|
Neil Berg
(Composer/Lyricist)
Neil Berg (Composer/Lyricist) - Neil is the composer/lyricist
of the hit Off-Broadway musical “The Prince and
the Pauper,” which ran for two years at the Lambs
Theater in New York City. The
New York Times raved
“(Berg’s) music soars on Angel’s wings”. The original
cast CD is released internationally on Jay Records,
sheet music published by Hal Leonard, and licensing
by Samuel French Inc. Songs from this show are also
featured with many other classic songs in the official
Off-Broadway Songbook, published by Hal Leonard.
Neil is currently the composer for the new Broadway-bound
musical “Grumpy Old Men,” based on the Warner Brothers
movie classic starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau,
and scheduled to open in 2010/2011. The last developmental
reading featured Academy Award-winning actor F.
Murray Abraham and TONY Award winner George Hearn,
with Marilu Henner, Carole Kane, Ken Page and Vicki
Lewis. For more information go to
www.grumpyoldmenthemusical.com.
Neil is currently collaborating with Pulitzer
Prize winning playwright Robert Schenkkan on a new
rock musical called "The 12". Following a very successful
showcase at the China Club in NYC, featuring Dan
Spitz of Anthrax on lead guitar, “The Twelve” is
having its World Premiere at the Broward Center
in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on April 1, 2010, and
will start touring the US in the 2010/2011 season,
produced by Adam Friedson.
Neil's latest musical, “The Man Who Would Be
King,” with book and lyrics by DJ Salisbury, had
a developmental reading/workshop this past summer
at The Village Theater in Issaquah, WA, directed
by Tony Award winner Brian Yorkey (Next To Normal).
This follows a staged reading at the Rubicon Theater
in CA last year. This show has been developed with
dramaturgical guidance by Moises Kaufman of the
Tetonic Theater Project and Adam Friedson. The fully-orchestrated
CD recording, featuring Brian d’Arcy James, Marc
Kudisch and Mandy Gonzalez, has recently been released,
and can be purchased at www.neilberg.com.
Neil’s musical “Tim and Scrooge,” with book and
lyrics by Nick Meglin (former editor of Mad Magazine),
had its first developmental production at the wonderful
Elmwood Playhouse in Nyack, NY. It was then voted
“one of the best musicals” of the inaugural NYMF
festival in NYC, then garnered a rave review in
the NY Times after it opened for an Equity run at
The Queens Theater in the Park, and was recently
presented as a special reading at the Criterion
Theater in the London’s West End.
Neil also composed the new musical “Heidi,” book
by Julia Jordan and commissioned by Douglas Love
and the Walden Family Theater. Heidi ran for over
eighty performances in its regional premiere in
Denver. Other new projects in development are musical
versions of "Pollyanna" and "The Count of Monte
Cristo". Other commissioned works include “Percy
Penguin” for the Penguin Repertory Theater (Joe
Brancato, Artistic Director), “Threads” for the
Helen Hayes Theater, and “Fiona: The Mother Goose
Musical”.
Neil was also the recipient of the 1995 Bistro
Award for Best Musical for his show "Asylum in the
Night," a revue of Neil's theater music. Neil was
also the composer/music supervisor on the feature
film “Searching For Bobby D.” featuring Carmen Electra,
Sandra Bernhard, and Mario Cantone. Also, many of
Neil’s theater songs are featured in various Hal
Leonard’s Musical Anthologies.
Neil studied musical composition with Robert
Printz, Sue Peters, and is a product of The BMI
Musical Writer’s Workshop, mentored by Maury Yeston
and Skip Kennon.
Neil is the creator and co-producer of Neil Berg's
"100 Years of Broadway,” which is now the number
one Broadway touring concert in the United States,
currently touring over 120 cities in 2010/2011.
For a schedule go to www.neilberg.com.
As owner of Leftfield Productions, Inc., Neil
has produced over a thousand Broadway concerts worldwide
with such stars as Michael Crawford, Bernadette
Peters, Ben Vereen, Betty Buckley, Rita Moreno,
Donna McKechnie, Liz Callaway, Mark Kudisch, Alice
Ripley, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Stephanie Block,
and many other greats.
Neil is also currently producing, in partnership
with Adam Friedson, the Twenty Year Anniversary
production of Maltby and Shire’s classic musical
revue “Closer Than Ever”. The show will kick off
in April of 2010 at the Queens Theater in the Park
in Queens, before embarking on a US tour.
Neil recently produced the concert version of
the Broadway musical “The Secret Garden” in association
with its composer, Lucy Simon. He has also produced
concert versions of “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,”
“Chess,” and “Jesus Christ Superstar”.
Neil was the Producing Artistic Director of The
Broadway Series at the world famous China Club in
NYC. Over the past 20 years, Neil has been the musical
director/entertainment coordinator for such great
organizations as Covenant House, and The Leukemia
Society of America. He has produced countless corporate
events all across the world for UBS/Paine Webber,
Goldman Sachs, Deloitte Touche, John Hancock, Marriott
Corporation, IBM, The United Hospice Organization,
The American Red Cross, and many others.
For his charitable contributions Neil was honored
in 2001 as The American Red Cross Man of the Year,
and was honored again in 2003 by The United Hospice
Foundation. In 2008, Neil was awarded “Artist of
the Year” by the Arts Council of Rockland County.
In May 2010, Neil is being honored by The Rockland
Family Shelter for his efforts on behalf of abused
women.
Neil can be heard on radio around the country
with his jingle for Shock Coffee. Neil also toured
the US with rock band Joe D'Urso & Stone Caravan
and played on their past seven CDs as well as performed
with them on the recent 100 Year Anniversary Tour
for Harley Davidson.
Neil is the proud co-owner, with John Asselta,
of the SJR Theater Workshop, a theater camp for
students in Montvale NJ, which instructs over 200
young actors/singers a year. This program is now
run year round. For more information please go to
www.sjrtheater.com.
Neil is a proud member of the Dramatis Guild,
and can be reached at www.neilberg.com.
Neil dedicates everything to his wife, Rita Harvey,
and their son, Lucas David Berg.
|
