David Yazbek | |
|---|---|
 Yazbek in 2025 | |
| Background information | |
| 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 |
David Norman Yazbek (born 1961) is an American writer, musician, composer, and lyricist. He wrote the music and lyrics for theBroadway musicalsThe Full Monty (2000),Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (2004),Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (2010),The Band's Visit (2017),Tootsie (2019), andDead Outlaw (2025). He won aTony Award and aGrammy Award forThe Band's Visit. He also consulted on the musicalBuena Vista Social Club.
David Yazbek was born in New York City. His father is ofLebanese descent, and his mother was of half-Italian and half-Jewish ancestry.[1][2] He begancello lessons in elementary school and took up the piano as a teenager. He attendedRiverdale Country School.
While attendingBrown University as an undergraduate, he wrote an original musical with the production groupBrownbrokers before graduating in 1982. He also directed a production ofHair with the student theatre groupProduction Workshop, for which he composed an original song to complement the classic score.
After college Yazbek got a job writing forDavid Letterman's late-night television showLate Night with David Letterman. He won aPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series at the36th Primetime Emmy Awards as part of Letterman's writing team in 1984, 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 thetitle theme song to the 1991Emmy Award winningPBS TV seriesWhere in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? with songwriterSean Altman, a high school friend who led the show's featured vocal group,Rockapella. Yazbek and Altman also composed and wrote the theme song toWorld's `1996 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 theDisney Channel.
In 2000, directorJack O'Brien approached composer-lyricistAdam Guettel to write the music and lyrics for amusical based on the hit movieThe Full Monty. Guettel declined, but recommended Yazbek, whom he had played with in a band.[3] Yazbek took the job, collaborating with librettistTerrence McNally. The show was a success, although it was overshadowed that year byMel Brooks' musicalThe Producers.The Full Monty ran for two years before closing, and for his work Yazbek was nominated for theTony Award for Best Original Score at the55th Tony Awards and theDrama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics, and won theDrama Desk Award for Outstanding Music. In 2002 he was a contributing lyricist for the musicalBombay Dreams.
Yazbek wrote the music and lyrics to themusical adaptation ofDirty Rotten Scoundrels, which opened onBroadway in 2005, featuringJohn Lithgow,Norbert Leo Butz,Sherie Rene Scott,Joanna Gleason, andGregory Jbara. Yazbek was again nominated for the Tony Award for Best Original Score at the59th Tony Awards, and Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Music and Outstanding Lyrics.
Yazbek wrote the music for themusical adaptation of the 1988Pedro Almodóvar filmWomen on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. In October 2009, the musical had a closed reading directed byBartlett Sher and featuringSalma Hayek,Jessica Biel,Matthew Morrison, andPaulo Szot.[4] The musical opened on Broadway at theBelasco Theatre on November 4, 2010, with previews starting October 8.[5] The musical starredPatti LuPone,Brian Stokes Mitchell, and Sherie Rene Scott, with direction byBartlett 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 threeTony Awards, for the performances of Patti LuPone andLaura Benanti, and Yazbek's score, at the65th Tony Awards.
Yazbek wrote the music and lyrics for themusical adaptation of the filmThe Band's Visit, with a book byItamar Moses. The musical premieredOff-Broadway at theAtlantic Theatre Company Linda Gross Theater on November 11, 2016, in previews. The cast featuredJohn Cariani andTony Shalhoub with direction byDavid Cromer.[8][9] This production won him the 2017Obie Award for Musical Theatre and later the production transferred to theEthel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway. Yazbek won the Tony Award for Best Original Score for his efforts on this show at the72nd Tony Awards.
Yazbek wrote the music and lyrics for themusical adaptation of the 1982 filmTootsie, with a book byRobert Horn.[10] It opened inChicago at theCadillac 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, at the73rd Tony Awards. The show won two awards:Best Book of a Musical andBest 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 withErik Della Penna for the music and lyrics of the musicalDead Outlaw, based on a true story, which had a premiere presentation atFeinstein's/54 Below.[13]Dead Outlaw opened off-Broadway in March 2024 and on Broadway in April 2025.[14]
Yazbek has released fiverock albums to date. He has produced tracks for the bandXTC, and its lead singerAndy Partridge has collaborated on Yazbek's solo albums. He also has written for or produced recordings bySpacehog,Tito Puente,The Persuasions, and Queen Sarah Saturday. XTC also contributed a track, "Cherry in Your Tree" to the 1994Carmen Sandiego soundtrack albumCarmen Sandiego: Out of This World, which Yazbek produced.
In 2007, Yazbek began developing the music and lyrics forBruce Lee: Journey to the West, a stage musical based on the life of martial artistBruce Lee.Bruce Lee would feature a book byDavid Henry Hwang and be directed by Bartlett Sher.[15]Variety reported that the musical was aiming to open at theRialto 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 theBarenaked Ladies to write the score to the musical adaptation ofNational Lampoon's Animal House,[17] with a book byMichael Mitnick.[18]
| Year | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | The Laughing Man |
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| 1998 | Tock | What Are Records? |
| 2001 | Damascus | |
| 2005 | Tape Recorder: Collected Works | |
| 2007 | Evil Monkey Man | Ghostlight Records |
| 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 |
| 2025 | Dead Outlaw | Yellow Sound Label |
| Year | Title | Role | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? |
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| 1993 | Carmen Sandiego: Out of This World |
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| 1995 | A Testimonial Dinner: The Songs of XTC | Executive producer | Thirsty Ear Recordings |
| 1998 | Songs FromJim Henson's Bear in the Big Blue House | Songwriter | Walt Disney Records |
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