Introduction
Scott David Frankel (born May 6, 1963) is an American composer and musical director.
Career
Early life
Frankel attended Interlochen Arts Camp majoring in piano. He graduated from Yale University in 1985, when he was also inducted into the Skull and Bones secret society. While at Yale he met playwright Doug Wright.
Work
Frankel worked as a music director, conductor and pianist, on Broadway shows including Into the Woods, Les Misérables, Jerome Robbins' Broadway, Rags (1986, rehearsal pianist)and Falsettos, and also Off-Broadway on Putting It Together starring Julie Andrews.
He accompanied Shirley MacLaine and Meryl Streep in the film Postcards from the Edge party scene.
He then became a musical theatre composer, notably through collaborations with lyricist/librettist Michael Korie.
Their musical Doll was workshoped at the University of Houston as part of Stuart Ostrow's Musical Theatre Lab in 1995. A professional production premiered in Ravinia Festival in a staged reading in 2003, and was further developed at the Sundance Institute Theatre Lab, White Oak, Florida in December 2005.
Their musical Grey Gardens premiered Off-Broadway in 2006, and transferred to Broadway. For Grey Gardens, Frankel received a Tony Award nomination, as well as the ASCAP Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award and The Frederick Loewe Award for Dramatic Composition.
Meet Mister Future received a workshop production in July 2006 at Barrington Stage Company Musical Theater Lab, directed by Christopher Ashley.
Their musical Happiness opened Off-Broadway in March 2009 Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center, with direction and choreography by Susan Stroman.
Frankel and Korie have wrtten the music and lyrics, respectively, for a new musical, with the book by Doug Wright. Titled War Paint, it is about Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden. The musical premieres at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago, from June 28 to August 14, 2016, directed by Michael Greif with stars Patti Lupone as Helena Rubinstein and Christine Ebersole as Elizabeth Arden. The musical is based on the 2003 book by Lindy Woodhead and on the 2007 documentary The Powder and the Glory by Ann Carol Grossman and Arnie Reisman.
Private life
Frankel currently resides in Manhattan. He and his partner, the architect Jim Joseph, restored the Forth House in the Hudson Valley (New York).
Works
- Doll - 2003 - Lyrics/Libretto by Michael Korie
- Grey Gardens - 2006 - Lyrics by Michael Korie, Book by Doug Wright
- Happiness - 2009 - Lyrics by Michael Korie, Book by John Weidman
- Meet Mister Future - 2006 - Lyrics/Libretto by Michael Korie
- Far from Heaven - 2013 - Lyrics by Michael Korie; book by Richard Greenberg
- War Paint - 2016 - Lyrics by Michael Korie, Book by Doug Wright