James Valcq
Encyclopedia
James Valcq is an American musical theatre composer, lyricist, and librettist.
and Ira Weitzman, who co-produced the 2001 Off-Broadway
production of The Spitfire Grill
for which Valcq composed the score and collaborated on the book with lyricist Fred Alley
. The musical won the Richard Rodgers Production Awardhttp://www.artsandletters.org/index.php?page=award_display&called_award=Rodgers&sort_by=last_name&award_name=Richard%20Rodgers%20Awards%20for%20Musical%20Theater presented by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Stephen Sondheim
chairs the committee that chose the The Spitfire Grill as the winner. The remainder of the group comprised Lynn Ahrens
, Jack Beeson
, John Guare
, Sheldon Harnick
, R. W. B. Lewis
, Richard Maltby, Jr.
, and Robert Ward. The Spitfire Grill also received Best Musical nominations from the Outer Critics Circle
and Drama League
, as well as two Drama Desk nominations. The cast album was released on Triangle Road Records.
Also Off-Broadway
, Valcq wrote the book, music, and lyrics for Zombies from The Beyond
, which opened to great critical acclaim in 1995. He also co-directed the production. The cast album was released by Original Cast Records. Both The Spitfire Grill
and Zombies from The Beyond
have become staples in regional theatres, particularly The Spitfire Grill
, one of the most frequently performed recent musicals with more than 350 productions to date, not only in every major American city but in Canada
, Germany
, South Korea
, Australia
, and Japan
as well. The Spitfire Grill
had its UK premiere at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival Fringe in a production by the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama
.
Other New York credits include Fallout Follies at the York Theatre
, Songs I Never Sang For My Father at the Village Theatre, and The Last Leaf, a collaboration with Tony
-nominee Mary Bracken Phillips. Regionally, Valcq composed an adaptation of the classic children’s book The Pancake King commissioned by Milwaukee’s Next Act Theatre, and The Passage (another collaboration with Fred Alley
) at American Folklore Theatre
in Wisconsin
.
His music is often cited as being particularly melodic, strikingly rhythmic, and possessing harmonic and structural subtleties that reveal the composer’s classical training without affecting the accessibility of his material. Also of particular note is that the instruments in Valcq’s orchestrations often seem to become characters in the story.
In addition to orchestrating his own music (a rarity in the theatre), he has created orchestrations of classic musicals for many regional theatres and opera companies. Valcq is also a conductor and musician with Broadway
credits including Chicago
, Flower Drum Song
, Scarlet Pimpernel
, and Cabaret
.
He holds an MFA from NYU’s Musical Theatre Program and a BFA (on full scholarship) from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
. Valcq began his professional career as a boy soprano
singing in Alban Berg
's Wozzeck
with the Skylight Comic Opera
and Amahl and the Night Visitors
several times with the Milwaukee Opera Company. For the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
, he sang George Crumb
's Ancient Voices of Children
under conductor Arthur Weisberg
and under Kenneth Schermerhorn
for Pro Musica Nova. He also played roles in summer stock
, appearing with John Raitt
, Karen Morrow
, Margaret Whiting
, and Dave Madden
in various productions. At age 19, he won First Place in the Student Auditions of the National Association of Teachers of Singing
. He performed Morton Gould
's Hoofer Suite (a ten-minute solo for tap dancer and orchestra) with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
under the baton of JoAnn Falletta
. Valcq began composing while still in college, and although he graduated with an applied voice degree, by this time he had abandoned performing to concentrate on composing and conducting. In addition to musicals, Valcq has composed song cycles and choral pieces which have been performed in the U.S. and Europe
.
Biography
Valcq is among the “new guard” of theatre composers championed by Playwrights HorizonsPlaywrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work....
and Ira Weitzman, who co-produced the 2001 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...
production of The Spitfire Grill
The Spitfire Grill (musical)
The Spitfire Grill is an American musical with music and book by James Valcq and lyrics and book by Fred Alley, based on the film by Lee David Zlotoff. The Off-Broadway production by Playwrights Horizons began previews at the Duke Theatre on 42nd Street on September 7, 2001 and concluded its...
for which Valcq composed the score and collaborated on the book with lyricist Fred Alley
Fred Alley
Fred Alley was an American musical theatre lyricist and librettist who died unexpectedly just as his work gained national recognition. His collaboration on the musical The Spitfire Grill with composer James Valcq won the American Academy of Arts and Letters' prestigious Richard Rodgers Production...
. The musical won the Richard Rodgers Production Awardhttp://www.artsandletters.org/index.php?page=award_display&called_award=Rodgers&sort_by=last_name&award_name=Richard%20Rodgers%20Awards%20for%20Musical%20Theater presented by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
chairs the committee that chose the The Spitfire Grill as the winner. The remainder of the group comprised Lynn Ahrens
Lynn Ahrens
Lynn Ahrens is an American writer and lyricist for the musical theatre, television and film. She has collaborated with Stephen Flaherty for many years...
, Jack Beeson
Jack Beeson
Jack Beeson was an American composer. He was known particularly for his operas, the best known of which are Lizzie Borden, Hello Out There! and The Sweet Bye and Bye.-Biography:...
, John Guare
John Guare
John Guare is an American playwright. He is best known as the author of The House of Blue Leaves, Six Degrees of Separation, and Landscape of the Body...
, 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....
, R. W. B. Lewis
R. W. B. Lewis
Richard Warrington Baldwin Lewis was an American literary scholar and critic. He gained a wider reputation when he won a 1976 Pulitzer Prize for biography, the first National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction, and a Bancroft Prize for his biography of Edith Wharton...
, 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...
, and Robert Ward. The Spitfire Grill also received Best Musical nominations from the Outer Critics Circle
Outer Critics Circle Award
The 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...
and Drama League
Drama League Award
The Drama League Awards, created in 1935, honor distinguished productions and performances both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, in addition to recognizing exemplary career achievements in theatre, musical theatre, and directing...
, as well as two Drama Desk nominations. The cast album was released on Triangle Road Records.
Also 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...
, Valcq wrote the book, music, and lyrics for Zombies from The Beyond
Zombies from The Beyond
Zombies from The Beyond is an American musical comedy with book, music, and lyrics by James Valcq. It opened Off-Broadway on October 11, 1995 at the Players Theatre. The show examines American ideals and foibles during the era of President Dwight D...
, which opened to great critical acclaim in 1995. He also co-directed the production. The cast album was released by Original Cast Records. Both The Spitfire Grill
The Spitfire Grill (musical)
The Spitfire Grill is an American musical with music and book by James Valcq and lyrics and book by Fred Alley, based on the film by Lee David Zlotoff. The Off-Broadway production by Playwrights Horizons began previews at the Duke Theatre on 42nd Street on September 7, 2001 and concluded its...
and Zombies from The Beyond
Zombies from The Beyond
Zombies from The Beyond is an American musical comedy with book, music, and lyrics by James Valcq. It opened Off-Broadway on October 11, 1995 at the Players Theatre. The show examines American ideals and foibles during the era of President Dwight D...
have become staples in regional theatres, particularly The Spitfire Grill
The Spitfire Grill (musical)
The Spitfire Grill is an American musical with music and book by James Valcq and lyrics and book by Fred Alley, based on the film by Lee David Zlotoff. The Off-Broadway production by Playwrights Horizons began previews at the Duke Theatre on 42nd Street on September 7, 2001 and concluded its...
, one of the most frequently performed recent musicals with more than 350 productions to date, not only in every major American city but in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
as well. The Spitfire Grill
The Spitfire Grill (musical)
The Spitfire Grill is an American musical with music and book by James Valcq and lyrics and book by Fred Alley, based on the film by Lee David Zlotoff. The Off-Broadway production by Playwrights Horizons began previews at the Duke Theatre on 42nd Street on September 7, 2001 and concluded its...
had its UK premiere at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival Fringe in a production by the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama
Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama
The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland is a conservatoire of music, drama, and dance in the centre of Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1845 as the Glasgow Educational Association, it is the busiest performing arts venue in Scotland...
.
Other New York credits include Fallout Follies at the York Theatre
York Theatre
The York Theatre is an Off-Broadway theatre at 619 Lexington Avenue at the corner of 54th Street in the East Midtown section of Manhattan, New York City. It is dedicated to the production of new musicals and concert productions of forgotten musicals from the past. Each season consists of three or...
, Songs I Never Sang For My Father at the Village Theatre, and The Last Leaf, a collaboration with 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...
-nominee Mary Bracken Phillips. Regionally, Valcq composed an adaptation of the classic children’s book The Pancake King commissioned by Milwaukee’s Next Act Theatre, and The Passage (another collaboration with Fred Alley
Fred Alley
Fred Alley was an American musical theatre lyricist and librettist who died unexpectedly just as his work gained national recognition. His collaboration on the musical The Spitfire Grill with composer James Valcq won the American Academy of Arts and Letters' prestigious Richard Rodgers Production...
) at American Folklore Theatre
American Folklore Theatre
The American Folklore Theatre is a professional theater company that creates, develops, and produces musicals and plays based on the populist culture and heritage of the United States. Located in Door County, Wisconsin, the company began in 1970 as The Heritage Ensemble, performing on the stage of...
in Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
.
His music is often cited as being particularly melodic, strikingly rhythmic, and possessing harmonic and structural subtleties that reveal the composer’s classical training without affecting the accessibility of his material. Also of particular note is that the instruments in Valcq’s orchestrations often seem to become characters in the story.
In addition to orchestrating his own music (a rarity in the theatre), he has created orchestrations of classic musicals for many regional theatres and opera companies. Valcq is also a conductor and musician with Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
credits including Chicago
Chicago (musical)
Chicago is a musical set in Prohibition-era Chicago. The music is by John Kander with lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal"...
, Flower Drum Song
Flower Drum Song
Flower Drum Song was the eighth stage musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. It was based on the 1957 novel, The Flower Drum Song, by Chinese-American author C. Y. Lee. The piece opened in 1958 on Broadway and was afterwards presented in the West End and on tour...
, Scarlet Pimpernel
The Scarlet Pimpernel (musical)
The Scarlet Pimpernel is a musical with music by Frank Wildhorn and lyrics and book by Nan Knighton, based on the novel of the same name by Baroness Orczy. The show is set in England and France during the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution...
, and Cabaret
Cabaret (musical)
Cabaret is a musical based on a book written by Christopher Isherwood, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The 1966 Broadway production became a hit and spawned a 1972 film as well as numerous subsequent productions....
.
He holds an MFA from NYU’s Musical Theatre Program and a BFA (on full scholarship) from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
. Valcq began his professional career as a boy soprano
Boy soprano
A boy soprano is a young male singer with an unchanged voice in the soprano range. Although a treble, or choirboy, may also be considered to be a boy soprano, the more colloquial term boy soprano is generally only used for boys who sing, perform, or record as soloists, and who may not necessarily...
singing in Alban Berg
Alban Berg
Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...
's Wozzeck
Wozzeck
Wozzeck is the first opera by the Austrian composer Alban Berg. It was composed between 1914 and 1922 and first performed in 1925. The opera is based on the drama Woyzeck left incomplete by the German playwright Georg Büchner at his death. Berg attended the first production in Vienna of Büchner's...
with the Skylight Comic Opera
Skylight opera theatre
The Skylight Opera Theatre is a professional light opera company located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1959, Skylight performs in the 358-seat Cabot Theatre at the Broadway Theatre Center in Milwaukee...
and Amahl and the Night Visitors
Amahl and the Night Visitors
Amahl and the Night Visitors is an opera in one act by Gian Carlo Menotti with an original English libretto by the composer. It was commissioned by NBC and first performed by the NBC Opera Theatre on December 24, 1951, in New York City at NBC studio 8H in Rockefeller Center, where it was broadcast...
several times with the Milwaukee Opera Company. For the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its primary performing venue is the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts...
, he sang George Crumb
George Crumb
George Crumb is an American composer of contemporary classical music. He is noted as an explorer of unusual timbres, alternative forms of notation, and extended instrumental and vocal techniques. Examples include seagull effect for the cello , metallic vibrato for the piano George Crumb (born...
's Ancient Voices of Children
Ancient Voices of Children
Ancient Voices of Children is a composition by American composer George Crumb. Written in 1970, the work is scored for mezzo-soprano, boy soprano, oboe, mandolin, harp, amplified piano , and percussion , and was commissioned by the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation...
under conductor Arthur Weisberg
Arthur Weisberg
Arthur Weisberg was an American bassoonist, conductor, composer and author.-Biography:Weisberg was born in New York City. He attended the Fiorello H...
and under Kenneth Schermerhorn
Kenneth Schermerhorn
Kenneth Dewitt Schermerhorn was an American composer and orchestra conductor, most notably for the Nashville Symphony.-Biography:Schermerhorn was born in Schenectady, New York, where he studied clarinet, violin, and trumpet in school. At age 14, he forged a baptismal certificate to appear older so...
for Pro Musica Nova. He also played roles in summer stock
Summer Stock
For the article about the theatre genre, see Summer stock theatre.Summer Stock is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical made in 1950. The film was directed by Charles Walters and stars Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Eddie Bracken, Gloria DeHaven, Marjorie Main, and Phil Silvers...
, appearing with John Raitt
John Raitt
John Emmett Raitt was an American actor and singer best known for his performances in musical theater.-Early years:...
, Karen Morrow
Karen Morrow
Karen Morrow is an American singer – actress best known for her work in musical theater. Her honors include an Emmy Award and a Theatre World Award, and an Ovation Award and five Drama-Logue Award nominations....
, Margaret Whiting
Margaret Whiting
Margaret Whiting was a singer of American popular music and country music who first made her reputation during the 1940s and 1950s.-Youth:...
, and Dave Madden
Dave Madden
Dave Madden is a Canadian-born American actor. He was born in Sarnia, Ontario, but was raised in Terre Haute, Indiana. His most famous role came in the 1970s sitcom The Partridge Family in which he played the group's manager, Reuben Kincaid.- Career :Madden first gained notice as a milk-drinking,...
in various productions. At age 19, he won First Place in the Student Auditions of the National Association of Teachers of Singing
National Association of Teachers of Singing
The National Association of Teachers of Singing is a professional organization for singing teachers, and is the largest association of its kind in the world. There are more than 6,500 members mostly from the United States...
. He performed Morton Gould
Morton Gould
Morton Gould was an American composer, conductor, arranger, and pianist.Born in Richmond Hill, New York, Gould was recognized early as a child prodigy with abilities in improvisation and composition. His first composition was published at age six...
's Hoofer Suite (a ten-minute solo for tap dancer and orchestra) with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its primary performing venue is the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts...
under the baton of JoAnn Falletta
JoAnn Falletta
JoAnn Falletta is an American classical musician and orchestral conductor.Falletta was educated at the Mannes College of Music and The Juilliard School in New York City...
. Valcq began composing while still in college, and although he graduated with an applied voice degree, by this time he had abandoned performing to concentrate on composing and conducting. In addition to musicals, Valcq has composed song cycles and choral pieces which have been performed in the U.S. and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.