WRITER
The author as a young man, circa 1984
If I’m any one thing, I’m a writer. If I’m any two things, I’m two writers.
Much of my writing has been for the theatre. My best-known work is my adaptation of Will B. Johnstone’s original book and lyrics for I’ll Say She Is. Other current and recent work includes Pintele, Quarantigone, and the Freedonia Marxonia trilogy.
My book Gimme a Thrill: The Story of I’ll Say She Is, the Lost Marx Brothers Musical, and How it Was Found was published in 2016 by BearManor Media. You can read the first chapter for free before buying copies of the book for everyone you know.
I wrote and illustrated Love Marches On, a daily comic strip adapted from my unproduced musical Broadway Memory. I later expanded Love Marches On into a beautiful book. Try one, you’ll like it!
My first book, 400 Years in Manhattan, is based on my stage show of the same name. I’m sure you already own at least one copy, but why not get another, just to be safe?
Amanda Sisk and I co-wrote the Nero Fiddled political musicals. My earlier plays and musicals include Missing Manhattan, Love and Cheese, The Men in Mabel's Life, and The Fourth Wall (co-written with West Hyler).
My essay “Anatomy of a Moustache” appears in Matthew Coniam’s excellent That’s Me, Groucho! The Solo Career of Groucho Marx.
I’ve written numerous articles and essays about theatre, musicals, the Marx Brothers, New York City history, and politics. You can find some of this on my Medium page. Also, this homage to Damon Runyon. I’ve contributed to Zelda magazine, Spaz Comics, and other fine publications; and I’ve blogged about politics, comedy, and musical theatre.
SONGWRITER
In rehearsal, 2008
And my favorite kind of writing is lyric-writing. I don’t think anything is more satisfying when it works, and if I had to choose just one thing I think this would be it.
My biggest lyric-writing credit, again, is the adaptation of I’ll Say She Is; I’m responsible for roughly half the lyrics. (The rest are original to Will B. Johnstone.) Some of my I’ll Say She Is lyrics, and a discussion of the songwriting challenges specific to that musical, can be found in my book Gimme a Thrill. I also wrote some of the lyrics which appear in the Marx Brothers graphic novel Giraffes on Horseback Salad.
With Amanda Sisk, I wrote the music and lyrics for the Nero Fiddled musicals. Five songs from our 2008 work Life After Bush are available online: “Corporations Are People Too,” “It’s Been a Bad Eight Years,” “Rudy Rudy Rudy,” “The American Dream,” and a deleted number, “Everyone is Trying to Kill Us.” All feature arrangements by DJ Thacker and are accompanied by David Hancock Turner.
My unproduced musical Broadway Memory became Love Marches On, and the lyrics for a few songs survived into the strip. The Love Marches On book includes many additional lyrics from the stillborn stage version.
More: My “United Nations Song,” featured in Travesties of 2012, is now a Vaudephone video, produced by and Trav S.D. Watch it here. (Watch the older “flag version” here.) I’ve written songs for several children’s musicals, as well as The Fourth Wall (with West Hyler) and The Men in Mabel’s Life. And Sisk and I have composed music for our pals Mel & El, with whom we shared a 2008 Backstage Bistro Award for Best Comedy Song.