David Shire
Encyclopedia
David Lee Shire is an American
songwriter
and the composer
of stage musicals
, film and television scores
. The soundtrack to the movie The Taking of Pelham 123 and parts of the Saturday Night Fever
soundtrack such as Night on Disco Mountain, an adaptation of Modest Mussorgsky
's Night on Bald Mountain
, are some of his best known works. His other work includes the score of the 1985 film, Return to Oz
, the "sequel-in-part" of The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
. Shire is married to actress Didi Conn
.
, the son of Esther Miriam (née
Sheinberg) and Buffalo society band leader and piano teacher Irving Daniel Shire. He met his long-time theater collaborator lyricist/director Richard Maltby, Jr.
at Yale University
, where they wrote two musicals, Cyrano and Grand Tour, which were produced by the Yale Dramatic Association
. Shire also co-fronted a jazz
group at school, the Shire-Fogg Quintet, and was a Phi Beta Kappa honors student, with a double major in English and music. He was a member of the Pundits and Elihu
and he graduated magna cum laude in 1959.
After a semester of graduate work at Brandeis University
(where he was the first Eddie Fisher Fellow) and six months in the National Guard
infantry
, Shire took up residence in New York City
, working as a dance class pianist, theater rehearsal and pit pianist, and society band musician while constantly working with Maltby on musicals. Their first off-Broadway
show, The Sap of Life, was produced in 1961 at One Sheridan Square Theater in Greenwich Village
.
s in the early 1970s. He was married to actress Talia Shire
, for whose brother Francis Ford Coppola
he scored The Conversation
, perhaps his best known score, in 1974. Additional screen credits include Two People
, All the President's Men
, The Hindenburg, Farewell My Lovely, The Taking of Pelham One-Two-Three, 2010, Return to Oz
, Max Dugan Returns
(a Neil Simon write) and Zodiac
. He composed original music for Saturday Night Fever
(for which he received two Grammy Award
nominations), and also worked on several disco adaptations including "Night on Disco Mountain
." He won the Academy Award for Best Song for his and Norman Gimble's theme song for Norma Rae
, "It Goes Like It Goes
". He was also nominated the same year in the same category for "The Promise (I'll Never Say Goodbye)" from the motion picture The Promise
, with lyrics by Marilyn
and Alan Bergman
. In 1981 his song "With You I'm Born Again," recorded by Billy Preston
and Syreeta
, was a top five international hit and stayed on the pop charts for 26 weeks.
The Conversation
featured an austere score for piano. On some cues Shire took the taped sounds of the piano and distorted them in different ways to create alternative sonic textures to round out the score. The music is intended to capture the isolation and paranoia of protagonist Harry Caul (Gene Hackman
). The score was released on CD by Intrada Records
.
For The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, Shire used serial techniques and a funky jazz-rock rhythm section for the main theme. It is intended to evoke the bustle and diversity of New York City
, and is an unofficial theme for the 6 subway line
(the local Lexington Avenue Line
that is depicted in the film). The soundtrack album was the first ever CD release by Film Score Monthly
. The end titles contain a more expansive arrangement of the theme. Shire received two Grammy nominations for his work on the film.
Shire's television scores have earned five Emmy
nominations. His hundreds of scores for television include Sarah, Plain and Tall
, Raid on Entebbe
, The Kennedys of Massachusetts, Serving in Silence, Christopher Reeve's Rear Window, Oprah Winfrey's The Women of Brewster Place
, and The Heidi Chronicles
. He also composed themes for the television series Alice
and McCloud.
His film and television scoring style is often compared to mostly his late counterpart Jerry Fielding
.
and Funny Girl, eventually serving as Barbra Streisand
’s accompanist for several years. He also intermittently conducted and arranged for her (most notably for her television specials Color Me Barbra
and The Belle of Fourteenth Street), and over a period of several years she recorded five of his songs.
Shire's musical theatre work, always in collaboration with lyricist Richard Maltby, Jr.
includes the two off-Broadway reviews Starting Here, Starting Now
(Grammy
nomination for Best Cast Album
) and Closer Than Ever
(Outer Critic's Circle Award for Best Musical) and the two Broadway shows Baby
(Tony
nominations for Best Musical
and Best Score
) and Big (Tony nomination for Best Score). All of these shows have had hundreds of regional and stock productions worldwide. A new musical entitled Take Flight
premiered in London at the Menier Chocolate Factory
in July 2007, with a separate production in Tokyo in November 2007. Previously concert versions were performed in Australia and Russia.
He recently completed A Stream of Voices, a one-act opera, with libretto by Gene Scheer, for the Colorado Children's Chorale, which is scheduled to premiere in June 2008 in Denver.
, Melissa Manchester
, Maureen McGovern
, Johnny Mathis
, Billy Preston
, Jennifer Warnes
, John Pizzarelli
and Pearl Bailey
, among many others. He co-wrote with David Pomerantz "In Our Hands", the theme song for the United Nations World Summit for Children. He has also written individual songs with lyricists Sheldon Harnick
("Everlasting Light") and Ed Kleban.
Either for his film scores or for pop concerts of his music, he has conducted many orchestras, including The London Symphony Orchestra
, The Los Angeles Philharmonic
, The San Francisco Opera
Orchestra, The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (2007) Irish Film Orchestra, and the Munich Symphony.
He also wrote and composed many songs for the hit PBS
children's TV series Shining Time Station
, which starred his wife Didi Conn
along with actor Brian O'Connor
and comedian George Carlin
.
He serves on the council of the Dramatists Guild of America
and is a Trustee of the Rockland Conservatory of Music and the Palisades (New York) Library.
David Lee Shire was inducted into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame in 2006.
since 1982; they have a son named Daniel who has been diagnosed with autism
. He also has a son, screenwriter Matthew Shire, with ex-wife Talia Shire
.
Off-Broadway (selected)
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
and the composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
of stage musicals
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
, film and television scores
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
. The soundtrack to the movie The Taking of Pelham 123 and parts of the Saturday Night Fever
Saturday Night Fever
Saturday Night Fever is a 1977 drama film directed by John Badham and starring: John Travolta as Tony Manero, an immature young man whose weekends are spent visiting a local Brooklyn discothèque; Karen Lynn Gorney as his dance partner and eventual friend; and Donna Pescow as Tony's former dance...
soundtrack such as Night on Disco Mountain, an adaptation of Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky was a Russian composer, one of the group known as 'The Five'. He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period...
's Night on Bald Mountain
Night on Bald Mountain
Night on Bald Mountain is a composition by Modest Mussorgsky that exists in, at least, two versions—a seldom performed 1867 version or a later and very popular "fantasy for orchestra" arranged by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, A Night on the Bare Mountain , based on the vocal score of the "Dream Vision...
, are some of his best known works. His other work includes the score of the 1985 film, Return to Oz
Return to Oz
Return to Oz is a 1985 film which is an unofficial sequel to Victor Fleming's The Wizard of Oz. The film is based on the second and third Oz books, The Marvelous Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz...
, the "sequel-in-part" of The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
. Shire is married to actress Didi Conn
Didi Conn
Didi Conn is an American film, stage and television actress.-Personal life:Conn was born in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of a clinical psychologist. "Didi" was her childhood nickname...
.
Education and early career
Shire was born in Buffalo, New YorkBuffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
, the son of Esther Miriam (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Sheinberg) and Buffalo society band leader and piano teacher Irving Daniel Shire. He met his long-time theater collaborator lyricist/director Richard Maltby, Jr.
Richard Maltby, Jr.
Richard Eldridge Maltby, Jr. is an American theatre director and producer, lyricist, and screenwriter. He is also well known as a constructor of cryptic crossword puzzles. He has done this for Harper's Magazine, sometimes in collaboration with E. R...
at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, where they wrote two musicals, Cyrano and Grand Tour, which were produced by the Yale Dramatic Association
Yale Dramatic Association
The Yale Dramatic Association, also known as the "Dramat," is the second-oldest college theater company in the country. Founded in 1900 by undergraduates at Yale University, the Dramat has been producing some of the finest student theatre in the United States for over a century.Though no formal...
. Shire also co-fronted a jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
group at school, the Shire-Fogg Quintet, and was a Phi Beta Kappa honors student, with a double major in English and music. He was a member of the Pundits and Elihu
Elihu (secret society)
Elihu, founded in 1903, is the sixth oldest secret society at Yale University, New Haven, CT. While similar to Skull and Bones, Scroll and Key and Wolf's Head societies in charter and function, Elihu favors privacy over overt secrecy...
and he graduated magna cum laude in 1959.
After a semester of graduate work at Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
(where he was the first Eddie Fisher Fellow) and six months in the National Guard
United States National Guard
The National Guard of the United States is a reserve military force composed of state National Guard militia members or units under federally recognized active or inactive armed force service for the United States. Militia members are citizen soldiers, meaning they work part time for the National...
infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
, Shire took up residence in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, working as a dance class pianist, theater rehearsal and pit pianist, and society band musician while constantly working with Maltby on musicals. Their first off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
show, The Sap of Life, was produced in 1961 at One Sheridan Square Theater in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
.
Film and television scoring
Shire began scoring for television in the 1960s and made the leap to scoring feature filmFeature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
s in the early 1970s. He was married to actress Talia Shire
Talia Shire
Talia Shire is an American actress most known for her roles as Connie Corleone in The Godfather films and Adrian Balboa in the Rocky series.-Personal life:...
, for whose brother Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
he scored The Conversation
The Conversation
The Conversation is a 1974 American psychological thriller film written, produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gene Hackman...
, perhaps his best known score, in 1974. Additional screen credits include Two People
Two People (film)
Two People is a 1973 American drama film produced and directed by Robert Wise. It stars Peter Fonda and Lindsay Wagner. The screenplay by Richard De Roy focuses on the brief relationship shared by a Vietnam War deserter and a fashion model.-Plot:...
, All the President's Men
All the President's Men (film)
All the President's Men is a 1976 Academy Award-winning political thriller film based on the 1974 non-fiction book of the same name by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the two journalists investigating the Watergate scandal for The Washington Post...
, The Hindenburg, Farewell My Lovely, The Taking of Pelham One-Two-Three, 2010, Return to Oz
Return to Oz
Return to Oz is a 1985 film which is an unofficial sequel to Victor Fleming's The Wizard of Oz. The film is based on the second and third Oz books, The Marvelous Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz...
, Max Dugan Returns
Max Dugan Returns
Max Dugan Returns is a 1983 American comedy-drama film starring Jason Robards as the titular Max Dugan, Marsha Mason as his daughter Nora, Donald Sutherland, Kiefer Sutherland, and Matthew Broderick as grandson Michael...
(a Neil Simon write) and Zodiac
Zodiac (film)
Zodiac is a 2007 American mystery-thriller film directed by David Fincher and based on Robert Graysmith's non-fiction book of the same name. The Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros...
. He composed original music for Saturday Night Fever
Saturday Night Fever
Saturday Night Fever is a 1977 drama film directed by John Badham and starring: John Travolta as Tony Manero, an immature young man whose weekends are spent visiting a local Brooklyn discothèque; Karen Lynn Gorney as his dance partner and eventual friend; and Donna Pescow as Tony's former dance...
(for which he received two Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nominations), and also worked on several disco adaptations including "Night on Disco Mountain
Night on Bald Mountain
Night on Bald Mountain is a composition by Modest Mussorgsky that exists in, at least, two versions—a seldom performed 1867 version or a later and very popular "fantasy for orchestra" arranged by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, A Night on the Bare Mountain , based on the vocal score of the "Dream Vision...
." He won the Academy Award for Best Song for his and Norman Gimble's theme song for Norma Rae
Norma Rae
Norma Rae is a 1979 American drama film that tells the story of a factory worker from a small town in North Carolina, who becomes involved in the labor union activities at the textile factory where she works...
, "It Goes Like It Goes
It Goes Like It Goes
"It Goes Like It Goes" is a song written by David Shire and Norman Gimbel. It was sung by Jennifer Warnes for the Norma Rae soundtrack in 1979...
". He was also nominated the same year in the same category for "The Promise (I'll Never Say Goodbye)" from the motion picture The Promise
The Promise (1979 film)
The Promise is a 1979 film, released by was a Universal Pictures, which starred Kathleen Quinlan, Stephen Collins, and Beatrice Straight. It was directed by Gilbert Cates and produced by Fred Weintraub and Paul Heller...
, with lyrics by Marilyn
Marilyn Bergman
Marilyn Bergman is a composer, songwriter and author.She was born Marilyn Keith in Brooklyn, New York and studied psychology and English at New York University...
and Alan Bergman
Alan Bergman
Alan Bergman is an American lyricist and songwriter.-Life & career:Born in Brooklyn, New York, he studied at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UCLA. His involvement in the entertainment industry began in the early 1950s as a director of children's television shows...
. In 1981 his song "With You I'm Born Again," recorded by Billy Preston
Billy Preston
William Everett "Billy" Preston was a musician who gained notoriety and fame, first as a session musician for the likes of Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and The Beatles, and later finding fame as a solo artist with hits such as "Space Race", "Will It Go Round in Circles" and "Nothing from...
and Syreeta
Syreeta Wright
Syreeta Wright , who recorded professionally under the single name Syreeta, was a Grammy-nominated American singer-songwriter most notably known for her work with Stevie Wonder and Billy Preston.-Early life and career:...
, was a top five international hit and stayed on the pop charts for 26 weeks.
The Conversation
The Conversation
The Conversation is a 1974 American psychological thriller film written, produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gene Hackman...
featured an austere score for piano. On some cues Shire took the taped sounds of the piano and distorted them in different ways to create alternative sonic textures to round out the score. The music is intended to capture the isolation and paranoia of protagonist Harry Caul (Gene Hackman
Gene Hackman
Eugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde...
). The score was released on CD by Intrada Records
Intrada Records
Intrada Records is an American record company based in Oakland, California. Intrada Records is an American record company based in Oakland, California. Intrada Records is an American record company based in Oakland, California...
.
For The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, Shire used serial techniques and a funky jazz-rock rhythm section for the main theme. It is intended to evoke the bustle and diversity of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and is an unofficial theme for the 6 subway line
6 (New York City Subway service)
The 6 Lexington Avenue and Pelham Local and Lexington Avenue Local and Pelham Express are two rapid transit services of the New York City Subway. The 6 local has a circle shape while the ' express has a diamond shape...
(the local Lexington Avenue Line
IRT Lexington Avenue Line
The Lexington Avenue Line is one of the lines of the IRT division of the New York City Subway, stretching from Downtown Brooklyn or Lower Manhattan north to 125th Street in East Harlem. The portion in Lower and Midtown Manhattan was part of the first subway line in New York...
that is depicted in the film). The soundtrack album was the first ever CD release by Film Score Monthly
Film Score Monthly
Film Score Monthly is an online magazine founded by editor-in-chief and executive producer Lukas Kendall in June 1990 as The Soundtrack Correspondence List...
. The end titles contain a more expansive arrangement of the theme. Shire received two Grammy nominations for his work on the film.
Shire's television scores have earned five Emmy
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
nominations. His hundreds of scores for television include Sarah, Plain and Tall
Sarah, Plain and Tall
Sarah, Plain and Tall is a children's book written by Patricia MacLachlan, and the winner of the 1986 Newbery Medal and the 1986 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. It explores themes of loneliness, abandonment, and coping with change....
, Raid on Entebbe
Raid on Entebbe (film)
Raid on Entebbe is a 1977 TV movie directed by Irvin Kershner. It is based on an actual event: Operation Entebbe and the freeing of hostages at Entebbe Airport in Entebbe, Uganda on July 4, 1976. It was the last movie to be released featuring Academy Award-winning actor Peter Finch who died just...
, The Kennedys of Massachusetts, Serving in Silence, Christopher Reeve's Rear Window, Oprah Winfrey's The Women of Brewster Place
The Women of Brewster Place (1989 television)
The Women of Brewster Place is a TV miniseries that aired on March 19,1989 & March 20,1989 on ABC. The miniseries is based upon the 1982 novel by Gloria Naylor. It was produced by Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions with a teleplay by Karen Hall...
, and The Heidi Chronicles
The Heidi Chronicles (film)
The Heidi Chronicles is a 1995 made-for-television film by Wendy Wasserstein adapted from her play of the same name.-Cast :*Jamie Lee Curtis - Heidi Holland*Tom Hulce - Peter Patrone*Peter Friedman - Scoop Rosenbaum*Kim Cattrall - Susan...
. He also composed themes for the television series Alice
Alice (TV series)
Alice is an American sitcom television series that ran from August 31, 1976 to July 2, 1985 on CBS. The series was based on the 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. The show stars Linda Lavin in the title role, a widow who moves with her young son to start her life over again, and finds a job...
and McCloud.
His film and television scoring style is often compared to mostly his late counterpart Jerry Fielding
Jerry Fielding
Jerry Fielding was an American radio, record, film and television composer, conductor, and musical director.-Childhood and education:...
.
Musical theatre
As a pit pianist, Shire played for the original productions of both The FantasticksThe Fantasticks
The Fantasticks is a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones. It was produced by Lore Noto. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the play "The Romancers" by Edmond Rostand, concerning two neighboring fathers who trick their children, Luisa and Matt, into...
and Funny Girl, eventually serving as Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
’s accompanist for several years. He also intermittently conducted and arranged for her (most notably for her television specials Color Me Barbra
Color Me Barbra
Color Me Barbra is the title of the seventh studio album by singer Barbra Streisand released on Columbia Records in 1966. It reached #3 in the US albums charts and was certified GOLD by the RIAA...
and The Belle of Fourteenth Street), and over a period of several years she recorded five of his songs.
Shire's musical theatre work, always in collaboration with lyricist Richard Maltby, Jr.
Richard Maltby, Jr.
Richard Eldridge Maltby, Jr. is an American theatre director and producer, lyricist, and screenwriter. He is also well known as a constructor of cryptic crossword puzzles. He has done this for Harper's Magazine, sometimes in collaboration with E. R...
includes the two off-Broadway reviews Starting Here, Starting Now
Starting Here, Starting Now
Starting Here, Starting Now is a musical revue with lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr. and music by David Shire. With a cast of three and three musicians, the revue explores a variety of romantic relationships....
(Grammy
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nomination for Best Cast Album
Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album
The Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album has been awarded since 1959. The award was given only to the album producer, and to the composer and lyricist who wrote at least 51% of the music which had not been recorded previously....
) and Closer Than Ever
Closer Than Ever
Closer Than Ever is a musical revue in two acts, with words by Richard Maltby, Jr. and music by David Shire. The revue contains no dialogue, and Maltby and Shire have described this show as a "bookless book musical"...
(Outer Critic's Circle Award for Best Musical) and the two Broadway shows Baby
Baby (musical)
Baby is a musical with a book by Sybille Pearson, based on a story developed with Susan Yankowitz, music by David Shire, and lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr.. It concerns the reactions of three couples each expecting a child. The musical first ran on Broadway from 1983 to 1984.-Synopsis:Three...
(Tony
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nominations for Best Musical
Tony Award for Best Musical
This is a list of winners and nominations for the Tony Award for Best Musical, first awarded in 1949. This award is presented to the producers of the musical.-1940s:* 1949: Kiss Me, Kate – Music and lyrics by Cole Porter, book by Samuel and Bella Spewack...
and Best Score
Tony Award for Best Original Score
The Tony Award for Best Original Score is the Tony Award given to the composers and lyricists of the best original score written for a musical in that year. The score consists of music and lyrics...
) and Big (Tony nomination for Best Score). All of these shows have had hundreds of regional and stock productions worldwide. A new musical entitled Take Flight
Take Flight (musical)
Take Flight is a musical with book by John Weidman, music by David Shire and lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr.. The musical is inspired by the early history of aviation, interweaving the lives of the Wright Brothers, Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart and her publisher George Putnam, along with such...
premiered in London at the Menier Chocolate Factory
Menier Chocolate Factory
The Menier Chocolate Factory is an award-winning 180 seat fringe studio theatre, restaurant and gallery. It is located in a former 1870s Menier Chocolate Company factory in Southwark Street, a major street in the London Borough of Southwark, central south London, England. The theatre stages plays...
in July 2007, with a separate production in Tokyo in November 2007. Previously concert versions were performed in Australia and Russia.
He recently completed A Stream of Voices, a one-act opera, with libretto by Gene Scheer, for the Colorado Children's Chorale, which is scheduled to premiere in June 2008 in Denver.
Miscellaneous
Shire's individual songs have been recorded by Barbra StreisandBarbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
, Melissa Manchester
Melissa Manchester
Melissa Manchester is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Beginning in the 1970s, she has recorded generally in the adult contemporary genre. She has also appeared as an actress on television, in films, and on stage....
, Maureen McGovern
Maureen McGovern
Maureen Therese McGovern is an American singer and Broadway actress, well known for her premier renditions of the Oscar winning songs "The Morning After" from the 1972 film The Poseidon Adventure, and "We May Never Love Like This Again" from The Towering Inferno in 1974.-Early life:McGovern was...
, Johnny Mathis
Johnny Mathis
John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...
, Billy Preston
Billy Preston
William Everett "Billy" Preston was a musician who gained notoriety and fame, first as a session musician for the likes of Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and The Beatles, and later finding fame as a solo artist with hits such as "Space Race", "Will It Go Round in Circles" and "Nothing from...
, Jennifer Warnes
Jennifer Warnes
Jennifer Jean Warnes is an American singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer. She is known for her interpretations of compositions written by herself and many others, as well as an extensive playlist as a vocalist on movie soundtracks.Between 1979 and 1987 Warnes surpassed Frank Sinatra as...
, John Pizzarelli
John Pizzarelli
John Paul Pizzarelli, Jr. is an American jazz guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and bandleader. He has had a lengthy career as a recording artist, performing for a variety of labels that include Telarc Records, RCA Records and Chesky Records, among others...
and Pearl Bailey
Pearl Bailey
Pearl Mae Bailey was an American actress and singer. After appearing in vaudeville, she made her Broadway debut in St. Louis Woman in 1946. She won a Tony Award for the title role in the all-black production of Hello, Dolly! in 1968...
, among many others. He co-wrote with David Pomerantz "In Our Hands", the theme song for the United Nations World Summit for Children. He has also written individual songs with lyricists Sheldon Harnick
Sheldon Harnick
Sheldon Harnick is an American lyricist best known for his collaborations with composer Jerry Bock on hit musicals such as Fiddler on the Roof....
("Everlasting Light") and Ed Kleban.
Either for his film scores or for pop concerts of his music, he has conducted many orchestras, including The London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
, The Los Angeles Philharmonic
Los Angeles Philharmonic
The Los Angeles Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from July through September...
, The San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America...
Orchestra, The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (2007) Irish Film Orchestra, and the Munich Symphony.
He also wrote and composed many songs for the hit PBS
Public Broadcast Service
The Public Broadcast Service is a government-owned educational radio and television broadcast service located in Barbados. Public Broadcast Service owns a radio station, 91.1FM and its television programming will be introduced in 2009....
children's TV series Shining Time Station
Shining Time Station
Shining Time Station is an American children's television series co-created by Britt Allcroft and Rick Siggelkow. The series was produced by The Britt Allcroft Company and Quality Family Entertainment in New York for New York City PBS Station WNET, and was filmed first in New York and then in Toronto...
, which starred his wife Didi Conn
Didi Conn
Didi Conn is an American film, stage and television actress.-Personal life:Conn was born in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of a clinical psychologist. "Didi" was her childhood nickname...
along with actor Brian O'Connor
Brian O'Connor
Brian O'Connor may refer to:*Brian O'Connor , head coach of the University of Virginia baseball team*Brian O'Connor , bassist for rock band Eagles of Death Metal*Brian O'Connor , Queensland opening bowler of the 1930s....
and comedian George Carlin
George Carlin
George Denis Patrick Carlin was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor and author, who won five Grammy Awards for his comedy albums....
.
He serves on the council of the Dramatists Guild of America
Dramatists Guild of America
The Dramatists Guild of America is a professional organization for playwrights, composers, and lyricists working in the U.S. theatre market.Membership as an Associate Member is open to any person having written at least one stage play. Active Members are playwrights who have had at least one play...
and is a Trustee of the Rockland Conservatory of Music and the Palisades (New York) Library.
David Lee Shire was inducted into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame in 2006.
Personal
Shire has been married to actress Didi ConnDidi Conn
Didi Conn is an American film, stage and television actress.-Personal life:Conn was born in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of a clinical psychologist. "Didi" was her childhood nickname...
since 1982; they have a son named Daniel who has been diagnosed with autism
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
. He also has a son, screenwriter Matthew Shire, with ex-wife Talia Shire
Talia Shire
Talia Shire is an American actress most known for her roles as Connie Corleone in The Godfather films and Adrian Balboa in the Rocky series.-Personal life:...
.
Theatre credits
Broadway- The Unknown Soldier and His Wife - incidental music
- Anyone Can WhistleAnyone Can WhistleAnyone Can Whistle is a musical with a book by Arthur Laurents and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The story concerns a corrupt mayoress, an idealistic nurse, a man who may be a doctor, and various officials, patients and townspeople, all fighting to save a bankrupt town...
- rehearsal pianist - Funny Girl - pit pianist and assistant conductor
- Love Match - composer
- Baby - composer - Tony Award for Best Original ScoreTony Award for Best Original ScoreThe Tony Award for Best Original Score is the Tony Award given to the composers and lyricists of the best original score written for a musical in that year. The score consists of music and lyrics...
nomination - CompanyCompany (musical)Company is a musical with a book by George Furth and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The original production was nominated for a record-setting fourteen Tony Awards and won six....
- danceDanceDance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
music arrangerArrangementThe American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents... - Big - composer - Tony Award for Best Original Score nomination; Drama Desk AwardDrama Desk AwardThe Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
for Outstanding Music nomination - Saturday Night FeverSaturday Night Fever (musical)This is an article about the stage musical. For the article on the 1977 film, see Saturday Night FeverSaturday Night Fever is a musical with a book by Nan Knighton and music and lyrics by the Bee Gees.Based on Nik Cohn's 1975 New York Magazine article "Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night" and...
- songwriter of "Manhattan Skyline," "Salsation," and "Night on Disco Mountain"
Off-Broadway (selected)
- Graham Crackers (1963)
- As You Like ItAs You Like ItAs You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
(1973) - Starting Here, Starting NowStarting Here, Starting NowStarting Here, Starting Now is a musical revue with lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr. and music by David Shire. With a cast of three and three musicians, the revue explores a variety of romantic relationships....
(1977) - Urban Blight (1988)
- Closer Than EverCloser Than EverCloser Than Ever is a musical revue in two acts, with words by Richard Maltby, Jr. and music by David Shire. The revue contains no dialogue, and Maltby and Shire have described this show as a "bookless book musical"...
(1989) (Outer Critics Circle AwardOuter Critics Circle AwardThe Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on and Off-Broadway and were begun during the 1949-1950 theater season. The awards are decided upon by theater critics who review for out-of-town newspapers, national publications, and other media outlets...
winner) - Smulnik's Waltz (1991)
- The Loman Family Picnic (1993)
- Visiting Mr. Green (1997)
Notable songs
- "With You I'm Born Again" - lyrics by Carol ConnorsCarol Connors (singer)Carol Connors is a retired American singer-songwriter. She is perhaps best known as the lead vocalist on The Teddy Bears' single, "To Know Him Is To Love Him", which was written by her bandmate Phil Spector.-Biography:She was the lead singer of the pop vocal trio known as The Teddy Bears, which...
- international chart hit by Billy Preston and Syreeta - "Starting Here, Starting Now;" "Autumn" - lyrics by Richard Maltby - recorded by Barbra Streisand
- "What About Today," "The Morning After" - music and lyrics - recorded by Streisand
- "The Promise (I'll Never Say Goodbye)" (Academy Award nominee) - lyrics by AlanAlan BergmanAlan Bergman is an American lyricist and songwriter.-Life & career:Born in Brooklyn, New York, he studied at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UCLA. His involvement in the entertainment industry began in the early 1950s as a director of children's television shows...
and Marilyn BergmanMarilyn BergmanMarilyn Bergman is a composer, songwriter and author.She was born Marilyn Keith in Brooklyn, New York and studied psychology and English at New York University...
- recorded by Melissa Manchester - "It Goes Like It GoesIt Goes Like It Goes"It Goes Like It Goes" is a song written by David Shire and Norman Gimbel. It was sung by Jennifer Warnes for the Norma Rae soundtrack in 1979...
" - lyrics by Norman GimbelNorman GimbelNorman Gimbel is an American lyricist of popular songs, television and movie themes whose writing career includes such titles as "Sway", "Canadian Sunset", "Summer Samba", "The Girl from Ipanema", "Killing Me Softly With His Song", "Meditation" and "I Will Wait for You", along with an Oscar for...
- recorded by Jennifer WarnesJennifer WarnesJennifer Jean Warnes is an American singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer. She is known for her interpretations of compositions written by herself and many others, as well as an extensive playlist as a vocalist on movie soundtracks.Between 1979 and 1987 Warnes surpassed Frank Sinatra as...
- (Academy Award winner) - "Coffee, Black" - lyrics by Maltby - recorded by John Pizzarelli
- "Washington SquareWashington Square (song)"Washington Square" is the title of a popular instrumental from 1963 by the New York City-based jazz group The Village Stompers.Named after the famous park in New York City, "Washington Square" became a hit single in November 1963, when it peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The...
" - words and music (with Bob Goldstein) - recorded by The Village StompersThe Village StompersThe Village Stompers was a U.S. dixieland music group with the hit "Washington Square" in 1963. The band was known for its instrumental pieces....
External links
- Personal Website
- David Shire at the Internet Broadway DatabaseInternet Broadway DatabaseThe Internet Broadway Database is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. It is operated by the Research Department of The Broadway League, a trade association for the North American commercial theatre community....
- Board of Advisors, The Buffalo Film Festival, Buffalo, NY, United States