Paul Howard Gordon is a composer of popular songs and music for the

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

Career

Gordon composed the music and lyrics for the stage musical ''

Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The firs ...

'' which ran on Broadway in 2000–2001, for which he received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Original Score. The musical was later produced by TheatreWorks at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts in

Mountain View, California Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, it has a population of 82,376. Mountain View was integral to the early history and growth of Silicon Valley, and is th ...

, in 2003. Of this production, the ''talkinbroadway.com'' reviewer wrote: "The music of Paul Gordon fits this production like a glove, with unbroken strings of music and lyrics that give the audience the mood of the story." The ''Wall Street Journal'' noted the musical has "a lyrical score". His musical ''Emma'' played an engagement at the

Old Globe Theatre The Old Globe is a professional theatre company located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It produces about 15 plays and musicals annually in summer and winter seasons. Plays are performed in three separate theatres in the complex, which i ...

(San Diego, California) in 2011. The stage musical ''The Front'', for which Gordon wrote the music and lyrics with

Jay Gruska Jay Gruska (; born April 23, 1952) is an American songwriter and composer best known for his film and television scoring, and for writing hit songs for a variety of artists. He has composed musical scores for dozens of TV dramas, with over 50 ...

, had a reading at the Manhattan Theatre Club in April 2007, and private industry readings in 2008. He composed the music and lyrics for the stage musical ''

Daddy Long Legs A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...

'' with the book and direction by John Caird, which premiered at the Rubicon Theatre Company, Ventura, California in October 2009 and then had an engagement with TheatreWorks at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts from January through February 2010.John Caird's DADDY LONG LEGS Gets TheatreWorks Run, 1/23 - 2/14"
broadwayworld.com, January 23, 2010 In progress is a musical entitled ''Little Miss Scrooge'', which had a workshop production at the Rubicon Theatre in 2013."'Jane Eyre' Composer, Paul Gordon & Stars at Joe's Pub 10/15"
broadwayworld.com, October 1, 2007 A concert of Gordon's music played at Joe's Pub (New York City) in 2007, and featured his works from stage musicals performed by

Marla Schaffel Marla Schaffel is an American actress, especially in musical theatre, noted for her award winning performance in the title role in the musical adaptation of '' Jane Eyre''. Personal life Schaffel was raised in Miami, Florida,

, Brian D'Arcy James and others. Gordon has written popular songs, including the "#1 songs: "

Next Time I Fall "The Next Time I Fall" is a song written by Bobby Caldwell and Paul Gordon and recorded as a duet by Peter Cetera and Amy Grant for Cetera's 1986 album '' Solitude/Solitaire''. It reached number one on ''Billboard'' magazine's Hot 100. and A ...

" recorded by Peter Cetera and

Amy Grant Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She began in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the 1980s and 1990s. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christia ...

, and " Friends and Lovers," which was #1 on both pop and country charts." He has also written for films (including ''

Ghostbusters II ''GhostbustersII'' is a 1989 American supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Ramis, Rick Moranis, Ernie Hudson, ...

'') and television. Gordon's new musical adaptation of Jane Austen's ''

Pride and Prejudice ''Pride and Prejudice'' is an 1813 novel of manners by Jane Austen. The novel follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the dynamic protagonist of the book who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreci ...

'' will receive its world premiere in December 2019 presented by TheatreWorks (Silicon Valley) at the Lucie Stern Theatre in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was ...

Musical scores

* ''Greetings from Venice Beach'' (1993) * ''

'' (1995) * ''

Emma Emma may refer to: * Emma (given name) Film * Emma (1932 film), ''Emma'' (1932 film), a comedy-drama film by Clarence Brown * Emma (1996 theatrical film), ''Emma'' (1996 theatrical film), a film starring Gwyneth Paltrow * Emma (1996 TV film), '' ...

'' (2006) * ''The Front''; music also by Jay Gruska * ''

'' (2009) * ''Sense & Sensibility'' (2015) * ''Pride & Prejudice'' (2018)

Awards and nominations

Tony Awards The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the 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 ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

: Nominated for Best Original Score for the original Broadway production of "Jane Eyre", which was also nominated for Best Musical. Bay Area Critics Circle Awards *2007: Won the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award for Original Script for "Emma" at TheatreWorks

Ovation Awards The Ovation Awards are a Southern California award for excellence in theatre, established in 1989. They are given out by the non-profit arts service organization LA Stage Alliance and are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles. Winne ...

* 2010: Won the award for Lyrics/Music for an Original Musical for the Rubicon Theatre Company production of "Daddy Long Legs"

Jeff Awards The Joseph Jefferson Award, more commonly known informally as the Jeff Award, is given for Theater in Chicago, theatre arts produced in the Chicago area. Founded in 1968, the awards are named in tribute to actor Joseph Jefferson, a 19th-century A ...

*2015: Won the award for New Work—Musical for “Sense and Sensibility” at the

Chicago Shakespeare Theater Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) is a non-profit, professional theater company located at Navy Pier in Chicago, Illinois. Its more than six hundred annual performances performed 48 weeks of the year include its critically acclaimed Shakespeare ...

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20141218055247/http://paulgordonmusic.com/ Official site *
New Musical Theatre: bioBack to the 80s: Interview with songwriter/composer Paul Gordon - Kickin' it Old SchoolInternet Movie Database listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Paul American musical theatre composers American male songwriters Broadway composers and lyricists Living people Year of birth missing (living people)