony Awards including Best Musical, Book, Score and Orchestration awards. Malloy reprised his role as Pierre multiple times throughout the run, and was the final Broadway Pierre.[8] In 2022, the show was staged at Malloy's alma mater, Ohio University, the first American production since its departure from Broadway.[9]
Octet, a chamber choir musical written by Malloy and directed by Annie Tippe, ran at the Signature Theatre Company Residency 5 Theatre in New York City from April 30 to June 30, 2019. The show features an eight-part a cappella chamber choir and "explores addiction and nihilism within the messy context of 21st century technology" premiered in a limited run at the Signature Theatre Company in New York City.[10] It is the first part of his Signature Residency, which will include three shows over the course of five years.[11]
Moby-Dick, a musical based on Herman Melville's Moby-Dick with book, music, lyrics, and orchestrations by Malloy and directed by Rachel Chavkin, ran at the American Repertory Theater from December 3, 2019, to January 12, 2020.[12] The middle section of the show, titled Moby Dick, Part III: The Ballad of Pip was previewed at Joe's Pub back in March 2014.[13]
In September 2022 he wrote music and lyrics for Love Around the Block, a one night only musical event celebrating the opening of Hermés's new flagship store in NYC. In November 2023, his musical The Witches opened at London's Royal National Theatre. In May 2024, his new musical Three Houses opened at the Signature Theatre in NYC.
Malloy lives in New York.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Gogol | Performer | |
| 2002 | Gulag Ha Ha | Old Timer | |
| 2007 | Clown Bible | Job / Judas | |
| 2008 | Beowulf – A Thousand Years of Baggage | King Hrothgar | |
| 2010 | Three Pianos | Performer | |
| The Small | Walt | ||
| 2010-2011 | Three Pianos | Performer | Off-Broadway |
| 2012-2013 | Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 | Pierre Bezukhov | |
| 2013-2014 | Black Wizard / Blue Wizard | Black Wizard | Off-Off-Broadway |
| 2014-2015 | Ghost Quartet | The Astronomer / Edgar Usher / David / Subway Driver | Off-Broadway |
| 2015 | American Repertory Theater | ||
| Curran Theatre | |||
| 2016 | United Kingdom | ||
| 2017 | Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 | Pierre Bezukhov (Alternate) | Broadway |
| Pierre Bezukhov | |||
| Ghost Quartet | The Astronomer / Edgar Usher / David / Subway Driver | Off-Broadway | |
| 2018 | Seattle Theatre Group |
In addition to the full cast recordings listed below, rough recordings and demos to most of Malloy's shows can be found on his website.
Official video recordings of Ghost Quartet, Beardo, and Beowulf have also been released online.[16][17][18] A Kickstarter was launched to fund the original cast recording of Octet on June 19, 2019, where it was fully funded in one day. The album was released digitally on November 15, 2019.[19]
He is the winner of three OBIE Awards,[20] a Lucille Lortel Award, a Drama Desk Award, 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.[21] In 2017, Malloy was the recipient of Smithsonian Magazine's American Ingenuity Award for History.[22]
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | East Bay Express, Best of 2007 | Best Music | Clown Bible | Won |
| 2008 | Glickman Award | Best New Play | Beowulf — A Thousand Years of Baggage | Won |
| 2009 | Innovative Theatre Award | Best Music | Nominated | |
| 2010 | Obie Award | Special Citations | Three Pianos | Won |
| 2011 | Henry Howes Design Award | Best Sound & Video Design | Nominated | |
| Edinburgh Stage Award for Acting Excellence | Best Ensemble | Beowulf — A Thousand Years of Baggage | Won | |
| 2012 | Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theater | Beardo | Nominated | |
| 2013 | Obie Award | Special Citations | Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812 | Won |
| Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Music | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Lyrics | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Musical | Nominated | |||
| Drama League Award | Outstanding Musical | Nominated | ||
| Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theater | Won | |||
| ASCAP Foundation Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award | Won | |||
| Off-Broadway Alliance Awards | Best New Musical | Won | ||
| Lucille Lortel Award | Outstanding Musical | Nominated | ||
| 2015 | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Music | Ghost Quartet | Nominated |
| Drama League Award | Outstanding Musical | Nominated | ||
| Off-Broadway Alliance Awards | Best Unique Theatrical Experience | Nominated | ||
| 2016 | Elliot Norton Award | Outstanding Visiting Production | Won | |
| 2017 | Tony Award | Best Book of a Musical | Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812 | Nominated |
| Best Original Score | Nominated | |||
| Best Orchestrations | Nominated | |||
| Best Musical | Nominated | |||
| Theatre World Award | Honoree | |||
| Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Music | Beardo | Nominated | |
| 2020 | Lucille Lortel Awards[23] | Outstanding Musical | Octet | Won |
| Drama Desk Awards[24] | Outstanding Musical | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Music | Won | |||
| Outstanding Lyrics | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Book of a Musical | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Orchestrations | Nominated | |||
| Drama League Awards[25] | Outstanding Production of a Musical | Nominated | ||
| Outer Critics Circle Award | Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical | Honoree | ||
| Outstanding New Score | Honoree | |||
| Obie Award[26] | Collaboration on Music & Sound | Won | ||
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