HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

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