David Yazbek

David Yazbek
Born	1961 (age 63–64) New York City, U.S.
Genres	Musical theatre
Occupation(s)	Writer, musician, composer, lyricist
Years active	1987–present
Website	davidyazbek.com

David Norman Yazbek (born 1961) is an American writer, musician, composer, and lyricist. He wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musicals The Full Monty (2000), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (2005), Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (2010), The Band's Visit (2017), Tootsie (2019), and Dead Outlaw (2025). He also consulted on the musical Buena Vista Social Club.

Early life

Yazbek was born in New York City. His father is of Lebanese descent, and his mother was of half-Italian and half-Jewish ancestry.^[1][2] He began cello lessons in elementary school and took up the piano as a teenager. He attended Riverdale Country School.

While attending Brown University as an undergraduate, he wrote an original musical with the production group Brownbrokers before graduating in 1982. He also directed a production of Hair with the student theatre group Production Workshop, for which he composed an original song to complement the classic score.

Career

After college Yazbek got a job writing for David Letterman's late-night television show. He won an Emmy Award as part of Letterman's writing team in 1986, but quit to pursue his love of music. From 1987 to 1989 he was the co-owner of Manhattan Recording Company and wrote many commercial jingles.

Yazbek co-wrote the theme song to the 1991 Emmy award winning PBS-TV series Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? with songwriter Sean Altman, a high school friend who led the show's featured vocal group, Rockapella. Yazbek and Altman also composed and wrote the theme song to World's successor, Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? He has written many other songs and background scores for children's television shows, especially those produced for Disney's cable television channel.

In 2000, director Jack O'Brien approached composer-lyricist Adam Guettel to write the music and lyrics for a musical based on the hit movie The Full Monty. Guettel declined, but recommended Yazbek, whom he had played with in a band.^[3] Yazbek took the job, collaborating with librettist Terrence McNally. The show was a success, although it was overshadowed that year by Mel Brooks' musical The Producers. The Full Monty ran for two years before closing, and for his work Yazbek was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Original Score and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics, and won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music. In 2002 he was a contributing lyricist for the musical Bombay Dreams.

Yazbek wrote the music and lyrics to the musical adaptation of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, which opened on Broadway in 2005, featuring John Lithgow, Norbert Leo Butz, Sherie Rene Scott, Joanna Gleason, and Gregory Jbara. Yazbek was again nominated for the 2005 Tony Award for Best Original Score, and Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Music and Outstanding Lyrics.

Yazbek wrote the music for the musical adaptation of the 1988 Pedro Almodóvar film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. In October 2009, the musical had a closed reading directed by Bartlett Sher and featuring Salma Hayek, Jessica Biel, Matthew Morrison, and Paulo Szot.^[4] The musical opened on Broadway at the Belasco Theatre on November 4, 2010, with previews starting October 8.^[5] The musical starred Patti LuPone, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and Sherie Rene Scott, with direction by Bartlett Sher.^[6] The production received mixed to negative reviews, despite praise for the actors and Yazbek's score, and closed on January 2, 2011, after 30 previews and 69 performances.^[7] Despite the early closing, the show was nominated for three Tony Awards, for the performances of Patti LuPone and Laura Benanti, and Yazbek's score.

Yazbek wrote the music and lyrics for the musical adaptation of the film The Band's Visit, with a book by Itamar Moses. The musical premiered Off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theatre Company Linda Gross Theater on November 11, 2016, in previews. The cast featured John Cariani and Tony Shalhoub with direction by David Cromer.^[8][9] This production won him the 2017 Obie Award for Musical Theatre and later the production transferred to the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway. Yazbek won the Tony Award for Best Original Score for his efforts on this show.

Yazbek wrote the music and lyrics for the musical adaptation of the 1982 film Tootsie, with a book by Robert Horn.^[10] It opened in Chicago at the Cadillac Palace Theatre in September 2018 and opened on Broadway in March 2019.^[11] The show was nominated for eleven Tony Awards, including for Yazbek's score. The show won two awards: Best Book of a Musical and Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical (Santino Fontana).^[12]

In 2022, Yazbek reunited with Itamar Moses for the book and collaborated with Erik Della Penna for the music and lyrics of the musical Dead Outlaw, based on a true story, which had a premiere presentation at Feinstein's/54 Below.^[13] Dead Outlaw opened off-Broadway in March 2024.^[14]

Yazbek has released five rock albums to date. He has produced tracks for the band XTC, and its lead singer Andy Partridge has collaborated on Yazbek's solo albums. He also has written for or produced recordings by Spacehog, Tito Puente, The Persuasions, and Queen Sarah Saturday. XTC also contributed a track to the Carmen Sandiego soundtrack album, which Yazbek produced.

Unrealized projects

In 2007, Yazbek began developing the music and lyrics for Bruce Lee: Journey to the West, a stage musical based on the life of martial artist Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee would feature a book by David Henry Hwang and be directed by Bartlett Sher.^[15] Variety reported that the musical was aiming to open at the Rialto Square Theatre during the 2010–2011 season,^[16] but these plans have been put on indefinite hold.

On June 12, 2013, it was announced that Yazbek would be replacing the Barenaked Ladies to write the score to the musical adaptation of National Lampoon's Animal House,^[17] with a book by Michael Mitnick.^[18]

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result
1984	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program	Late Night with David Letterman	Won
2001	Tony Award	Best Original Score	The Full Monty	Nominated
	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Music		Won
		Outstanding Lyrics		Nominated
2002	Grammy Award	Best Musical Show Album		Nominated
2005	Tony Award	Best Original Score	Dirty Rotten Scoundrels	Nominated
	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Music		Nominated
		Outstanding Lyrics		Nominated
2006	Grammy Award	Best Musical Show Album		Nominated
2011	Tony Award	Best Original Score	Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown	Nominated
	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Music		Nominated
		Outstanding Orchestrations		Nominated
	Outer Critics Circle Award	Outstanding New Score (Broadway or Off-Broadway)		Nominated
2017	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Music	The Band's Visit	Won
		Outstanding Lyrics		Won
	Lucille Lortel Award	Outstanding Musical		Won
	Outer Critics Circle Award	Outstanding New Score (Broadway or Off-Broadway)		Won
2018	Tony Award	Best Original Score		Won
2019	Grammy Award	Best Musical Theater Album		Won
	Tony Award	Best Original Score	Tootsie	Nominated
	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Music		Won
		Outstanding Lyrics		Won
	Outer Critics Circle Award	Outstanding New Score (Broadway or Off-Broadway)		Nominated
2024	Lucille Lortel Award	Outstanding Musical	Dead Outlaw	Nominated
	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Music		Nominated
		Outstanding Lyrics		Won
		Outstanding Orchestrations		Nominated
	Outer Critics Circle Award	Outstanding Score (Broadway or Off-Broadway)		Nominated
		Outstanding Orchestrations (Broadway or Off-Broadway)		Nominated

Discography

As solo artist

Year	Title	Label
1995	The Laughing Man	Midi Inc. (Japan) What Are Records? (USA) Humbug (Germany)[19]
1998	Tock	What Are Records?
2001	Damascus
2005	Tape Recorder: Collected Works
2007	Evil Monkey Man	Ghostlight Records

As musical composer

Year	Title	Label
2000	The Full Monty	Masterworks Broadway
2005	Dirty Rotten Scoundrels	Ghostlight Records
2011	Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
2017	The Band's Visit
2019	Tootsie	Decca Broadway

Other contributions

Year	Title	Role	Label
1992	Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?	Producer Songwriter	Fight Records Zoom Express BMG Kidz
1993	Carmen Sandiego: Out of This World	Executive producer Producer Songwriter
1995	A Testimonial Dinner: The Songs of XTC	Executive producer	Thirsty Ear Recordings
1998	Songs From Jim Henson's Bear in the Big Blue House	Songwriter	Walt Disney Records

References

1. "Life&Leisure | The Journal News". lohud.com. Retrieved June 29, 2014.^{[dead link‍]}
2. "Official Site". David Yazbek. Archived from the original on September 3, 2014. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
3. Stetson, Nancy (October 7, 2009). "Dirty Rotten Composer". Fort Myers Florida Weekly. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved December 22, 2009.
4. Cox, Gordon (October 20, 2009). "Hayek, Biel read for 'Women'". Variety. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
5. Fick, David (February 19, 2010). "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown". Musical Cyberspace.
6. Hetrick, Adam (July 26, 2010). "Patti LuPone, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Sherie Rene Scott Cast in Broadway's Women on the Verge". Playbill. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
7. Hetrick, Adam (January 4, 2012). "Hugh Jackman Will Be Houdini in New Broadway Musical During 2013–2014 Season". Playbill. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
8. Clement, Olivia (August 3, 2016). "John Cariani and Tony Shalhoub Tapped for The Band's Visit Musical". Playbill. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
9. Clement, Olivia (November 11, 2016). "The Band's Visit Musical Begins Tonight Off-Broadway". Playbill. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
10. Cox, Gordon (January 24, 2018). "'Tootsie' Musical Heading to Broadway in 2019". Variety. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
11. McPhee, Ryan (August 9, 2018). "Tootsie Musical, Starring Santino Fontana, Sets Broadway Dates and Theatre". Playbill. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
12. McPhee, Ryan; Peikert, Mark (June 9, 2019). "Hadestown Leads the Pack at the 2019 Tony Awards". Playbill. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
13. Culwell-Block, Logan (February 7, 2022). "New Musical From David Yazbek and Itamar Moses to Premiere at Feinstein's/54 Below". Playbill.
14. King, Darryn (March 21, 2024). "Dead Outlaw, World-Premiere Musical from The Band's Visit Team, Extends Run". Broadway.com. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
15. "Yazbek Prepares 'Bruce Lee' Martial Artist Musical for Broadway". BroadwayWorld. January 25, 2008. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
16. Cox, Gordon (October 29, 2008). "'Addams Family' to spook Chicago". Variety. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
17. Hetrick, Adam (July 12, 2013). "David Yazbek Replaces Barenaked Ladies as Songwriter of Animal House Musical". Playbill. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
18. "Pataphysical Science: Q&A with Michael Mitnick". PataphysicalScience.blogspot.com. September 6, 2013. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
19. The Laughing Man at Discogs (list of releases)

External links

• Official site
• Production: The Full Monty – Working in the Theatre Seminar video at American Theatre Wing, September 2000
• Production: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels – Working in the Theatre Seminar video at American Theatre Wing, April 2005
• Pop Music and the New Musical – Working in the Theatre Seminar video at American Theatre Wing, September 2005
• Interview and career timeline in the San Francisco Chronicle
• David Yazbek at the Internet Broadway Database
• David Yazbek discography at Discogs