Lynn Ahrens
Encyclopedia
Lynn Ahrens is an American
writer and lyricist
for the musical theatre
, television and film. She has collaborated with Stephen Flaherty
for many years. She won the Tony Award
, Drama Desk Award
, and Outer Critics Circle Award
for the Broadway musical Ragtime
and was nominated for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for the animated Twentieth Century Fox film "Anastasia." She is a mainstay writer for ABC-TV's "Schoolhouse Rock."
with a degree in Journalism and English. She is Jewish. She began a career in advertising as a copywriter but was invited to work on a children's television show, and began writing songs for "Schoolhouse Rock". She subsequently worked as a freelance composer and singer of commercial music, and wrote and produced shows for children's television. She began writing for the musical theater in 1982.
, which premiered Off-Broadway
at Playwrights Horizons
in April 1988. Their next musical was Once on This Island
, which premiered on Broadway in 1990 and which was nominated for eight Tony Awards. My Favorite Year
opened at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre in Lincoln Center in October 1992 but ran for only 36 performances.
Ragtime
followed, opening on Broadway in January 1998 and running for 834 performances. Ragtime was nominated for twelve Tony Awards and won the Best Original Score
, in addition to the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics
. Ragtime was revived on Broadway in 2009, and was nominated for seven Tony Awards.
Seussical
opened on Broadway on November 2000, and received a Grammy nomination. The musical later ran Off-Broadway in 2007, where it was nominated for the Lucille Lortel Award as Outstanding Revival and the Drama League Award
as Distinguished Revival of a Musical. This is one of the most performed musicals in the US. Ahrens and Flaherty's next musicals, A Man of No Importance
(2002), Dessa Rose
(2005), and The Glorious Ones
(2007) were produced at the Newhouse Theatre in Lincoln Center. They have frequently worked with director and choreographer Graciela Daniele
.
They wrote original songs for the Chita Rivera
autobiographical show, "Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life," in 2005.
Charles Isherwood wrote of Ahrens and Flaherty: "a few composers and lyricists continue to risk irrelevance by pursuing their own lonely paths. Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens are among them. Mr. Flaherty and Ms. Ahrens, best known for their score for "Ragtime," continue to see the humanist potential in the medium. They insist on writing musicals that explore the struggles of men and women, as opposed to the synthetic creatures razzle-dazzling Broadway audiences with their preening vulgarity and self-devouring jokes." On her working relationship with Flaherty, Ahrens has commented, "Our lives have been very different . . . But our sensibilities are very similar."
, receiving two Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Song and Best Score. The end title song "At The Beginning" went to Number One, and the soundtrack went Gold.
Ahrens has written music and lyrics for and performed on the animated television series Schoolhouse Rock and Captain Kangaroo
since 1973.
Ahrens wrote the teleplay for the 2004 television musical A Christmas Carol
, starring Kelsey Grammer, Jane Krakowski and Jason Alexander.
With composer Michael Gore, she contributed two songs, "Here's Where I Stand" and "I Sing For You", to the IFC feature film, "Camp."
With Stephen Flaherty, she wrote lyrics for the title song for "After the Storm," the documentary film about young Hurricane Katrina Survivors putting on "Once On This Island."
Ahrens and Flaherty gave a series of concerts of their work in Hobart
, Melbourne
and Sydney
, Australia from September 4 to 13, 2009.
Ahrens is a lifetime member of the Council of the Dramatists Guild of America, and is a founder and co-chair of the Dramatists Guild Fellows Program for Emerging Writers.
She wrote text for the concert piece "With Voices Raised," (composer, Stephen Flaherty) which was commissioned by the Boston Pops Orchestra in 2000.
She wrote text for the concert piece "The Dream Lives On: A Portrait of the Kennedy Brothers," (composer, Peter Boyer), which was commissioned and performed by the Boston Pops in 2009, and narrated by Robert De Niro, Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman and Cherry Jones.
She was the original writer and singer of numerous jingles, including the long-running "What Would You Do For A Klondike Bar" and "Bounty, The Quicker Picker Upper."
She wrote lyrics for the choral piece, "The Song I Sing," (composer, Stephen Flaherty), commissioned by the Young People's Chorus of New York, and performed at Carnegie Hall by a chorus of 1000 children.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
writer 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 the 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...
, television and film. She has collaborated with Stephen Flaherty
Stephen Flaherty
Stephen Flaherty is an American composer of musical theatre. He works most often in collaboration with the lyricist/bookwriter Lynn Ahrens...
for many years. She won the Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
, Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
, and Outer Critics Circle Award
Outer Critics Circle Award
The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on and Off-Broadway and were begun during the 1949-1950 theater season. The awards are decided upon by theater critics who review for out-of-town newspapers, national publications, and other media outlets...
for the Broadway musical Ragtime
Ragtime (musical)
Ragtime is a musical with a book by Terrence McNally, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and music by Stephen Flaherty.Based on the 1975 novel by E. L. Doctorow, Ragtime tells the story of three groups in America, represented by Coalhouse Walker Jr., a Harlem musician; Mother, the matriarch of a WASP family in...
and was nominated for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for the animated Twentieth Century Fox film "Anastasia." She is a mainstay writer for ABC-TV's "Schoolhouse Rock."
Biography
Ahrens was born in New York City, graduated from Neptune High School on the Jersey shore, and graduated from Syracuse UniversitySyracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
with a degree in Journalism and English. She is Jewish. She began a career in advertising as a copywriter but was invited to work on a children's television show, and began writing songs for "Schoolhouse Rock". She subsequently worked as a freelance composer and singer of commercial music, and wrote and produced shows for children's television. She began writing for the musical theater in 1982.
Theatre
Ahrens met Stephen Flaherty at the BMI Workshop in 1982 and they started working together the following year. Their first musical together was Lucky StiffLucky Stiff
Lucky Stiff is a musical farce. It was the first collaboration for the team of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty . The show is based on the 1983 novel The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo by Michael Butterworth...
, which premiered 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...
at Playwrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work....
in April 1988. Their next musical was Once on This Island
Once On This Island
Once on This Island is a one-act musical with a book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty. Based on the novel My Love, My Love by Rosa Guy, set in the French Antilles in the Caribbean Sea...
, which premiered on Broadway in 1990 and which was nominated for eight Tony Awards. My Favorite Year
My Favorite Year
My Favorite Year is a 1982 American comedy film directed by Richard Benjamin which tells the story of a young comedy writer. It stars Peter O'Toole, Mark Linn-Baker, Jessica Harper, Joseph Bologna, Lou Jacobi, Bill Macy, Lainie Kazan, Selma Diamond, Cameron Mitchell, and Gloria Stuart. O'Toole was...
opened at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre in Lincoln Center in October 1992 but ran for only 36 performances.
Ragtime
Ragtime (musical)
Ragtime is a musical with a book by Terrence McNally, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and music by Stephen Flaherty.Based on the 1975 novel by E. L. Doctorow, Ragtime tells the story of three groups in America, represented by Coalhouse Walker Jr., a Harlem musician; Mother, the matriarch of a WASP family in...
followed, opening on Broadway in January 1998 and running for 834 performances. Ragtime was nominated for twelve Tony Awards and won the Best Original Score
Tony Award for Best Original Score
The Tony Award for Best Original Score is the Tony Award given to the composers and lyricists of the best original score written for a musical in that year. The score consists of music and lyrics...
, in addition to the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics
The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics is an annual award presented by the Drama Desk, a committee of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors...
. Ragtime was revived on Broadway in 2009, and was nominated for seven Tony Awards.
Seussical
Seussical
is a musical by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty based on the books of Dr. Seuss that debuted on Broadway in 2000. The play's story is a rather complex amalgamation of many of Seuss's most famous books. After a Broadway run, the production spawned two US national tours and a UK tour...
opened on Broadway on November 2000, and received a Grammy nomination. The musical later ran Off-Broadway in 2007, where it was nominated for the Lucille Lortel Award as Outstanding Revival and the Drama League Award
Drama League Award
The Drama League Awards, created in 1935, honor distinguished productions and performances both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, in addition to recognizing exemplary career achievements in theatre, musical theatre, and directing...
as Distinguished Revival of a Musical. This is one of the most performed musicals in the US. Ahrens and Flaherty's next musicals, A Man of No Importance
A Man of No Importance (musical)
A Man of No Importance is a musical with music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and a book by Terrence McNally, based on the 1994 Albert Finney film, A Man of No Importance...
(2002), Dessa Rose
Dessa Rose (musical)
Dessa Rose is a musical based on the book by Sherley Anne Williams with book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty. It tells the story of a young black woman and a young white woman and their journey to acceptance in 1847 in the ante-bellum South, as they tell their story to their...
(2005), and The Glorious Ones
The Glorious Ones
The Glorious Ones is a musical with book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty. Set in 17th-century Italy, it concerns a theatre group in the world of commedia dell'arte and theatre of the Italian Renaissance....
(2007) were produced at the Newhouse Theatre in Lincoln Center. They have frequently worked with director and choreographer Graciela Daniele
Graciela Daniele
Graciela Daniele is an Argentine-American dancer, choreographer, and theatre director.-Biography:Born at Buenos Aires, Daniele began her dance training at the age of seven at Teatro Colón, Argentina's equivalent of Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre...
.
They wrote original songs for the Chita Rivera
Chita Rivera
Chita Rivera is an American actress, dancer, and singer best known for her roles in musical theater. She is the first Hispanic woman to receive a Kennedy Center Honors award...
autobiographical show, "Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life," in 2005.
Charles Isherwood wrote of Ahrens and Flaherty: "a few composers and lyricists continue to risk irrelevance by pursuing their own lonely paths. Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens are among them. Mr. Flaherty and Ms. Ahrens, best known for their score for "Ragtime," continue to see the humanist potential in the medium. They insist on writing musicals that explore the struggles of men and women, as opposed to the synthetic creatures razzle-dazzling Broadway audiences with their preening vulgarity and self-devouring jokes." On her working relationship with Flaherty, Ahrens has commented, "Our lives have been very different . . . But our sensibilities are very similar."
Film and television
Ahrens and Flaherty also collaborated on songs for the animated movie AnastasiaAnastasia (1997 film)
Anastasia is a 1997 American animated musical film produced and directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. It was the first feature film to be released by Fox Animation Studios....
, receiving two Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Song and Best Score. The end title song "At The Beginning" went to Number One, and the soundtrack went Gold.
Ahrens has written music and lyrics for and performed on the animated television series Schoolhouse Rock and Captain Kangaroo
Captain Kangaroo
Captain Kangaroo is a children's television series which aired weekday mornings on the American television network CBS for nearly 30 years, from October 3, 1955 until December 8, 1984, making it the longest-running children's television program of its day...
since 1973.
Ahrens wrote the teleplay for the 2004 television musical A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol (2004 film)
A Christmas Carol, also known as A Christmas Carol: The Musical, is a 2004 television film based on a 1994 stage musical of the same name, with songs written by Alan Menken and Lynn Ahrens . The musical is based on Charles Dickens' famous 1843 novella of the same name, produced by Hallmark...
, starring Kelsey Grammer, Jane Krakowski and Jason Alexander.
With composer Michael Gore, she contributed two songs, "Here's Where I Stand" and "I Sing For You", to the IFC feature film, "Camp."
With Stephen Flaherty, she wrote lyrics for the title song for "After the Storm," the documentary film about young Hurricane Katrina Survivors putting on "Once On This Island."
Other
Ahrens writes short stories which have appeared in The Kenyon Review, Calyx, Glimmer Train Stories and others. Her personal essays have appeared in Narrative Magazine and have been nominated for "Best American Essays" and the "Pushcart Anthology".Ahrens and Flaherty gave a series of concerts of their work in Hobart
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
, Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
and Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia from September 4 to 13, 2009.
Ahrens is a lifetime member of the Council of the Dramatists Guild of America, and is a founder and co-chair of the Dramatists Guild Fellows Program for Emerging Writers.
She wrote text for the concert piece "With Voices Raised," (composer, Stephen Flaherty) which was commissioned by the Boston Pops Orchestra in 2000.
She wrote text for the concert piece "The Dream Lives On: A Portrait of the Kennedy Brothers," (composer, Peter Boyer), which was commissioned and performed by the Boston Pops in 2009, and narrated by Robert De Niro, Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman and Cherry Jones.
She was the original writer and singer of numerous jingles, including the long-running "What Would You Do For A Klondike Bar" and "Bounty, The Quicker Picker Upper."
She wrote lyrics for the choral piece, "The Song I Sing," (composer, Stephen Flaherty), commissioned by the Young People's Chorus of New York, and performed at Carnegie Hall by a chorus of 1000 children.
Musicals
- Lucky StiffLucky StiffLucky Stiff is a musical farce. It was the first collaboration for the team of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty . The show is based on the 1983 novel The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo by Michael Butterworth...
(1988) (Book and Lyrics) - Once on This IslandOnce On This IslandOnce on This Island is a one-act musical with a book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty. Based on the novel My Love, My Love by Rosa Guy, set in the French Antilles in the Caribbean Sea...
(1990) (Book and Lyrics) - My Favorite YearMy Favorite Year (musical)My Favorite Year is a musical with a book by Joseph Dougherty, music by Stephen Flaherty, and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens. It is based on the film of the same name.-Production history:...
(1992) (Lyrics) - A Christmas CarolA Christmas Carol (1994 musical)A Christmas Carol is a musical with songs written by Alan Menken and Lynn Ahrens . The musical is based on Charles Dickens' famous 1843 novella of the same name. Scrooge's neglected fiancée Emily was originally named Belle in the book and other adaptations...
(1994–2004) (Co-Book and Lyrics) (produced as a TV filmA Christmas Carol (2004 film)A Christmas Carol, also known as A Christmas Carol: The Musical, is a 2004 television film based on a 1994 stage musical of the same name, with songs written by Alan Menken and Lynn Ahrens . The musical is based on Charles Dickens' famous 1843 novella of the same name, produced by Hallmark...
in 2004) (Teleplay) - RagtimeRagtime (musical)Ragtime is a musical with a book by Terrence McNally, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and music by Stephen Flaherty.Based on the 1975 novel by E. L. Doctorow, Ragtime tells the story of three groups in America, represented by Coalhouse Walker Jr., a Harlem musician; Mother, the matriarch of a WASP family in...
(1998) (Lyrics) - SeussicalSeussicalis a musical by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty based on the books of Dr. Seuss that debuted on Broadway in 2000. The play's story is a rather complex amalgamation of many of Seuss's most famous books. After a Broadway run, the production spawned two US national tours and a UK tour...
(2000) (Book and Lyrics) - A Man of No ImportanceA Man of No Importance (musical)A Man of No Importance is a musical with music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and a book by Terrence McNally, based on the 1994 Albert Finney film, A Man of No Importance...
(2002) (Lyrics) - Dessa RoseDessa Rose (musical)Dessa Rose is a musical based on the book by Sherley Anne Williams with book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty. It tells the story of a young black woman and a young white woman and their journey to acceptance in 1847 in the ante-bellum South, as they tell their story to their...
(2005) (Book and Lyrics) - Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life" (2005) (Lyrics—special material)
- 'The Glorious OnesThe Glorious OnesThe Glorious Ones is a musical with book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty. Set in 17th-century Italy, it concerns a theatre group in the world of commedia dell'arte and theatre of the Italian Renaissance....
(2007) (Book and Lyrics) - Ragtime, Revival (2009) (Lyrics)
Contributions
- "I Eat", contribution to The Seven Deadly Sins: A Song Cycle for Audra McDonaldAudra McDonaldAudra Ann McDonald is an American actress and singer. She currently stars in the ABC television drama Private Practice as Dr. Naomi Bennett. She has appeared on the stage in both musicals and dramas, such as Ragtime and A Raisin in the Sun...
- Music and lyrics for "Interplanet Janet", "No More Kings", "The Preamble", "The Great American Melting Pot", "A Noun is a Person, Place or Thing", and many others, contributions to Schoolhouse Rock!Schoolhouse Rock!Schoolhouse Rock! is an American interstitial programming series of animated musical educational short films that aired during the Saturday morning children's programming on the U.S. television network ABC. The topics covered included grammar, science, economics, history, mathematics, and civics...
- Songs for Captain KangarooCaptain KangarooCaptain Kangaroo is a children's television series which aired weekday mornings on the American television network CBS for nearly 30 years, from October 3, 1955 until December 8, 1984, making it the longest-running children's television program of its day...
, notably "There's So Much To Do" and the 1982-85 theme song, "Here Comes Captain Kangaroo"
Awards and nominations
- Emmy Award Best Informational Daytime Program "H.E.L.P" - (winner)
- Tony Award Best Book of a Musical (1991) Once on This Island - (nominee)
- Tony Award Best Original Score (1991) Once on This Island - (nominee)
- Olivier Award, London West End - "Once On This Island"- Best Musical (1995) - (winner)
- Academy Award, Anastasia (1998) - Best Music, Original Musical or Comedy Score and Best Original Song (with Stephen Flaherty)-two nominations
- Golden Globes, Anastasia (1998) - Best Original Song - Motion Picture (for "Journey To The Past" and "Once Upon A December") (with Stephen Flaherty) - two nominations
- Tony Award Best Original Musical Score (1998) Ragtime (winner)
- Grammy nomination - "Songs from Ragtime" Concept album
- Grammy nomination - "Ragtime" Original Broadway Cast Recording
- Drama Desk Award Outstanding Lyrics (1998) Ragtime (winner)
- Grammy nomination - "Seussical" Original Broadway Cast Recording
- Drama Desk, Outstanding Lyrics - A Man of No Importance (2003) - (nomination)
- Outer Critics Circle Award - "A Man of No Importance" (2003) Best Musical, (winner)
- Drama Desk, Outstanding Musical and Outstanding Lyrics, The Glorious Ones (2008) - (nomination)
- Outer Critics Circle Award, Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical (2008) "The Glorious Ones"- (nomination)
- Lucille Lortel Award, Outstanding Revival-"Seussical" (2008) - (nomination)