Peter Dizozza
Encyclopedia
Peter William Dizozza is a music composer who also produces supplemental material as a writer, pianist, performer, photographer, and filmmaker. Since 2000 he has been the director of the WAH Theater at the Williamsburg Art & Historical Center.
Peter William Dizozza was born on September 5, 1958 in Forest Hills
(Queens), New York. He and his sister, Monica, are the two children of an attorney, Nicholas Frederick Dizozza, who came from a large family in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and a teacher, Madeleine, the only child of Margaret and Anthony Carillo who settled in Forest Hills. Although his grandmothers were born in New York, Dizozza's ancestry was Italian. His paternal grandfather, Peter Dizozza, was born in Ginosa (Bari
), and his maternal grandfather was born in San Giuseppe (Naples)
. Dizozza had a conservative and strongly Catholic upbringing. He attended Our Lady Queen of Martyrs grammar school and Archbishop Malloy High School in Queens, New York, and then went to Queens College, graduating with a Humanities Degree in Music, English, and Philosophy. After a series of summer jobs with the City of New York obtained through his maternal grandmother's friendship with a Brooklyn political leader, Meade Esposito, in 1981, at the age of 23, Dizozza joined the City Comptroller's Office and worked as an assistant, financial analyst, and court representative under Harrison J. Goldin
and Elizabeth Holtzman
until 1991. It was while working at the Comptroller's Office by day and attending St. John's Law School at night that Dizozza began directing music at the Bronx community theatre and became enamored with it. He graduated from Law School in 1986 and in 1988, moved to the East Village, Manhattan
, and began performing his own material. In 1991 he was admitted into the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop
as a composer and began legal employment as an associate with The Law Office of Jerald D. Werlin, a firm specializing in personal injury in Long Island City. His monthly piano/singer/songwriter shows began in November 1995 at—and because of—an open-stage anti-hoot organized and hosted by Lach
at SideWalk Bar-Restaurant.
Dizozza's family vacationed on Candlewood Isle, a Candlewood Lake
community in Connecticut. That led to some acting in children's commercials of DuRona studios and brief appearance in a wedding scene as an extra in the Sylvester Stallone
vehicle The Lords of Flatbush
.
Since 1964 Dizozza has produced a steady output of primarily musical original material. To contain and administer his creative catalogue, he registered in 1996 a D/B/A and started a website under the name Cinema VII, reviving a collective founded in 1972 by a high school friend, Mike Lindsay.
Peter William Dizozza was born on September 5, 1958 in Forest Hills
Forest Hills, Queens
Forest Hills is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York, United States.-Neighborhood:The neighborhood is home to upper-middle class residents, of whom the wealthier residents often live in the neighborhood's Forest Hills Gardens area...
(Queens), New York. He and his sister, Monica, are the two children of an attorney, Nicholas Frederick Dizozza, who came from a large family in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and a teacher, Madeleine, the only child of Margaret and Anthony Carillo who settled in Forest Hills. Although his grandmothers were born in New York, Dizozza's ancestry was Italian. His paternal grandfather, Peter Dizozza, was born in Ginosa (Bari
Bari
Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...
), and his maternal grandfather was born in San Giuseppe (Naples)
San Giuseppe (Naples)
San Giuseppe is a neighbourhood of Naples, southern Italy, that includes many of the items of interest on the western side of the historic center of Naples, including the square and church of Gesù Nuovo, the buildings along via Benedetto Croce and the square, Piazza San Domeico Maggiore....
. Dizozza had a conservative and strongly Catholic upbringing. He attended Our Lady Queen of Martyrs grammar school and Archbishop Malloy High School in Queens, New York, and then went to Queens College, graduating with a Humanities Degree in Music, English, and Philosophy. After a series of summer jobs with the City of New York obtained through his maternal grandmother's friendship with a Brooklyn political leader, Meade Esposito, in 1981, at the age of 23, Dizozza joined the City Comptroller's Office and worked as an assistant, financial analyst, and court representative under Harrison J. Goldin
Harrison J. Goldin
Harrison Jay Goldin is a lawyer and former New York politician. He served as New York City Comptroller from 1974 to 1989. He was a member of the New York State Senate from 1966 to 1973 and ran in the 1989 Democratic Primary election for Mayor of New York...
and Elizabeth Holtzman
Elizabeth Holtzman
Elizabeth Holtzman is an American lawyer and former Democratic politician, pioneer woman officeholder, four term U.S. Representative , two term District Attorney of Kings County , and New York City Comptroller .Her role on the House Judiciary Committee during the Watergate scandal drew national...
until 1991. It was while working at the Comptroller's Office by day and attending St. John's Law School at night that Dizozza began directing music at the Bronx community theatre and became enamored with it. He graduated from Law School in 1986 and in 1988, moved to the East Village, Manhattan
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
, and began performing his own material. In 1991 he was admitted into the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop
BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop
The BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop is a workshop in New York for musical theatre composers, lyricists and librettists.-History:The BMI Workshop was founded in 1961 by Lehman Engel and the performing rights organization BMI ....
as a composer and began legal employment as an associate with The Law Office of Jerald D. Werlin, a firm specializing in personal injury in Long Island City. His monthly piano/singer/songwriter shows began in November 1995 at—and because of—an open-stage anti-hoot organized and hosted by Lach
Lach
Lach is a musician associated with the anti-folk movement. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he was trained as a classical pianist from an early age only to abandon it once he heard The Sex Pistols, The Jam and The Clash for the first time. Realizing he was a songwriter, Lach backtracked and explored...
at SideWalk Bar-Restaurant.
Dizozza's family vacationed on Candlewood Isle, a Candlewood Lake
Candlewood Lake
Candlewood Lake, 8.4 sq mi , is located in Fairfield and Litchfield counties of western Connecticut, in the northeastern United States. It is the largest lake in Connecticut...
community in Connecticut. That led to some acting in children's commercials of DuRona studios and brief appearance in a wedding scene as an extra in the Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone
Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed...
vehicle The Lords of Flatbush
The Lords of Flatbush
The Lords of Flatbush is a 1974 American drama film about a street gang in leather jackets from the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York....
.
Since 1964 Dizozza has produced a steady output of primarily musical original material. To contain and administer his creative catalogue, he registered in 1996 a D/B/A and started a website under the name Cinema VII, reviving a collective founded in 1972 by a high school friend, Mike Lindsay.
Plays and productions
- Prepare to meet your makerPrepare to meet your makerPrepare to Meet Your Maker is the title of a surrealist musical mystery play in six episodes by Peter Dizozza inspired by resurrection themes including those associated with Isis and Osiris...
- Musical mystery play with 30 performances and a soundtrack recorded by Alex Abrash and David Baker at Electric Lady Studio in September 2001.
- The Golf Wars - First reading at La MaMa, E.T.C. on April 5, 2002. Soundtrack, Songs of The Golf Wars, produced by Major Matt Mason USAMajor Matt Mason USAMajor Matt Mason USA is the performing name of Matt Roth, a New York City-based musician and record producer, is active in the Anti-folk and DIY music scene of New York's East Village....
for Olive Juice Music. Produced at The WAH Theatre in conjunction with World Peace Exhibit, 2002, directed by Tom Nondorf. Revived as a band performance at Joe's Pub at The Joseph Papp Public Theater and in a revised staging by Tom Nondorf at La Mama, in time for the November elections in 2006.
- The Marriage at the Statue of Liberty (2003) - Wrote and produced for the Williamsburg Art & Historical Center Brave Destiny Exhibition, a modern ballet with dialogue after Cocteau (inspired by Les mariés de la Tour Eiffel, the surrealist ballet with dialogue by the French Poet/Filmmaker Jean CocteauJean CocteauJean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, playwright, artist and filmmaker. His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Kenneth Anger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, María...
). Features the Emiaj Dance Troupe
- Contributed short plays to the Manhattan Theatre SourceManhattan Theatre SourceThe Manhattan Theatre Source is an Off-Off-Broadway not for profit art service organization located in Manhattan near Washington Square Park. A café and art gallery occupy the lower level of "The Source", a 160 year old brick building, while the upper story contains a library and the theatre proper...
48 Hour Spontaneous Combustion Production (Gala & Ligeti), March 24–26, 2002, and to the Confronting Chekhov festival, 2009 (Not the Ravine) and Dramatizing Dante festival, 2010 (The Afterdeath, a Francesca and Paolo mini-opera) produced by The Brooklyn Playwrights Collective.
- The Last Dodo - Premiered at the Williamsburg Art & Historical Center, playing from February through April 2001, at Baby Jupiter, 170 Stanton Street at Orchard Street, New York, NY. Soundtrack produced by Aashish Pathak. A film sketch was completed in 2003.
- A Question of Solitude, TentagatneT, The Last Dodo, The Peace Mission, Witchfinders, Coppélia, and The Eleventh Hour originated at La MaMa, E.T.C.'s Experiments concert reading series, curated by George Ferencz (1998–2009).
- Marilyn Majeski directed CoppéliaCoppéliaCoppélia is a sentimental comic ballet with original choreography by Arthur Saint-Léon to a ballet libretto by Saint-Léon and Charles Nuitter and music by Léo Delibes. It was based upon two macabre stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, Der Sandmann , and Die Puppe...
for La Mama then subsequently produced the show through Wing and a Prayer Productions at the Gene FrankelGene Frankel__notoc__Eugene V. "Gene" Frankel was an American actor, theater director, and acting teacher especially notable in the founding of the off-Broadway scene...
Theatre Workshop in 1998.
- Produced staged readings of The Eleventh HourThe Eleventh Hour (1999 play)The Eleventh Hour is a 1999 play by American composer Peter Dizozza.-History:In 1974, Dizozza created a ghost story, using as its outline a reordered track listing of the soundtrack recording of Lost Horizon by Burt Bacharach and Hal David...
(1999) at the La Tea Theatre in the Clemente Soto VelezClemente Soto VélezClemente Soto Vélez was a Puerto Rican nationalist, poet, journalist and activist who mentored many generations of artists in Puerto Rico and New York City...
Cultural and Educational Center. John Seroff revised and directed a sold-out production of The Eleventh Hour at the Williamsburg Art & Historical Center. Cast members included Jeffrey LewisJeffrey LewisJeffrey Lewis is an American singer/songwriter and comic book artist.-Early life:Lewis attended State University of New York at Purchase and graduated in 1997 with a degree in Literature...
, Cheryl LaRosa, Kimya DawsonKimya DawsonKimya Dawson is an American singer-songwriter, best known as a solo performer and as one half of The Moldy Peaches. In Swahili, "Kimya" means "silence" or "silent".-Career:...
, Abbey Valdez, Daniel Bernstein and Toby GoodshankToby GoodshankToby Goodshank is a musician and visual artist based out of New York City. In addition to his solo work, he performs regularly with New York City-based bands Double Deuce, the Tri-Lambs, and the Christian Pirate Puppets.-Biography:...
.
- The Sea Heiress (2004) - For two voices, piano, clarinet and baritone sax, produced at the Williamsburg Art & Historical Center.
- Tentagatnet (2005) - For five actors, cello, clarinet, guitar and flute (La MaMa, E.T.C.'s Experiments '05) revived for a full production in La MaMa, E.T.C.'s 2007 Experimenta! Festival, directed by George Ferencz.
- O (2006) - A recovered memory play (La MaMa, E.T.C.'s Experiments '06). Its sequel is Cow City (2008).
- 2.2.2 (2007) - Also known as "Hermaphroditism Through the Ages," produced in "Oh Happy Three" as part of the Straight from the Source Summer Series at Manhattan Theatre SourceManhattan Theatre SourceThe Manhattan Theatre Source is an Off-Off-Broadway not for profit art service organization located in Manhattan near Washington Square Park. A café and art gallery occupy the lower level of "The Source", a 160 year old brick building, while the upper story contains a library and the theatre proper...
)
- Cow City (2008) - produced in "Oh Happy Three 2008" as part of the Playground Summer Series at Manhattan Theatre SourceManhattan Theatre SourceThe Manhattan Theatre Source is an Off-Off-Broadway not for profit art service organization located in Manhattan near Washington Square Park. A café and art gallery occupy the lower level of "The Source", a 160 year old brick building, while the upper story contains a library and the theatre proper...
)
- Paradise Found (2008) - produced in conjunction with Milton's 400th Birthday Art Exhibition by the Williamsburg Art & Historical Center.
- The Woman Artist's Journey (2009) - a program of 5 plays by Maria Micheles, C.J. Ehrlich, Alaina Hammond, Phil Kaplan and Allan Lefcowitz, produced with the Brooklyn Playwrights Collective to celebrate the Woman Forward Art Exhibition at the Williamsburg Art & Historical Center.
- As music director for Forest Hills Gardens Women's Club, provided scores for The Great Enchanted Forest (2000) and for Murder by Music (a detectives musical, 2001)
- Composed music for Convertible by Elizabeth West Versalie, produced at La MaMa, E.T.C.'s main stage in 1997. Soundtrack featured the voice of Catherine Russell.
- Performs monthly piano set at the Sidewalk Bar-Restaurant (94 Ave A at E6th St, NY) where he originated the monologues/song cycles Pro-Choice on Mental Health, Exploring a Fascination with Things that Spin, When the Kangaroos Come Out, The Blood of a Poet, The Secret to Good Sex (Abstinence), and The Philosopher's Stone, and the short play, Shipping the Satellite. The audio recordings of the Pro-Choice on Mental Health songs and text are produced by Joe Bendik.
- Wrote over 200 unique songs and numerous works for solo piano
- Composed song settings for poems of Thomas HardyThomas HardyThomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
and T. S. EliotT. S. EliotThomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
, and Shakespeare's As You Like It and The Tempest, which toured city parks during the summer of 1991
- Composed a choral score for Neil Ericksen's musical play based on the myth of Atalanta, entitled Legs Like These (QWIRK's Actor's Equity Showcase, One Dream Theatre, 1992).
- In the cabaret field (Don’t Tell Mama, Trocadero, Duplex) he collaborated with Margaret O'Hanlon (1987–1988) on Infidelity, Infidelity Reformed, Tropical Depression, and The Hoagy and Peter Show, and with Lisa Dery and Tyr Throne on A Nite of Love and Possession (1996–1997).
- Wrote and performed a calypso theatre piece, A Trip to Bermuda for Charles StrouseCharles StrouseCharles Strouse is an American composer and lyricist.-Life and career:Strouse was born and raised in New York City, the son of Ira and Ethel Strouse...
's A. R. GurneyA. R. GurneyA. R. Gurney is an American playwright and novelist. He is known for works including Love Letters, The Cocktail Hour, and The Dining Room. Gurney currently lives in both New York and Connecticut....
Project as part of the ASCAP Music Theatre Workshop.
- Assistant Conductor on We Are Innocent, an album of Julius and Ethel RosenbergJulius and Ethel RosenbergEthel Greenglass Rosenberg and Julius Rosenberg were American communists who were convicted and executed in 1953 for conspiracy to commit espionage during a time of war. The charges related to their passing information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union...
letters set by the composer, Leonard LehrmanLeonard LehrmanLeonard J[ordan] Lehrman was born in Kansas, on August 20, 1949, but grew up in Roslyn, NY, becoming the youngest private composition student of Elie Siegmeister . Since Aug...
.
- Helped to reconstruct the score and present a backers' audition for Maggie Da Silva's production of Marc BlitzsteinMarc BlitzsteinMarcus Samuel Blitzstein, better known as Marc Blitzstein , was an American composer. He won national attention in 1937 when his pro-union musical The Cradle Will Rock, directed by Orson Welles, was shut down by the Works Progress Administration...
's labor opera, No For An Answer.
- For reading series produced for The Neighborhood PlayhouseNeighborhood PlayhouseThe Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre is an actor training school at 340 East 54th Street in New York City, generally associated with the Meisner technique of Sanford Meisner.-History:...
by Patricia Watt, he began writing introductory songs for play collections, particularly Bruce Jay FriedmanBruce Jay FriedmanBruce Jay Friedman is an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and actor.Raised in the Bronx by Irving and Mollie Friedman, Bruce Jay Friedman graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School. He then attended the University of Missouri as a journalism major, then served as a First Lieutenant in...
's 4-Play directed by Steve Ditmyer. With Mr. Friedman, he presented 4-Play as part of the 2006 75th Anniversary Season of the John Drew Theatre in East Hampton's Guild Hall.
- Author of three novels, Storm Cloud (1981), The Resurrection (1974 revised 1985), and Mark of the Librarian (1998).
- Graduate of the Humanities Program and Aaron Copland School of Music (Queens College, 1981), St. John's Law School (1986), the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater WorkshopBMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater WorkshopThe BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop is a workshop in New York for musical theatre composers, lyricists and librettists.-History:The BMI Workshop was founded in 1961 by Lehman Engel and the performing rights organization BMI ....
(1994), and even, in 1997, the Landmark EducationLandmark EducationLandmark Education LLC is a personal training and development company which offers educational programs in approximately 115 locations in more than 20 countries worldwide....
Self Expression and Leadership Program, the offspring of Erhard Seminars TrainingErhard Seminars TrainingErhard Seminars Training, an organization founded by Werner H. Erhard, offered a two-weekend course known officially as "The est Standard Training"...
or EST.
- Artist and in-house counsel for Cinema VII, an entertainment collective that administers his creative catalogue
- Early movies, The Ruins (1971) and Angels: Tour of the Vultures (1977) received screenings in 2000 at film festivals, including a silent film/live music event at Manhattan Theatre SourceManhattan Theatre SourceThe Manhattan Theatre Source is an Off-Off-Broadway not for profit art service organization located in Manhattan near Washington Square Park. A café and art gallery occupy the lower level of "The Source", a 160 year old brick building, while the upper story contains a library and the theatre proper...
.
- Helped organize permits and act as NYC Liaison for Anti-folkAnti-folkAnti-folk is a music genre that takes the earnestness of politically charged 1960s folk music and subverts it. The defining characteristics of this anti-folk are difficult to identify, as they vary from one artist to the next...
Fests in Tompkins Square and Central Park since 1999
- Participant in the Union Internationale des Avocets, Strasbourg
- Practicing attorney
Memberships
- The Entertainment Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New YorkAssociation of the Bar of the City of New YorkThe New York City Bar Association , founded in 1870, is a voluntary association of lawyers and law students. Since 1896, the organization, formally known as the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, has been headquartered in a landmark building on 44th Street, between Fifth and Sixth...
. Chair, 2006-2009.
- The LambsThe LambsThe Lambs, Inc., is one of America's oldest theatrical organizations and is based in New York City.-History:The Lambs was originally founded in 1868 in London by actors, led by John Hare, the first Shepherd, looking to socialize with like-minded people...
Club
- The Dramatists Guild
- Bar of the State of New York