Laurence O'Keefe (composer)
Laurence O'Keefe | |
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Born | Laurence Crawford O'Keefe 1969 (age 54–55) |
Nationality | American |
Education | |
Occupations |
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Notable work | Bat Boy Legally Blonde Heathers: The Musical |
Parents |
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Relatives | Dan O'Keefe (brother) Mark O'Keefe (brother) |
Awards | Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical (2001) |
Laurence Crawford "Larry" O'Keefe (born 1969) is an American
Early life and education
O'Keefe was born in 1969. He is the second of three sons born to writer and editor
O'Keefe later studied composition and film scoring at Berklee College of Music and the University of Southern California, receiving a master's degree in composition for film and television.[2]
Career
Bat Boy: The Musical
O'Keefe has composed music and lyrics for a wide variety of works. He wrote the score for
Bat Boy: The Musical has also been produced in
Legally Blonde: The Musical
O'Keefe and his wife
The first national tour of Legally Blonde opened at the
Legally Blonde opened on January 12, 2010, at the Savoy Theatre in London's West End, starring UK television stars Sheridan Smith, Jill Halfpenny and Peter Davison, plus pop star Duncan James.[11] Many reviews were positive, especially for the cast. The Independent reviewer wrote: "Totally blown away...it's ridiculously enjoyable from start to finish." The Guardian reviewer concluded "the predominantly female audience with whom I saw the show seemed to be having a whale of a time and did not give a damn about the fact that the musical is little more than a nonsensical fairytale."[12]
Legally Blonde won three 2011 Laurence Olivier Awards including Best New Musical and Best Actress in a Musical for Sheridan Smith and Best Supporting Performance in a Musical for Jill Halfpenny.[13]
The show has had several tours worldwide, including the UK, Australia, and New Zealand.
Heathers: The Musical
With co-author
The show moved to the
Theatre, TV and concerts
O'Keefe and his wife
With Benjamin, O'Keefe has written two musicals for
In February 2004, O'Keefe guest-conducted the Harvard Pops Orchestra in an evening of his songs, and premiered his short opera The Magic Futon.[1] A repeat performance with the Pops was presented in November 2008.[25]
O'Keefe worked with David Shiner on the music, lyrics, and book, for Drop Everything, a new clown show/musical, workshopped at ACT Theatre in Seattle. Excerpts were also produced at the Tollwood Arts Festival in Munich and the Lisbon Comedy Festival.[25]
O'Keefe and Benjamin wrote an operatic musical, first produced at New York's
O'Keefe and Benjamin have written many songs and pieces for movies, television and concerts, including
They wrote narration and new comic verses for the
O'Keefe is currently working on a Disney musical film adaption of The Princess and the Pea with Ingrid Michaelson cowriting the music with him.[30]
Teaching and other work
O'Keefe is active as a writer, teacher and advocate in the Broadway and New York theatre communities. He has served on the Nominating Committee of the
List of shows and major theatre productions
- 1996 – Euphoria, The Actors' Gang Theater, Los Angeles[32]
- 1997 – Bat Boy: The Musical, The Actors' Gang Theater, Los Angeles
- 2000 - La Cava, Victoria Palace Theatre and Piccadilly Theatre, London
- 2000, 2001 – The Mice, Prince Music Theater, Philadelphia and Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles[21][20][33]
- 2001 – Bat Boy: The Musical, Union Square Theatre, New York
- 2002 – Sarah, Plain and Tall, based on the Patricia MacLachlan children's book[34][24]
- 2004 – Cam Jansen and the Curse of the Emerald Elephant, after the Cam Jansen mystery series, Lamb's Theatre, New York
- 2004 – West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds; and Shaftesbury Theatre, London
- 2007 – , New York
- 2008 and 2011 – Legally Blonde: The Musical, 1st US National Tour; 2nd US National Tour
- 2010 – Legally Blonde: The Musical, Savoy Theatre, London
- 2010 – Heathers, Joe's Pub, New York
- 2012, 2017 – Life of the Party, NYUSteinhardt School, New York;
- 2012 and 2016– Legally Blonde: The Musical, 1st UK/Ireland National Tour; 2nd UK/Ireland National Tour
- 2013 – Legally Blonde: The Musical, Ronacher Theatre, Vienna[36]
- 2013 – Heathers: The Musical, Hudson Theatre, Los Angeles
- 2014 – Heathers: The Musical, New World Stages, New York
- 2018 – Heathers: The Musical, The Other Palace, London; and Theatre Royal Haymarket, London
- 2023 - Heathers: The Musical, UK/Ireland Tour
References
- ^ a b "Bat Boy Composer, Laurence O'Keefe To Perform with the Harvard Pops Orchestra" onstageboston.com, February 6, 2004
- ^ a b c "Laurence O'Keefe (Adams '91)" harvard1991.org, accessed July 28, 2019
- ^ Profile, hastypudding.org; accessed December 6, 2017.
- ^ Bat Boy Internet Off-Broadway Database, retrieved July 23, 2019
- ^ "London's Bat Boy to Close a Month Earlier Than Expected" broadway.com, January 4, 2005
- ^ "Recipients. Laurence O'Keefe" americantheatrewing.org, retrieved July 23, 2019
- ^ Jacobs, Leonard. "Jordan, O'Keefe Capture 2004 Kleban Awards" Backstage, May 5, 2004
- ^ Hetrick, Adam. " Legally Blonde to Close on Broadway Oct. 19" Playbill, September 24, 2008
- ^ Hetrick, Adam. "Road Trip! Legally Blonde Kicks Off Tour in Providence Sept. 21" Playbill, September 21, 2008
- ^ Cary, Emily. "Musical Legally Blonde wraps up tour at Wolf Trap" Washington Examiner, August 9, 2010
- ^ Bilington, Michael. Legally Blonde the Musical The Guardian, 13 January 2010
- ^ Brown, Peter. Legally Blonde The Musical londontheatre.co.uk, 14 January 2010
- ^ "Olivier Awards, 2011" officiallondontheatre.com, retrieved July 23, 2019
- ^ Rosky, Nicole. "Claire Sweeney to Play Paulette in 'Legally Blonde Tour" Archived 2012-03-13 at the Wayback Machine broadwayworld.com, July 11, 2011
- ^ LEGALLY BLONDE FINISHES AUSTRALIAN TOUR ON JULY 14 Archived 2013-12-02 at the Wayback Machine stagewhispers.com.au, Retrieved 25 November 2013
- ^ Hetrick, Adam. "Laurence O'Keefe and Kevin Murphy's Heathers The Musical Will Premiere in L.A." Playbill, August 29, 2013
- ^ Morrison, Sara. Heathers theatlantic.com, December 10, 2013
- ^ Taylor, Paul. " Heathers, Theatre Royal Haymarket, London" Independent, September 14, 2018
- ^ Bowie-Sell, Daisy. " Hamilton and Aidan Turner among winners at 19th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards" whatsonstage.com, March 3, 2019
- ^ a b Haithman, Diane. "They Scurried to Tell This Tale" Los Angeles Times, April 22, 2001
- ^ a b Suskin, Steven. "ON THE RECORD: 3hree, Old Strouse & Adams, and a Surprising New Musical" Playbill, April 22, 2001
- ^ Simonson, Robert. "Harold Prince Lofts a 3hree-Pointer in Philly, Oct. 25" Playbill, October 25, 2000
- ^ Cam Jansen Internet Off-Broadway Database, retrieved July 25, 2019
- ^ a b Van Gelder, Lawrence."Theater Review: The Pain of Loss, Assuaged by a Fresh Face"The New York Times, July 18, 2002
- ^ a b American Theatre Wing, Jonathan Larson Grants Recipient - 2001: Laurence O'Keefe, retrieved September 24, 2014
- ^ Hetrick, Adam. "Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin Musical 'Life of the Party' Premieres at LaGuardia High May 3" Playbill, May 3, 2012
- ^ "NYU Steinhardt to Stage 'Life of the Party', a New Musical, March 23-26" nyu.edu, March 9, 2017
- ^ Gans, Andrew. "'Sprites' DVD — with Avenue Q's Tartaglia — Due in Stores March 18" Playbill, March 12, 2008
- ^ "Nathan Lane Narrates New York Philharmonic's New Year's Eve Concert Tonight" broadwayworld.com, December 31, 2015
- ^ https://playbill.com/article/ingrid-michaelson-and-legally-blonde-heathers-composer-laurence-okeefe-to-write-original-songs-for-disneys-penelope
- ^ Peterson, Tyler. "Laurence O'Keefe Will Co-Chair Dramatists Guild Fund's Fellows Program" broadwayworld.com, July 14, 2015
- ^ "Actor's Gang Lighting Up Drug Drama, Euphoria, in CA 10/18" playbill, October 18, 1996
- ^ Hitchcock, Laura. "A CurtainUp Los Angeles Review. 3hree: The Mice, Lavender Hill Girl, The Flight of the Lawnchair Man" curtainup.com, April 25, 2001
- ISBN 978-1-55783-708-0. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
- ISBN 978-1-4234-7369-5. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
- ^ Legally Blonde musicalsworld.be (in German), accessed July 26, 2019
External links
- Laurence O'Keefe at the Internet Broadway Database
- Laurence O'Keefe at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- Laurence O'Keefe at IMDb