Craig Carnelia

Craig Carnelia, born August 13, 1949, in Floral Park, New York, is an American musical theater composer, lyricist, and singer. Standing six feet tall, he has built a career spanning decades as both a creator of original scores and a collaborator on major Broadway productions.

Carnelia's introduction to Broadway came at age fourteen, when a performance of Richard Rodgers's No Strings sparked his interest in musical theater. He taught himself piano, played guitar, and participated in a folksinging group during his formative years. While enrolled at Hofstra University, he won the role of The Boy in the off-Broadway production of The Fantasticks, a opportunity that led him to leave school during his sophomore year. Following a brief run in that production, he turned his focus to songwriting and eventually to musical theater composition.

His first major Broadway exposure came through Working (1978), a conceptual revue developed by Stephen Schwartz in which Carnelia's songs appeared alongside contributions from other writers. The production earned him two Tony Award nominations for Best Original Score, one each for music and lyrics. He subsequently wrote the full score — both music and lyrics — for Is There Life After High School? (1982), a Broadway musical that, despite a short run, has continued to be staged in stock, amateur, and regional theaters. Off-Broadway, he composed music and lyrics for Three Postcards, which featured a book by Craig Lucas and was produced by Playwrights Horizons in 1987, then revived by Circle Rep in 1994.

For Sweet Smell of Success (2002), Carnelia collaborated with composer Marvin Hamlisch, contributing lyrics to the score. The production brought him a Tony Award nomination for Best Original Musical Score and a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Lyrics. That same year, he and Hamlisch also wrote songs for Nora Ephron's play Imaginary Friends, which earned Carnelia an additional Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Lyrics in 2003. Imaginary Friends is among his verified Broadway credits alongside Working, Is There Life After High School?, and Sweet Smell of Success.

Beyond his writing credits, Carnelia has received the Johnny Mercer Award for Emerging American Songwriter, the first annual Gilman and Gonzalez-Falla Musical Theater Award, and the Kleban Award. His work Poster Boy was performed at the Williamstown Theater Festival in Williamstown, Massachusetts in 2016. He has served as a mentor to emerging writers through the ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop, the Dramatists Guild Musical Theatre Fellowship, and the Eugene O'Neill Musical Theatre Conference. Carnelia has one child, actress Daisy Carnelia, and resides in Springfield, Missouri with his wife, actress Lisa Brescia.