Artist Bio

(Bio as of June 2016)

Michael Korie created lyrics to Scott Frankel’s music for Grey Gardens, Far From Heaven, Doll, Happiness and Meet Mister Future. Their scores have been nominated for Tony and Drama Desk Awards, received The Outer Critics Circle Award and have been produced on Broadway, Playwrights Horizons, Lincoln Center Theater, throughout the U.S., in Europe and South America. War Paint reunites them with playwright Doug Wright who wrote the book to Grey Gardens, which premiered earlier this year in London and opens in Los Angeles this summer. Mr. Korie’s original librettos to operas composed by Stewart Wallace include Where’s Dick?, Kabbalah, Hopper’s Wife and Harvey Milk. He adapted John Steinbeck’s novel for the libretto to The Grapes of Wrath, composed by Ricky Ian Gordon. His opera work has been produced at San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Minnesota Opera, New York City Opera, BAM Next Wave Festival, Carnegie Hall and Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Concert Hall. Mr. Korie collaborated with co-lyricist Amy Powers on lyrics to the musical Doctor Zhivago, composed by Lucy Simon and produced in Australia, Korea, Scandinavia and on Broadway in 2015. Mr. Korie has enjoyed collaborations with other playwrights including Richard Greenberg, Michael Weller and John Weidman, and with directors Michael Greif, Des McAnuff, Christopher Alden, Susan Stroman and Richard Foreman. For his work in both musical theater and opera, Mr. Korie received this year’s Marc Blitzstein Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His lyrics have received the Edward Kleban Prize, Jonathan Larson Award and the ASCAP Richard Rodgers Award. He serves on the council of The Dramatists Guild, chairs the Opera Librettists Committee and moderates the musical theater division of the Dramatist Guild Fund Fellows Program. He teaches lyric writing at Yale University. MichaelKorie.com