Craig Carnelia
American actor (born 1949)
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Craig Carnelia (born August 13th, 1949; 6' 0") is an American musical theater composer and singer, known for his collaboration on the musicals Working and Sweet Smell of Success.
Biography
Carnelia grew up in Floral Park, New York.[1] He was exposed to Broadway at the age of fourteen when he was inspired by the Richard Rodgers musical No Strings. He played guitar, was in a folksinging group and taught himself to play the piano. While attending Hofstra University he won the role of The Boy in off-Broadway's The Fantasticks and dropped out of school as a sophomore.[2]
After a short stint in the production, Carnelia pursued songwriting and, later, musical theatre composition. Carnelia has one child, actress Daisy Carnelia,[3] and lives in Springfield, Missouri with his wife, actress Lisa Brescia.[4] His Poster Boy (2016) was performed at the Williamstown Theater Festival in Williamstown, Massachusetts.[5]
Carnelia's songs were heard with the work of other writers in the Stephen Schwartz conceptual revue Working (1978).[6]
From there he wrote full scores, both lyrics and music, for the short-lived Broadway musical Is there life after high school? (1982), which is still performed in stock, amateur, and regional theatres. He composed lyrics and music for Three Postcards, with a book by Craig Lucas, which was staged off-Broadway by Playwrights Horizons in 1987 and revived by Circle Rep in 1994.
For the musical Sweet Smell of Success (2002), he teamed with composer Marvin Hamlisch,[7] with whom he also composed songs for the 2002 Nora Ephron play Imaginary Friends.
He has received the Johnny Mercer Award, "Emerging American Songwriter", the first annual Gilman and Gonzalez-Falla Musical Theater Award, and the Kleban Award. He also is a mentor to young writers through the ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop, the Dramatists Guild Musical Theatre Fellowship and the Eugene O’Neill Musical Theatre Conference.[8]
Awards and nominations
- 1978 Tony Award Best Original Score Working – Music (nominee)
- 1978 Tony Award Best Original Score Working – Lyrics (nominee)
- 2002 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Lyrics Sweet Smell of Success (nominee)
- 2002 Tony Award Best Original Musical Score – Lyrics Sweet Smell of Success (nominee)
- 2003 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Lyrics Imaginary Friends (nominee)