Drew Gasparini

Drew Gasparini (born April 20, 1986) is an American composer/lyricist and singer/songwriter best known for his work in musical theatre.[1]

Career

Drew Gasparini is an award-winning  musical theatre composer/ lyricist, and singer/songwriter currently writing the scores for a number of new stage musicals including the Broadway-bound adaptation of The Karate Kid alongside screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen, an adaptation of Night Shift for Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures, an adaptation of the Ned Vizzini novel/film It's Kind of a Funny Story for Universal Theatrical Group (book by Alex Brightman), an adaptation of the Newberry Award-winning children's novel The Whipping Boy (also with Brightman), and his semi-autobiographical song-cycle, We Aren't Kids Anymore. Drew is also collaborating with playwright Carson Kreitzer on the development of a new musical about the amazing life of suffragette bad ass, Victoria Woodhull.

Other full-length musicals include Crazy, Just Like Me (book, music & lyrics; 2011 NYMF winner: "Best of Fest" and runner-up: "Best Book"), Make Me Bad (a musical, psychological thriller co-created with Alex Brightman), and Turn of the Screw (book by Michael Kimmel; 2012 workshop at Lincoln Center), Drew was a contributing composer for the fictional musical Hit List on the NBC television series Smash. In 2019 Drew wrote the music for Skittles Commercial: The Broadway Musical , a highly publicized PR stunt starring Michael C. Hall for Super Bowl LIII.

Drew is an alum of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop and his unique brand of musical-theatre concerts have been performed to sold-out houses all over the world including Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, the St. James Theater in London, and NYC venues such as Joe's Pub, Feinstein's/54 Below, and Rockwood Music Hall where he hosts Drew Gasparini & Friends, a monthly residency where Drew helps promote and showcase new artists. In 2018 Drew was invited to The Ferguson Center for the Arts in Newport News, VA to play a night of his music accompanied by the Virginia Symphony Orchestra.

The popularity of Drew's songs among the musical theatre community has made him a top ten best-seller on sites where his sheet music is sold. Drew's album I Could Use a Drink was released in 2013 by Broadway Records. The album features performances by Broadway and TV stars such as Jeremy Jordan, Mykal Kilgore, Lindsay Mendez, Caissie Levy, Alex Brightman, F. Michael Haynie, Andrew Kober, Justin Guarini, Jennifer Damiano and many more. On April 10, 2020, the studio cast recording of Drew's song-cycle We Aren't Kids Anymore was released by Concord Theatricals. The album features performances by Bonnie Milligan, Colton Ryan, Lilli Cooper, Raymond J. Lee and Nicholas Christopher.

Drew's catalog is represented by Concord Music, and outside of musical theatre his songs have been heard on TV shows such as the CMT series Gainesville, The Biggest Loser on NBC, as well as ads for Hotels.com. Alongside his two sisters, Drew is one third of the indie-folk band Saint Adeline and continues to perform as a solo artist as well.


Musicals

Crazy Just Like Me[2]

book, music, & lyrics by Drew Gasparini, additional book by Louis Sacco

  • world premiere at the Novato Theatre Company - 2007[3]
  • NYMF Winner: Best of Fest - 2011

Make Me Bad[4]

music & lyrics by Drew Gasparini, book by Alex Brightman

'It's Kind of a Funny Story[5]

music & lyrics by Drew Gasparini, book by Alex Brightman

  • commissioned by Universal Theatrical Group
  • based on the novel by Ned Vizzini and the Universal Pictures film
  • there was a concert presentation of the musical starring Colton Ryan in 2017
  • this musical is currently in development

Night Shift

music & lyrics by Drew Gasparini, book by screenwriters Babaloo Mandel and Lowell Ganz

Skittles Commercial: The Broadway Musical

music by Drew Gasparini, lyrics by Nathaniel Lawlor, book by Will Eno

  • starring Michael C. Hall and directed by Sarah Benson
  • produced by Mars, Incorporated, DDB, and Smuggler
  • world premiere: one night only performance on Super Bowl Sunday, February 3, 2019
  • voted funniest Super Bowl Ad of 2019 by Forbes Magazine[6]

The Karate Kid

music & lyrics by Drew Gasparini, book by screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen

  • this is a Broadway-bound production in development with producers at Gorgeous Entertainment
  • directed by Amon Miyamoto
  • choreographed by Keone and Mari Madrid
  • this musical is currently in development[7]

We Aren't Kids Anymore

book, music, & lyrics by Drew Gasparini, featuring a poem written by Keith White

  • world premiere at Christopher Newport University in 2019
  • directed by Ilana Ransom Toeplitz
  • produced by Erica Rotstein
  • cast album featuring Lilli Cooper, Bonnie Milligan, Nicholas Christopher, Colton Ryan, and Raymond J. Lee was released in 2020 by Concord Theatrical[8]
  • licensing rights for the show are available through Concord Theatrical as well.[9]

The Whipping Boy

music & lyrics by Drew Gasparini, book & lyrics by Alex Brightman

Untitled Victoria Woodhull Project

music & lyrics by Drew Gasparini, book & lyrics by Carson Kreitzer

  • this musical is currently in development


Other Works

Drew is also part of the comedy group, The (M)orons along with three other Broadway actors: Alex Brightman, Andrew Kober, and F. Michael Haynie.


Discography
  • 2008: Overboard[10]
  • 2012: Drew Gasparini Band[11]
  • 2013: I Could Use a Drink[12]
  • 2016: Saint Adeline EP (with his sibling band Saint Adeline)[13]
  • 2020: We Aren't Kids Anymore[14]

References
  1. https://www.thedrewgasparini.com
  2. https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/crazy-just-like-60559/
  3. "Novato playwright not afraid to show his 'Crazy' side". Marin Independent Journal. 2007-12-04. Retrieved 2020-06-24.
  4. https://indianapublicmedia.org/arts/bad-musical-heavy-heart.php
  5. https://www.playbill.com/article/whipping-boy-and-its-kind-of-a-funny-story-musical-adaptations-in-the-works
  6. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jessedamiani/2019/02/04/the-10-funniest-super-bowl-commercials-of-2019-ranked/#231c8e155f69
  7. https://www.playbill.com/article/a-musical-adaptation-of-the-karate-kid-is-in-the-works
  8. https://found.ee/gasparini-kids-mus?fbclid=IwAR1LcGRzcZgr_6oebaJrebcqLzeVAP8eO7eA1wlxkrr_bFgbyzrxf9Ug8D8
  9. https://www.concordtheatricals.com/s/92746/we-arent-kids-anymore?variantId=124609
  10. Drew Gasparini album Overboard, Amazon.com
  11. Drew Gasparini album Drew Gasparini Band, Amazon.com
  12. Drew Gasparini album I Could Use a Drink, Amazon.com
  13. https://music.apple.com/us/album/saint-adeline-ep/1152480422
  14. Desk, BWW News. "Drew Gasparini Releases New Album 'We Aren't Kids Anymore'". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2020-05-24.
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