Maury Yeston
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Maury Yeston is an American composer and lyricist educated at Yale and Clare College, Cambridge. Yeston knew from a young age that he wanted to write music for the stage after his mother took him to see a production of My Fair Lady when he was 10. While in the graduate music program at Yale, Yeston was simultaneously enrolled in the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop in New York City where he and other aspiring composer/lyricists such as Alan Menken and Ed Kleban got exposure in front of Broadway producers and directors. (Vitaris, Paul."The Unsinkable Maury Yeston." ShowMusic The Musical Theatre Magazine Spring, 1997: 17-23.) He was a member of the Yale faculty for eight years, where he was Director of Undergraduate Studies in Music and published two of his books with Yale University Press -- The Stratification of Musical Rhythm and Readings in Schenker Analysis. He is best known for his stage musicals, which include:
- Nine (1982), (revived 2003)
- Grand Hotel (1989)
- Titanic (1997)
Winner of the Tony Award for Best Original Score in 1982 (Nine), and 1997 (Titanic). Nominee for the Tony Award for Best Original Score in 1990 (Grand Hotel). Nominee for the Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Music and Outstanding Lyrics in 1990 (Grand Hotel)
- Cloud 9
- In the Beginning
- "Goya, a Life in Song"
National touring company:
- Nine (original Broadway cast, original Australian cast, 2003 revival cast, London concert...)
- Grand Hotel (original Broadway cast)
- Titanic (original Broadway cast, original Dutch cast, original Hamburg cast)
- Goya, a Life in Song (original studio cast)
- The Maury Yeston Songbook
- December Songs
- Phantom (original cast recording)
- Christmas in the Stars: Star Wars Christmas Album (lyrics)
His current projects include musicalizing the film, Death Takes a Holiday. The musical was recently workshopped starring Elena Shaddow as Grazia. Ms. Shaddow has previously performed Mr. Yeston's work on Broadway in the Revival of Nine, where she played Renata and understudied Claudia. She also performed his song cycle, December Songs, The Encore.
