On Monday, January 18, the Broadway at Birdland series presented "Wordland: A Night Without Ballads. Except For One. Maybe," celebrating the lyrics of Amanda Yesnowitz. Lyricist Yesnowitz was joined by Broadway stars Chip Zien, Ann Harada, Noah Weisberg, Kate Reinders, Katie Clark, Courtney Balan, Lauren Kennedy, Farah Alvin and Carlos Encinias.
Amanda Yesnowitz was the first individual lyricist to win the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation Award. Her musical By The Numbers (music by Brian Feinstein) earned a Dramatists Guild Fellowship, a slot in the ASCAP Showcase, and an industry reading through TRU's New Voices Series. Amanda penned lyrics for an adaption of Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle (music by Feinstein), produced by Ithaca's Hangar Theatre, where local critics agreed that her ‘clever lyrics do Brecht justice.' Other written works include Building a Wing (Best Musical at 2007 Short Sweet & Song in Sydney, music by Michael Ficocelli), The History of War (music by Deborah Abramson, book by Chip Zien), and While I Wait (music by Abramson), a new song cycle featuring "Other People's Art," premiered at NAMT's 2009 Songwriter Showcase), "Another Day," (debuted by Lea Michele) and "Gotta Start Small," (recorded by Stephanie J. Block on her CD, This Place I Know). Regional highlights include "No Loooking Back," performed by Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall. In March of 2009, Amanda'ds KenKen parody lyrics were quoted in Time magazine. When she isn't rhyming, Amanda teaches full-time at NYC's Tisch School of the Arts.
PHOTOS BY STEPHEN SOROKOFF
