Christopher Anselmo
Christopher Anselmo is an American composer and playwright of musical theatre.
Christopher Anselmo | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 10, 1994 Princeton, New Jersey |
| Genres | Musical theatre |
| Years active | 2012-present |
Early years[edit]
Born in Princeton, NJ, Anselmo spent the majority of his childhood in Millstone Township, NJ. His first extended venture into songwriting happened at Allentown High School when he wrote a book report on David Copperfield as a song cycle.[1] Anselmo moved to East Greenwich, RI, after his sophomore year of high school;[2] he is a 2012 graduate of The Wheeler School.[3] He attended Northwestern University.[4]
Career[edit]
Anselmo's first musical, Fable, was co-written with his childhood friend, H.S. Kaufman. Originally written by Anselmo in high school as a song cycle, he brought Kaufman on to write a script, which would help to transform the collection of songs into a full-length musical.[5] It premiered at New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) in July 2014. Anselmo and Kaufman were the youngest writers ever to be accepted to the festival in history.[6]
Anselmo wrote music and lyrics for The Haunted Train. The show was commissioned and produced by Unmasked Theatre Company at Theater for the New City in October 2015.[7]
After graduating from Northwestern in 2016, Anselmo went on to write music and lyrics for Atlantic: America & The Great War, the second musical in a two-show collaboration between American Musical Theater Project and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Atlantic premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2017.[8]
Anselmo wrote the New York Times' Critic's Pick adaptation of the best-selling children's series, The Pout-Pout Fish, for TheaterWorksUSA.[9] It premiered at the New Victory Theater in October 2019 before embarking on a national tour, which was cut short due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
References[edit]
- ^ "NJ writers join the New York Musical Theatre Festival". NJ.com. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
- ^ "'Fable' is no fairy tale; play to have NYC debut | June 5, 2014 | exa.gmnews.com | Examiner". exa.gmnews.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
- ^ "Wheeler School graduate's work to be performed at N.Y. Musical Theater Festival". providencejournal.com. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
- ^ "Fun Fact: I'm An Avid Puppeteer". Youth Arts Online. Archived from the original on 2015-05-06. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
- ^ "Musical Co-Authored by PHS Alum Selected by Musical Theater Festival | Town Topics". www.towntopics.com. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
- ^ "FABLE Makes History at NYMF, 7/22-27". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
- ^ "Unmasked Theatre to Stage THE HAUNTED TRAIN at TNC This October". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
- ^ "Atlantic: America and the Great War". Edinburgh Festival. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
- ^ Graeber, Laurel (2019-10-14). "'The Pout-Pout Fish' Review: A Grouch Gets Back in the Swim". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-08-19.