Dave Malloy
Malloy in 2013
Born	(1976-01-04)January 4, 1976 (age 49) Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Alma mater	Ohio University
Occupation(s)	Composer, playwright, lyricist, orchestrator, musician, actor, singer, sound designer
Years active	2000–present
Known for	Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, Ghost Quartet, Preludes, Octet

Dave Malloy (born January 4, 1976) is an American composer, playwright, lyricist, singer, orchestrator, and actor. He has written several theatrical works, often based on classic works of literature. His most well known work is the Tony Award winningNatasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, an electropop opera based onWar and Peace. His other works includeGhost Quartet, a song cycle about "love, death, and whiskey";Preludes, a musical fantasia set in the mind ofromantic composerSergei Rachmaninoff;Octet, a chamber choir musical about internet addiction; andThree Houses, a chamber musical about the Covid-19 pandemic.

Malloy grew up inLakewood, Ohio and studied music composition and English literature atOhio University. He began making theater in San Francisco in 2000.^[1] Early work included pieces withBanana Bag & Bodice, for whom he has been the composer since 2002.^[2]

In 2008 he composed music forBeowulf – A Thousand Years of Baggage, aBanana Bag & Bodice SongPlay written by Jason Craig and commissioned by theShotgun Players in Berkeley, California.Beowulf received the 2008Glickman Award and a 2011Edinburgh Herald Angel, and has played a number of venues and festivals, includingBerkeley Repertory's Roda Theatre, ART'sClub Oberon,Joe's Pub, and festivals in England, Ireland, Scotland and Australia.^[3]

AfterBeowulf, he co-created and performed inThree Pianos, a drunken romp throughSchubert's "Winterreise" (with Rick Burkhardt andAlec Duffy, directed byRachel Chavkin) that premiered in 2010 at theOntological-Hysteric Theater, winning a Special CitationObie Award, and had runs atNew York Theatre Workshop andAmerican Repertory Theater.^[4]

His next work wasBeardo, a Russian indie rock musical based on the life ofRasputin, which Malloy wrote withBeowulf collaborator Jason Craig. It played in 2011 in San Francisco and had its New York premiere in February 2017 in a production by Pipeline Theater Company.

ForNatasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, Malloy was the composer, lyricist, orchestrator, music director and performer in the role ofPierre Bezukhov.Comet was commissioned byArs Nova and premiered there in October 2012, directed by Chavkin; in May 2013 the show transferred tooff-Broadway playing in Kazino, a tent custom-built for the piece, first erected in the Meatpacking District and then in Times Square. In December 2015 the show played a pre-Broadway run at theAmerican Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The show has won anObie Award, the 2013 Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theater, the Off Broadway Alliance's Best New Musical Award, threeElliot Norton Awards, eightIRNE Awards, elevenLucille Lortel Awards nominations (winning three), fiveDrama Desk nominations, and twoDrama League Award nominations.^[5][6]

Ghost Quartet opened in October 2014 at the Bushwick Starr. After an extended sold out run, the piece transferred to the McKittrick Hotel, home ofSleep No More, and has since played in a number of cities, including Edinburgh, San Francisco, and Cambridge, where it won anElliot Norton Award. The piece is a staged concept album, about love, death, and whiskey.^[7] This was followed by a high school musical,Don't Stop Me, a "dance-a-thon to the death" with book and co-lyrics by Krista Knight, produced by Youth Musical Theatre Company in Berkeley CA, where he worked as musical director from 2006–09. While the show was in performances, his next musical,Preludes, a piece aboutRachmaninoff and hypnosis, premiered atLincoln Center Theater in June 2015.

Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 opened onBroadway at theImperial Theatre in October 2016 withJosh Groban as Pierre. The show was nominated for twelveTony Awards including Best Musical, Book, Score and Orchestration awards. Malloy reprised his role as Pierre multiple times throughout the run, and was the final Broadway Pierre.^[8] In 2022, the show was staged at Malloy's alma mater, Ohio University, the first American production since its departure from Broadway.^[9]

Octet, achamber choir musical written by Malloy and directed by Annie Tippe, ran at theSignature Theatre Company Residency 5 Theatre in New York City from April 30 to June 30, 2019. The show features an eight-parta cappella chamber choir and "explores addiction and nihilism within the messy context of 21st century technology" premiered in a limited run at theSignature Theatre Company in New York City.^[10] It is the first part of his Signature Residency, which will include three shows over the course of five years.^[11]

Moby-Dick, a musical based onHerman Melville'sMoby-Dick with book, music, lyrics, and orchestrations by Malloy and directed byRachel Chavkin, ran at theAmerican Repertory Theater from December 3, 2019, to January 12, 2020.^[12] The middle section of the show, titledMoby Dick, Part III: The Ballad of Pip was previewed atJoe's Pub back in March 2014.^[13]

In 2021, he had a cameo inLin-Manuel Miranda’sfilm adaptation ofJonathan Larson’s stage musical,Tick, Tick... Boom!.

In September 2022 he wrote music and lyrics forLove Around the Block, a one night only musical event celebrating the opening of Hermés's new flagship store in NYC. In November 2023, his musicalThe Witches opened at London'sRoyal National Theatre. In May 2024, his new musicalThree Houses opened at the Signature Theatre in NYC.

Malloy lives in New York.

• Gogol (2001) (composer/orchestrator/music director/performer; lyrics & book by Jason Craig and Sean Owens; directed by Meredith Eldred)
• Sandwich (2003) (co-creator, withBanana Bag & Bodice)
• Clown Bible (2007) (composer/lyricist/co-bookwriter/orchestrator/Job/Judas; co-written & directed by Maya Gurantz)
• Beowulf – A Thousand Years of Baggage (2008) (composer/orchestrator/musical director/Hrothgar; lyrics & book by Jason Craig; withBanana Bag & Bodice)
• Haarlem Berlin (2009) (composer/orchestrator; written by Talaya Delaney, directed byRachel Chavkin)
• Three Pianos (2010) (co-creator/co-orchestrator/sound & video designer/performer; written & created with Rick Burkhardt andAlec Duffy, directed byRachel Chavkin)
• Beardo (2011) (composer/orchestrator; lyrics & book by Jason Craig, directed by Patrick Dooley)
• Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (2012) (composer/lyricist/bookwriter/orchestrator/Pierre; directed byRachel Chavkin)
• Black Wizard / Blue Wizard (2013) (composer/co-lyricist/orchestrator/Black Wizard; book and co-lyrics byEliza Bent, directed by Dan Safer)
• Ghost Quartet (2014) (composer/lyricist/bookwriter/orchestrator/Astronomer/Edgar/David; developed with Brent Arnold,Gelsey Bell andBrittain Ashford, directed by Annie Tippe)
• Preludes (2015) (composer/lyricist/bookwriter/orchestrator; directed byRachel Chavkin)
• Don't Stop Me (2015) (composer/co-lyricist/orchestrator; book & co-lyrics by Krista Knight; directed by Jennifer Boesing)
• Little Bunny Foo Foo (2018) (composer/orchestrator; book & lyrics byAnne Washburn, directed byLes Waters)
• Octet (2019) (composer/lyricist/bookwriter/orchestrator; directed by Annie Tippe)
• Moby-Dick (2019) (composer/lyricist/bookwriter/orchestrator; directed byRachel Chavkin)^[14]
• Love Around the Block (2022) (composer/lyricist/co-orchestrator; book by Isaac Oliver; co-orchestrations by Or Matias; directed by Jason Eagan. Commissioned by Hermés for the grand opening of their flagship store in NYC.)
• The Witches (2023) (composer/co-lyricist/orchestrator; book & co-lyrics byLucy Kirkwood; directed by Lyndsey Turner)^[15]
• Three Houses (2024) (composer/lyricist/bookwriter/orchestrator; directed by Annie Tippe)

• Gulag Ha Ha (2002) (composer/sound designer/Old Timer; withBanana Bag & Bodice)
• in3 (2003) (composer/performer; written by j. ries and Jason Craig; directed by Meredith Eldred)
• The Sewers (2005) (composer/sound designer; withBanana Bag & Bodice)
• Dysphoria (2007) (composer/sound designer; written & directed byAlec Duffy)
• Space//Space (2009) (composer/sound designer; withBanana Bag & Bodice)
• Five Days in March (2010) (composer; written byToshiki Okada, directed by Dan Safer)
• The Small (2010) (composer/Walt) (written byAnne Washburn, directed byLes Waters)
• Murder in the Cathedral (2010) (composer; written byT.S. Eliot, directed byAlec Duffy)
• All Hands (2012) (composer/sound designer; written by Robert Quillen Camp, directed byAlec Duffy)
• LongYarn (2016) (composer/sound designer; withBanana Bag & Bodice)

In addition to the full cast recordings listed below, rough recordings and demos to most of Malloy's shows can be found on his website.

Official video recordings ofGhost Quartet,Beardo, andBeowulf have also been released online.^[16][17][18] AKickstarter was launched to fund the original cast recording ofOctet on June 19, 2019, where it was fully funded in one day. The album was released digitally on November 15, 2019.^[19]

He is the winner of threeOBIE Awards,^[20] aLucille Lortel Award, aDrama Desk Award, a Richard Rodgers Award, Glickman Award, ASCAP New Horizons Award,Jonathan Larson Grant, and New Music USA Grant, a recipient of the 2009 NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Theatre Directors and Designers, and the 2011 Composer-in-Residence atArs Nova.^[21] In 2017, Malloy was the recipient of Smithsonian Magazine's American Ingenuity Award for History.^[22]

• davemalloy.com Official website

• American musical theatre composers
• American musical theatre lyricists
• Broadway composers and lyricists
• Composers from New York City
• Living people
• Songwriters from New York (state)
• Musicians from Cleveland
• Actors from Lakewood, Ohio
• 1976 births

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