Jeff Marx (born September 10, 1970) is an American
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and def ...
and
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 ...
of
musicals
Musical theatre is a form of 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, movement ...
. He is best known for creating the
Broadway musical ''
Avenue Q'' with collaborator
Robert Lopez.
Early life
Marx grew up in
Hollywood, Florida
Hollywood is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is a suburb in the Miami metropolitan area. The population of Hollywood was 153,067 as of 2020, making it the Broward County#Communities, third-largest city in Broward County, th ...
. He attended
Pine Crest School in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the ...
. Following graduation, he attended the
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
, where he was a member of the
Men's Glee Club. He also holds a
juris doctor
A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...
degree from the
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and is a member of the
New York State Bar Association
The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) is a voluntary bar association for the state of New York. The mission of the association is to cultivate the science of jurisprudence; promote reform in the law; facilitate the administration of justice ...
, but he does not practice law.
Musical career
After passing the New York State Bar examination Marx enrolled at the
BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop in order to meet potential clients in the entertainment industry. Here, he met
Robert Lopez who was also in the course.
Their first major project together, a spec
Muppet movie, ''Kermit, Prince of Denmark'', which was very loosely based on ''
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
'', won them (as part of a tie) part of the $150,000 Kleban Award.
Together, they created the original concept for ''
Avenue Q'' and wrote all the show's 21 songs. ''Avenue Q'' ran over six years on Broadway and then moved
Off-Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
where it ran another nine years before closing on April 28, 2019. It continues to have various international productions.
''Avenue Q'' won the 2004
Tony Award for Best Musical
The Tony Award for Best Musical is given annually to the best new Broadway musical, as determined by Tony Award voters. The award is one of the ceremony's longest-standing awards, having been presented each year since 1949. The award goes to the ...
. Lopez/Marx's musical score earned them a 2004
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 ...
, and another Tony Award was awarded to ''Avenue Q'' bookwriter
Jeff Whitty. The musical's Original Cast Album, on the RCA/Victor label, was nominated for a
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
.
Marx (and his parents) can be seen in the documentary film ''
ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway'', which followed the trajectories of four Tony-nominated musicals from 2004, ''Avenue Q'', ''
Wicked'', ''
Taboo
A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...
'' and ''
Caroline, or Change''. Marx, along with filmmaker Dori Berinstein and actor
Alan Cumming, provided the audio commentary for the documentary's DVD.
Lopez and Marx wrote (with
Debra Fordham) four songs for a
musical episode of the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
sitcom ''
Scrubs'' which aired on January 18, 2007. Their song "Everything Comes Down to Poo" was nominated for an Emmy Award. Marx appeared in the episode as a pharmacist, dancing in the background during the song "We're Gonna Miss You Carla". ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' reported that the episode "energized a cast and crew that, at a point when most situation comedies are sputtering along or dead, have recently been doing some of their best work."
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''Diagnosis: Acute Case of Broadway Melodium Tremens,''
Tuesday, January 16, 2007. In comparing it to his work on ''Avenue Q'', Marx said: "It took us five years to write ''Avenue Q'' ... There were a million readings and previews and staged readings. With this thing, we wrote the songs in a week. They rehearsed for a week. They filmed it in a week, and it was done. It was liberating, and a collaborative effort that created a much more feel-good way of working."
[
Marx co-wrote the theme song for the Logo Network's animated series '' Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World'' and contributed additional songs for the show.
Lopez and Marx have written songs for the ]Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
TV series ''Bear in the Big Blue House
''Bear in the Big Blue House'' is an American children's television series created by Mitchell Kriegman and produced by Jim Henson Television for Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney preschool television block. Debuting on October 20, 1997, it a ...
'' and ''The Book of Pooh
''The Book of Pooh'' is an American preschool educational children's television series that aired on the Playhouse Disney block on the Disney Channel. It is the third television series to feature the characters from the Disney franchise based ...
'', as well as touring stage musicals for the children's theater company Theaterworks/USA.
On December 13, 2008, Marx premiered a new song he wrote, "White Kwanzaa", on the CNN show '' D.L. Hughley Breaks the News''.
Marx was an original collaborator with Lopez and ''South Park
''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand the ...
'' creators Trey Parker
Randolph Severn "Trey" Parker III (born October 19, 1969) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director, and musician. He is best known for co-creating ''South Park'' (1997) and '' The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative part ...
and Matt Stone
Matthew Richard Stone (born May 26, 1971) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, and musician. He is best known for co-creating ''South Park'' (since 1997) and ''The Book of Mormon (musical), The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his cre ...
on the 2011 Broadway musical '' The Book of Mormon''. However, Marx departed the show before its premiere. "I worked with them on it and then we split up and made a deal," Marx told ''Broadway Journal
The ''Broadway Journal'' was a short-lived New York City-based newspaper founded by Charles Frederick Briggs and John Bisco in 1844 and was published from January 1845 to January 1846. In its first year, the publication was bought by Edgar Allan ...
'' in 2016. "I don't want to say more than that except that I'm extremely happy the show has been so successful!"
Marx collaborated with Mervyn Warren
Mervyn Edwin Warren (born February 29, 1964) is an American film composer, record producer, Conductor (music), conductor, musical arranger, arranger, lyricist, songwriter, pianist, and vocalist. Warren is a five-time Grammy Award winner and a 1 ...
on a song called " You Have More Friends Than You Know" for the It Gets Better
It or IT may refer to:
* It (pronoun), in English
* Information technology
Arts and media Film and television
* ''It'' (1927 film), a film starring Clara Bow
* '' It! The Terror from Beyond Space'', a 1958 science fiction film
* ''It!'' (1967 ...
organization. The song was featured on the television program ''Glee
Glee may refer to:
* Glee (music), a type of English choral music
* ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy
* ''Glee'' (Bran Van 3000 album)
* ''Glee'' (Logan Lynn album)
* Gle ...
'' on April 18, 2013. Marx recorded his version of the song and made it available for download with a portion of the proceeds going to support The Trevor Project. Marx has also made a karaoke version of the song available for those who want to perform their own version and help spread the song's message, and has featured other versions on the song's website.
In 2015, a stage musical titled ''Home Street Home'' premiered in San Francisco. It was co-written by Marx with Fat Mike
Michael John Burkett (born January 16, 1967), known professionally as Fat Mike, is an American musician and producer. He was the bassist and lead vocalist for the punk rock band NOFX and the cofounder and bassist of the punk rock supergroup cov ...
of punk band NOFX, and activist and dominatrix Soma Snakeoil.
Other work
Marx has also written the book ''How To Win A High School Election.''
References
External links
The Official ''Avenue Q'' website
''Avenue Q'' merchandise: cd, program, posters, etc.
*
Production: Avenue Q
- ''Working in the Theatre Seminar'' video at American Theatre Wing.org, September 2003
The Official website for the song "You Have More Friends Than You Know"
Marx's book ''How To Win A High School Election'' Online
Jeff Marx interviewed on a free podcast from ''Masterworks Broadway''
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marx, Jeff
1970 births
Living people
American musical theatre composers
American male musical theatre composers
American musical theatre lyricists
Broadway composers and lyricists
University of Michigan alumni
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law alumni
American LGBTQ composers
American LGBTQ songwriters
LGBTQ lyricists
LGBTQ people from Florida
People from Hollywood, Florida
Tony Award winners
Songwriters from Florida
Pine Crest School alumni