Amanda Yesnowitz
Librettist
Lyricist
she/her/hers
Amanda Yesnowitz received the 2018 Kleban Prize for the most promising lyricist. She has also earned the Jonathan Larson Award (first individual lyricist), a Dramatists Guild fellowship, 8 MAC Award nominations, the Dottie Burman Award and the Jamie deRoy and Friends/ASCAP Award, all for excellence and vision in lyric writing. Request Amanda as a Plays in Progress Mentor.
Interests: Puzzles, New England, Hiking, Food Culture, Linguistics
I approach my critiques from micro and macro perspectives. Regarding the former, I am a craft-based technician who understands thoroughly the mechanics of lyric and scene structure, a pathologist of sorts. And while I do not compose music, one of my Master's degrees is in music so I have the knowledge base to examine musical choices, notably the relationship between music and text. In terms of the macro, I assess musicals in broad strokes as well-- tracking story themes, character arcs, overall ethos, style, and sensibility, all to give the writer a comprehensive and in-depth review.
AMANDA YESNOWITZ received the 2018 Kleban Prize for the most promising lyricist. She has also earned the Jonathan Larson Award, a Dramatists Guild fellowship, 8 MAC Award nominations, the Dottie Burman Award, the Jamie deRoy and Friends/ASCAP Award, and the Berklee School of Music Distinguished Alumni Award, all for excellence and vision in lyric writing.
Current projects include Christmas in Connecticut (Broadway Licensing commission, world premiere production at Goodspeed Opera House Fall 2022, music by Jason Howland); Do No Harm (Davenport Theatrical, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, 2021 O’Neill Conference semifinalist, 2023 Phoenix Theatre New Musicals Festival); Somewhere in Time (Davenport Theatrical, world premiere production at Portland Center Stage, 7 PAMTA nominations; NAMT finalist); and a modern romantic comedy May/December (developed at Oldcastle Theatre, VT; upcoming world premiere production in 2023). Amanda (along with David Zippel and Sheldon Harnick) is also contributing lyrics to In the Name of Love, a revue with music by Don Oliver.
Amanda has presented her work at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage. She participated in the Johnny Mercer Artist Grove at where she was invited to continue developing By The Numbers (ASCAP and TRU showcases, Buck Hill Skytop Festival finalist). Amanda’s words have been performed by Broadway luminaries such as Susan Egan and Melissa Errico as well as musical icons like Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops on New Year’s Eve at Symphony Hall in Massachusetts. A revue based on her song “Those 7 Little Words” enjoyed an extended run at Cleveland’s Playhouse in the Square and a revue based on her song “Understudy Blues” garnered raves at the Galloway in Cape Town, South Africa. She has collaborated with many other illustrious composers including Larry O’Keefe, Skip Kennon, Brad Ross, Deborah Abramson, Barbara Anselmi, Matthew Sklar, Sam Willmott, and Jason Robert Brown. Her lyrics have been part of the NAMT Showcase, Notes From Now (59e59 Theatre), New York Theatre Workshop’s benefit honoring James Lapine, Broadway at Birdland, Lea Michele’s cabaret debut in NYC and LA; quoted in Newsday, The Daily News, The Sydney Morning Herald, and Time magazine; and published by The New York Times and The Dramatist magazine.
Other complete works include The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Hangar Theatre world premiere), The History of War (O’Neill Conference finalist; 2010 NYMF invited selection), Four-Letter Words (York Theatre), Triptych (Provincetown Play Festival selection; ATB Flores Series), and Building a Wing (Best Musical at 2007 Short, Sweet & Song Festival in Sydney). Recordings: ”Gotta Start Small” on Stephanie J. Block’s This Place I Know (PS Classics; Live from Lincoln Center/PBS May 2018; currently streaming on Broadway HD), “Too Close to the Sun” on Steve Marzullo’s Kiss Me While We Have the Chance and the title track of Steve Marzullo’s Show
Some Beauty (both on Yellow Sound Lab).