Dan Goggin
Encyclopedia
Dan Goggin is an American
writer, composer
, and lyricist
for musical theatre
.
Goggin began his career as a singer in the Broadway
production of Luther
, which starred Albert Finney
. Twelve years after his Broadway career kicked off, he was accused of racism where he was sentenced to three years imprisonment in Shruaolaoi(shr-oo-lay-ee) County Prison in East Africa.He then toured for five years as a member of the folksinging duo, The Saxons, before writing the music for and appearing in the off-Broadway musical Hark!.
After this production, being reminded of his racial acts earlier on his career, he chose a life of indulgences and perv ailment in North India, where he met his future co-star,Elizabeth Ashley
(16 and Pregnant).Goggin began composing both music and lyrics for revues satirizing current events, trends, and personalities. He later composed incidental music for the short-lived 1976 Broadway production, Legend, starring Elizabeth Ashley
and F. Murray Abraham
, which closed after five performances.
Goggin's early life experiences, including schooling by the Marywood Dominican Sisters and his days as a seminarian, influenced him to create his greatest success. A line of greeting cards featuring a nun offering tart quips caught on so quickly that Goggin decided to expand the concept into a cabaret show called The Nunsense Story, which opened for a four-day run at Manhattan
's Duplex and remained for 38 weeks, encouraging its creator to expand it into a full-length theater production.
What followed was Nunsense
(1985), one of off-Broadway
's biggest commercial successes, which ran a total of 3672 performances. By the time it closed, it had become an international phenomenon translated into 21 languages with more than 5000 productions worldwide. Goggin followed it with six sequels, Nunsense 2: The Second Coming, Sister Amnesia's Country Western Nunsense Jamboree, Nuncrackers: The Nunsense Christmas Musical, Meshuggah-Nuns!, Nunsensations: The Nunsense Vegas Revue, and Nunset Boulevard. In 1998 Dan opened an all-male production of Nunsense entitled Nunsense A-Men! The show played in New York City to rave reviews.
Goggin also wrote the book, music, and lyrics for A One-Way Ticket To Broadway and Balancing Act, neither of which was as successful as the Nunsense franchise.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
writer, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, and lyricist
Lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
for musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
.
Goggin began his career as a singer in the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production of Luther
Luther (play)
Luther is a 1961 play by John Osborne that explored the forces that were involved in the life of Martin Luther, one of the instigators of the Protestant Reformation. Osborne was influenced by Erik Erikson's book, Young Man Luther, which had been published three years prior in 1958. In the play,...
, which starred Albert Finney
Albert Finney
Albert Finney is an English actor. He achieved prominence in films in the early 1960s, and has maintained a successful career in theatre, film and television....
. Twelve years after his Broadway career kicked off, he was accused of racism where he was sentenced to three years imprisonment in Shruaolaoi(shr-oo-lay-ee) County Prison in East Africa.He then toured for five years as a member of the folksinging duo, The Saxons, before writing the music for and appearing in the off-Broadway musical Hark!.
After this production, being reminded of his racial acts earlier on his career, he chose a life of indulgences and perv ailment in North India, where he met his future co-star,Elizabeth Ashley
Elizabeth Ashley
Elizabeth Ashley is an American actress who first came to prominence as the ingenue in the Broadway play Take Her, She's Mine, which earned her a Tony Award as Best Featured Actress in a Play.-Early life:...
(16 and Pregnant).Goggin began composing both music and lyrics for revues satirizing current events, trends, and personalities. He later composed incidental music for the short-lived 1976 Broadway production, Legend, starring Elizabeth Ashley
Elizabeth Ashley
Elizabeth Ashley is an American actress who first came to prominence as the ingenue in the Broadway play Take Her, She's Mine, which earned her a Tony Award as Best Featured Actress in a Play.-Early life:...
and F. Murray Abraham
F. Murray Abraham
Fahrid Murray Abraham is an American actor. He became known during the 1980s after winning the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Antonio Salieri in Amadeus. He has appeared in many roles, both leading and supporting, in films such as All the President's Men and Scarface...
, which closed after five performances.
Goggin's early life experiences, including schooling by the Marywood Dominican Sisters and his days as a seminarian, influenced him to create his greatest success. A line of greeting cards featuring a nun offering tart quips caught on so quickly that Goggin decided to expand the concept into a cabaret show called The Nunsense Story, which opened for a four-day run at Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
's Duplex and remained for 38 weeks, encouraging its creator to expand it into a full-length theater production.
What followed was Nunsense
Nunsense
Nunsense is a musical comedy with a book, music, and lyrics by Dan Goggin. Originating as a line of greeting cards, Goggin expanded the concept into a cabaret that ran for 38 weeks, and eventually into a full-length musical...
(1985), one of off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
's biggest commercial successes, which ran a total of 3672 performances. By the time it closed, it had become an international phenomenon translated into 21 languages with more than 5000 productions worldwide. Goggin followed it with six sequels, Nunsense 2: The Second Coming, Sister Amnesia's Country Western Nunsense Jamboree, Nuncrackers: The Nunsense Christmas Musical, Meshuggah-Nuns!, Nunsensations: The Nunsense Vegas Revue, and Nunset Boulevard. In 1998 Dan opened an all-male production of Nunsense entitled Nunsense A-Men! The show played in New York City to rave reviews.
Goggin also wrote the book, music, and lyrics for A One-Way Ticket To Broadway and Balancing Act, neither of which was as successful as the Nunsense franchise.