David Joel Zippel (born May 17, 1954) is an American

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

and

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

lyricist A lyricist is a writer who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income derives ...

, composer, songwriter, director, and producer.

Early life and education

Zippel was born on May 17, 1954, in Easton, Pennsylvania, in the

Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley () is a geography, geographic and urban area, metropolitan region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh and Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a co ...

region of eastern

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. Falling in love with theater as a child, Zippel first articulated his life's ambition to become a lyricist and director in junior high school. He attended the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, where he contributed lyrics to an equity production of "a bizarre political musical" called ''Rotunda'', which had a brief run in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

before he graduated with a B.A. in 1976. In 1979, Zippel obtained a J.D. degree from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

. At Harvard Law School, Zippel continued to pursue his ambition of writing several pop songs with singer Pamala Stanley, which appeared on her 1979 debut album, ''This Is Hot'', and collaborating on three songs with Wally Harper, Barbara Cook's musical director, whose performance of the songs at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

in 1980 marked Zippel's New York City theatrical debut.

Career

Theatre

As lyricist and writer

*'' City of Angels'' (1989), an original musical with book by Larry Gelbart and music by

Cy Coleman Cy Coleman (born Seymour Kaufman; June 14, 1929 – November 18, 2004) was an American composer, songwriter, and jazz pianist. Life and career Coleman was born Seymour Kaufman in New York City, to Ashkenazi, Eastern European Jewish parents, an ...

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

for Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book, Best Actor ( James Naughton) Best Featured Actress ( Randy Graff), and Best Set Design ( Robin Wagner); Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics; Olivier Awards for Best New Musical (1994), Best Musical Revival (2015); The Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Musical (1993) *'' The Goodbye Girl'' (1993), a musical based on

Neil Simon Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He received three ...

's 1977 screenplay, with music by

Marvin Hamlisch Marvin Frederick Hamlisch (June 2, 1944 – August 6, 2012) was an American composer and conductor. He is one of a handful of people to win Emmy Awards, Emmy, Grammy Awards, Grammy, Academy Awards, Oscar, and Tony Awards, Tony awards, a feat ...

. Nominated for five Tony Awards including Best Musical; Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Lyrics. *'' The Woman in White'' (2004), an adaptation of the novel by

Wilkie Collins William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist and playwright known especially for ''The Woman in White (novel), The Woman in White'' (1860), a mystery novel and early sensation novel, and for ''The Moonsto ...

, with music by

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...

, book by Charlotte Jones. The music and lyrics received a Tony Award nomination for Best Original Score. The show was nominated for five

Laurence Olivier Awards The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply The Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognize excellence in professional theatre in London. The awards were originally known as the Society of West End Theatre Aw ...

, including Best Musical. * ''Liza's at the Palace'' (2009), script co-written with

Liza Minnelli Liza May Minnelli ( ; born March 12, 1946) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli has received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, ...

, special lyrics with music by

John Kander John Harold Kander (born March 18, 1927) is an American composer, known largely for his work in the musical theater. As part of the songwriting team Kander and Ebb (with lyricist Fred Ebb), Kander wrote the scores for 15 musicals, including ''Cab ...

and Billy Stritch; Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event (2009) * ''Cinderella'' (2020), a new adaptation of the classic story, with music by

, based on the book by

Emerald Fennell Emerald Lilly Fennell (; born 1 October 1985) is an English actress, filmmaker, and writer. She has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, and nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe ...

As conceiver and director

*''Princesses'' (2004), loosely inspired by '' A Little Princess'' by

Frances Hodgson Burnett Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett (24 November 1849 – 29 October 1924) was a British-American novelist and playwright. She is best known for the three children's novels ''Little Lord Fauntleroy'' (1886), ''A Little Princess'' (1905), a ...

. Zippel conceived and directed; book by Bill and Cheri Steinkellner, music by Matthew Wilder. The musical was produced at the 5th Avenue Theatre,

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington, in August 2005, after a "developmental" production at Goodspeed Musicals' Norma Terris Theatre in fall 2004. *''The Best Is Yet To Come: The Music of Cy Coleman'', Indy Award for Best Direction (2010); Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revue (2012) *''They're Playing His Songs: The Music of Marvin Hamlisch'' (2013) *''The Importance of Being Earnest (In New York)'' (2015)

As producer

*'' Spamilton: An American Parody'' (2016), Gerard Alessandrini's off-Broadway spoof of Lin-Manuel Miranda's Broadway musical ''

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

'', Off-Broadway Alliance Award for Best Unique Theatrical Experience (2017); MAC Award for Show of the Year (2017) * ''Hercules'' (2019), an adaptation of the Disney animated film of the same name, with music by

Alan Menken Alan Irwin Menken (born July 22, 1949) is an American composer and conductor. Over his career he has received List of awards and nominations received by Alan Menken, numerous accolades including winning eight Academy Awards, a Tony Awards, Tony ...

Film and television

Films

*In 1994, Zippel contributed lyrics to Richard Rich's '' The Swan Princess'', with music by Lex de Azevedo, and provided the singing voice of Jean-Bob the Frog. *In 1997, he wrote the lyrics for the

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

film ''

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

'', with music by

, including the song " Go the Distance", which received an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

nomination for Best Original Song. *In 1998, he wrote lyrics for Disney's ''

Mulan Hua Mulan () is a legendary Chinese folk heroine from the Northern and Southern dynasties era (4th to 6th century Common Era, CE) of Chinese history. Scholar, Scholars generally consider Mulan to be a fictional character. Hua Mulan is depicte ...

'', with music by Matthew Wilder. The music and lyrics received an

nomination for Best Musical or Comedy Score and an

Annie Award The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in American cinema and television. Origina ...

nomination for Music in an Animated Feature Production. *In 2008, he appeared in the film '' Finding Kraftland''. *Also in 2008, ''Pamela's First Musical'', written with Coleman and Wendy Wasserstein, based on Wasserstein's children's book, received its world premiere in a concert at Town Hall in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on May 18, 2008. *In 2011, Zippel wrote the lyrics to the song " Star Spangled Man", which is featured in the film '' Captain America: The First Avenger''.

composed the music for the song, which was an affectionate send-up of

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Isidore Beilin; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-born American composer and songwriter. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Berlin received numerous honors including an Acade ...

songs from the 1940s.

Television

*In 1997, Zippel composed the theme song for '' Veronica's Closet'', a sit-com starring Kirstie Alley.

References

External links

* *
David Zippel profile
at Filmreference {{DEFAULTSORT:Zippel, David 1954 births Living people American lyricists American musical theatre lyricists Animation composers Annie Award winners Broadway composers and lyricists Easton Area High School alumni Harvard Law School alumni Jewish American songwriters Musicians from Easton, Pennsylvania Songwriters from Pennsylvania Tony Award winners University of Pennsylvania alumni Walt Disney Animation Studios people