Andrew Lippa, Award-Winning Composer and Lyricist on His Musicals, Creative Thinking, and Self-Awarreness

Andrew Lippa Award-winning composer of The Addams Family, Big Fish, The Wild Party, and many other musicals joins me for the podcast.

In addition to his incredible talent and many accomplishments, he was also the Oberon to my Titania, the Brack Weaver to my Jennie Parsons, and the Ralph Rackstraw to my Josephine. My high school leading man joins me to talk about arts education, creativity, and the work of the arts. Here's more about Andrew. And really, go listen to the episode. It's incredible!

About Andrew

Andrew Lippa’s “Unbreakable” had its world premiere with The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus on June 22nd and 23rd, 2018 with 300 artists onstage, including Mr. Lippa. It is now available for purchase and streaming. He conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in a new production of his “A Little Princess” in concert in London at the Royal Festival Hall in May, 2018 to a sold-out crowd of nearly 3,000 people. His hit song “Evil Like Me” appears in Disney’s “Descendants”. Written for Kristin Chenoweth, that soundtrack hit #1 on the “Billboard 200” album chart, #1 on the iTunes and Billboard soundtrack charts. “Evil Like Me” was certified gold in 2017. His epic oratorio for men’s chorus, orchestra and soloists, I Am Harvey Milk has seen over 30 productions including Disney Hall and Lincoln Center.  Andrew’s new musical, The Man in the Ceiling, released a world premiere studio album in May of 2019.  

Broadway credits include: Music and lyrics for Big Fish directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman; the Tony-nominated music and lyrics for the Broadway musical The Addams Family (directed by Jerry Zaks) as well as the music for Aaron Sorkin’s Broadway play The Farnsworth Invention (directed by Des McAnuff). Other musicals include the Drama Desk award winning musical The Wild Party (book/music/lyrics); A Little Princess (music); john & jen (music/book); Asphalt Beach (music and lyrics); Life of the Party (a compendium of Mr. Lippa’s works); and You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown (additional music/lyrics and arrangements). 

Awards include Tony and Grammy nominations; shared Emmy for Nickelodeon’s “The Wonder Pets”; SFGMC Vanguard Award; The Drama Desk Award; The Outer Critics Circle Award. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Mr. Lippa serves as president of the board of The Dramatists Guild Foundation (dgf.org).andrewlippa.com