David Simpatico
Playwright
DAVID SIMPATICO is a playwright, librettist and performance artist. Career highlights include: the stage adaptation of High School Musical (Disney Theatricals); the full length opera, The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing (Justine Chen, composer; commissioned by American Lyric Theatre); and the sung-thru music drama, The Screams of Kitty Genovese (Will Todd, composer; Edinburgh Fringe Festival); and the libretto for Pulitzer Prize-winner Aaron J. Kernis’ Garden Of Light (NY Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall, conducted by Kurt Masur).
David has recently adapted Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, with composer Will Todd. David has recently been commissioned to write the original sci-fi rock opera, Rose of Sharon, with composer Heather Christian. David’s new two-man play, Wilde About Whitman, takes us behind doors during the little known, historic meeting of the two literary giants. His play, Waiting for the Ball to Drop, has been optioned by director/producer Stephen Lloyd Helper. David is currently working on LIFEafterLIFE, a one-man musical with composer Josh Schmidt.
David recently earned his MFA in Creative Writing from the Mountain View Writers at SNHU. He co-curates (with playwright Darrah Cloud) A Howl of Playwrights, in Rhinebeck, NY, where he lives with his husband, Robert Strickstein, and wonder-dog, Elmo.
Highlights
Theatrical Highlights High School Musical: stage musical-comedy; Disney Theatricals; Bryan Louiselle, musical arranger/composer; stage adaptation of the television movie; national and world tours, 2008/9; MTI Licensing. The Screams of Kitty Genovese: sung-thru music drama, music by Will Todd; 2001 Jonathon Larson Award for libretto; 2006 NYMF Festival; 2010 Edinburgh Fringe Festival; developed at O’Neill Music Theatre Conference and English National Opera. Macs: A Macaroni Requiem: non-musical play; Williamstown 1996, Michael Ritchie, Artistic Director. Whida Peru: music by Josh Schmidt; solo one-act musical; commissioned by Paulette Haupt, Talking Heads Festival, 2009. Garden of Light: choral symphony, music by Pulitzer Prize-winner Aaron J. Kernis; Millennium symphony, 1999; commissioned by Michael Eisner, The Walt Disney Conpany; conducted by Kurt Masur, with the NY Phil; performed at Lincoln Center. Alice in Wonderland: stage musical comedy, Bryan Louiselle, music arranger; adaptation of Disney animated film; Disney Theatricals; MTI Licensing. Shorter Works Wish Fulfillment: one act play, winner Showtime One Act Play festival; published, Showtime’s Act One One-Act Festival 1994, Smith & Krause Books. Prom Queen: one-act play; Samuel French OOB Play Fest; 2014. Aunt PittiPat in the Tower: monologue; commissioned by Brave New World Festival, Town Hall, NYC 2002; performed by Mario Cantone, directed by Steve Williford; published by Best Men’s Monologues for the 21st Century; Applause Books, 2007. Irene: monologue; published in Best Women’s Monologues for the 21st Century; Applause Books, 2007. New Full-Length Works The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing: grand opera; score by Justine Chen; commissioned by American Lyric Theatre, Lawrence Edelson, Artistic Director; Waiting For The Ball To Drop: Two-act comedy/drama: Seven close friends are stuck in a state of perpetual anticipation, until a momentary burst of violence propels them forward into fully embracing their lives. Cruel Shoes: musical comedy, music by Ross Patterson: An innocent country boy comes to NYC to become a big Broadway star, but is thwarted by the realities, and monsters, of the theatrical business. He manifests several homicidal female multiple personalities to bump off the men blocking his rise on the ladder of success. LifeAfterLife (‘Virtuality Sal’ and ‘Whida Peru’), music by Josh Schmidt: Two solo, thematically connected, one-act sung-thru musical dramas. A Christmas Carol, music by Will Todd; adaptation for solo actor and choir. Rose of Sharon, music by Heather Christian; rock opera/concept album; commissioned by Kurt Deutsch, Sh-K-Boom Records. Wilde About Whitman, a two-act play; thesis project, Masters program, Southern New Hampshire University. PG-13; Ten short comic pieces for younger actors.