Michael Kooman
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Michael Kooman is a composer living in New York City. He is most known for his cabaret songs as well as composing the musicals "Homemade Fusion", "Dani Girl" and "The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes" with Christopher Dimond. He is half of the writing team of Kooman and Dimond.
Awards
Along with Christopher Dimond, he received the $50,000 2013 Fred Ebb Award as well as the 2010 Jonathan Larson Grant. In 2011, they were awarded the first Lorenz Hart Award, given by the ASCAP Foundation. In 2009, he received the Burton Lane Award from the American Theatre Hall of Fame, and received a fellowship from both the Dramatists Guild of America as well as the O'neill Musical Theatre Festival.[1][2][3]
He has completed the advanced BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop and is currently a member of the Dramatists Guild of America.
Musicals
Michael Kooman graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 2006 where he met collaborator, Dimond. Their first collaboration was "Homemade Fusion" in March 2006. Since the premiere, "Homemade Fusion" has been performed across the country as well an internationally. The show debuted at Carnegie Mellon University in 2006, with a subsequent production at the Pittsburgh CLO Cabaret Theater. This production featured Tony Award winner Patina Miller, Kara Lindsay, Anderson Davis, Andrew Kober, and many other Carnegie Mellon Drama School Alumni. In 2010, the show was performed at the Ambassadors theater in London. Songs from "Homemade Fusion" have amassed more than a million views on their YouTube channel.[4]
In 2007, their musical "Dani Girl" premiered in the Carnegie Mellon drama department, and quickly went on to workshops at the American Conservatory Theater, The ASCAP/Disney Musical Theater Workshop, The Kennedy Center, and CAP-21 among others. The musical has since been performed internationally and is published by Samuel French Inc.
"Golden Gate" was commissioned by the Williamstown Theatre Festival and premiered August 12, 2009.
"Junior Claus" is a family friendly Christmas Musical that premiered in December 2009 in Minneapolis, MN, and is now published by Dramatic Publishing.[5]
"The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes" was begun in 2011, and subsequently workshopped at prestigious "O'neill Music Theater Workshop" as followed up by a workshop production at the Village Theater in Seattle in 2014, and a workshop at Goodspeed Musicals [6][7]
In 2013, he collaborated with director Alberto Belli on the viral video "Someday Soon", featured on Funny or Die.[8]
2014 brought the premier of two commissioned musicals by Kooman and Dimond. First, "Judge Jackie Justice" at the Pittsburgh CLO, opened to positive reviews on January 31, 2014. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette raved "Musical comedy justice is served in a new CLO Cabaret show featuring catchy tunes, clever lyrics, juicy characters and important roles for audience members throughout the proceedings.” [9]
A few weeks later, Kennedy Center commissioned musical "Orphie and the Book of Heroes" was given a 5 star review by the Washington Post calling the show an "Epic Success".[10]
Also in 2014, he was commissioned to create a new piece for the Canadian Music Theatre Project. The musical, "The Enlightenment of Percival Von Schmootz" was workshopped at Sheridan College, and then consequently workshopped at Northwestern University as part of the American Musical Theater Project. A production is scheduled for late 2015 in Toronto.[11]
He and collaborator Dimond are working on a hitherto unannounced musical adaptation of a movie.
Album
On June 28, 2011, Kooman released "Out of Our Heads: The Music of Kooman and Dimond". The album features several Tony nominated performers including Patina Miller, Kerry Butler, and Christopher Sieber. The album release party was held at Birdland on July 18, 2011 featuring performances by Laura Osnes, Julia Murney, Jeremy Jordan, Kyle Dean Massey, and Jose Llana.
Additional Sources
- http://koomandimond.com/biography.html
- http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/millennium/artist_detail.cfm?artist_id=KOOMANMCHL
- http://broadwayworld.com/article/Photo-Coverage-ASCAP-Foundation-Honors-Stephen-Schwartz-with-Richard-Rodgers-Award-20111208
- http://www.playbill.com/news/article/152131-Kerry-Butler-Christopher-Sieber-Patina-Miller-Are-Out-of-Our-Heads-on-New-CD-Arriving-on-iTunes-June-28
- http://broadwayworld.com/article/Photo-Coverage-Patina-Miller-Laura-Osnes-Jeremy-Jordan-More-Sing-the-Music-of-Kooman-Dimond-at-Birdland-20110719
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbbewRSc-C0
References
- ^ http://www.playbill.com/news/article/michael-kooman-and-christopher-dimond-are-winners-of-ninth-annual-fred-ebb--211651
- ^ http://www.playbill.com/news/article/lerman-mate-kooman-and-dimond-are-larson-award-winners-165454
- ^ http://www.ascap.com/playback/2012/01/foundation/rodgers_hart_award.aspx
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/user/koomandimond
- ^ http://www.dramaticpublishing.com/p3703/Junior-Claus/product_info.html
- ^ http://www.playbill.com/news/article/oneill-music-theater-conference-will-nurture-new-musicals-goddess-broadcast-204007
- ^ http://www.playbill.com/news/article/michael-kooman-and-christopher-dimonds-noteworthy-life-of-howard-barnes-beg-326576
- ^ http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/da67462e8f/someday-soon-i-ll-be-employed
- ^ http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/theater-dance/2014/02/11/Mischievous-mayhem-rules-in-Judge-Jackie/stories/201402110024
- ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/review-orphie-and-the-book-of-heroes-at-the-kennedy-center-is-an-epic-success/2014/02/13/f145f4f4-941f-11e3-9e13-770265cf4962_story.html
- ^ http://www.playbill.com/news/article/new-musical-by-award-winning-team-of-kooman-dimond-gets-staged-reading-349693