THE NEXT GENERATION

ADAM GWON

Adam Gwon is a composer and lyricist recently named one of "50 to Watch" by The Dramatist magazine. His latest musical Ordinary Days will receive its world premiere at Pennsylvania Centre Stage in summer 2008, and its UK premiere at the Finborough Theatre in London in fall 2008. His other musicals include the upcoming Bernice Bobs Her Hair with librettist Julia Jordan and director Joe Calarco, Ethan Frome with bookwriter Michael Ruby, and Lulu. His work has been seen at Primary Stages, the York Theatre, New Dramatists, NYMF, NAMT, American Music Theatre Project, the ASCAP/Disney Musical Theatre Workshop, HERE, the Flea Theater, Tribeca Performing Arts Center, and many others. He has scored more than 25 productions across the country, and also writes for film and advertising. Adam is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, was a 2006-07 musical theater fellow at the Dramatists Guild, and is currently a teaching artist with Roundabout Theatre Company, where he helps 8th graders write musicals about paintings, presidents, and pajamas. Visit www.adamgwon.com.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE COMPOSER

Q. What was the first thing you did after you learned you'd been given this American Musical Voices Project: Next Generation grant?
A. I was pretty speechless when I got the phone call from Eric. I didn't say much more than "Uh huh" and "Wow" over and over again as he rattled off all the things that came with the commission. I was hanging out with a friend when the call came, so as soon as I hung up, the dam burst and I told him everything. Then I called my parents. Then I thought, "Maybe I'll buy a new couch!"

Q. Do you have any specific plans for your composition?
A. I have a few ideas. The one I'd love to do the most is an adaptation of a book, and I'm looking into the rights. Fingers are crossed.

Q. Are there any performers you are longing to work with?
A. This might be stating the obvious, but I think Audra McDonald and Julia Murney both have really special gifts for interpreting musical theater work—with their impeccable voices and the richness of their acting—and I'd love to work with them. But I think too many people are great. I'm really bad at auditions; I want to work with everyone! And I know so many people who are still "under the radar" that I can't get enough of, including the folks you can hear singing on some of my recordings—Jill Abramovitz, Jared Gertner, Leah Horowitz, and Michael Hunsaker. I like to try and keep them employed as often as I can!

Q. How did your musical journey begin? When did you first begin playing music? Composing?
A. I started taking piano lessons when I was in 3rd grade; before I started lessons I was always sounding out songs on other peoples' pianos, and my parents wisely decided to put my itchy fingers to work with the organist from the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, who happened to live down the street. I started composing badly in high school, by which time I'd also become involved in theater. I got to college to study theater, and had a musical theater teacher who inspired me to write more and more. I suppose I started composing less badly, and it sort of took over my life.

Q. Do you have formal music training?
A. I'm a trained pianist and singer, but I don't have any formal composition training. I like to think I've learned a great deal from listening to cast albums and studying scores, and through the workshops and master classes I've been involved in since finishing school. Apart from that, I guess I'm just doin' what comes naturally. Now I'm a grown-up sounding out songs on the piano.

Q. Who are your biggest music inspirations?
A. I listen to all kinds of music, but as far as musical theater writing goes, I'm hugely inspired by the "Big Four" that came into the zeitgeist with Audra McDonald's first album: Jason Robert Brown, Ricky Ian Gordon, Adam Guettel, and Michael John LaChiusa. They rocked my 18-year-old world then, and they rock my world now. That album is basically what made me want to be a musical theater writer. Around that same time, I saw Ricky Ian Gordon and Tina Landau's Dream True at the Vineyard Theater, and it sort of changed my life. All that music that'd been so vibrant on its own was suddenly part of the visual and experiential tapestry of live theater. It made the possibilities for putting on stories that moved and inspired people through words and music seem limitless.

Q. Who's on your iPod?
A. Oh, jeez, everybody. My iPod is not very particular, for better or for worse. The little elf that runs the "shuffle" feature really likes Beck and The Light in the Piazza.

Q. What current artist, besides yourself, of course, are you most excited about? Why?
A. That's a tough question! I feel like being a part of the "next generation" of theater writers, I get to see so many amazing people who are going to be the future of the art form. I do have a slight obsession with befriending incredible playwrights and luring them over to the world of musical theater, and there are a few I've got my eye on! I also can't wait to see what the other composers in this Next Generation project come up with.

Q. What's next for you? Any projects, beyond this commission, that you are working on currently?
A. I always like to have many, many plates in the air! Right now, I'm gearing up for both the US and London premieres of my original musical Ordinary Days, which are happening this summer and fall, respectively. I'm also in the midst of ushering two other musicals into the world—Bernice Bobs Her Hair, a project I'm working on with playwright/lyricist Julia Jordan and director Joe Calarco – who, I hear, is a Signature Theatre favorite! – and Ethan Frome, an adaptation of the Edith Wharton story. And I'm about to start work on another brand new show as well. I love to be busy, and it's such an honor to receive this grant to continue to create new work and do what I love. So, thank you to Signature and The Shen Family Foundation for this show of support!