Zoel Parenteau

Zoel Parenteau (April 9, 1883 – September 13, 1972) was an American composer, arranger, music director, and book writer whose career spanned Broadway and regional performance venues across several decades. Born in Northampton, Massachusetts, he studied music composition under Ernest Bloch and went on to establish himself as a significant figure in early twentieth-century American musical theater.

Parenteau spent a formative portion of his career in Pittsburgh, where he served as music director for the Nirella Orchestra, a band founded by clarinetist and march composer Danny Nirella. During this period he also composed the comic opera The Lady of Luzon, which premiered in Pittsburgh in 1915. That same year, he made his Broadway debut by contributing music to Hip! Hip! Hooray!, a revue produced by Charles Dillingham.

His Broadway compositional work continued with The Amber Empress in 1916, for which the lyrics and book were written by Marc Connelly, who would later receive the Pulitzer Prize. Parenteau followed that with Follow the Girl in 1918, a musical with lyrics and book by Henry Blossom. He also contributed the song "Someday I'll Find Your Words" and incidental music to David Belasco's 1928 play Kiki, a song that achieved brief popularity as a standard. His Broadway appearances continued into the 1930s, with credits including The Great Waltz and a Broadway appearance in 1934.

As an arranger, Parenteau worked with prominent figures in American entertainment, among them Charles Dillingham, Florence Ziegfeld, and Victor Herbert. He also held a long tenure as music director for Pittsburgh radio station KDKA. Parenteau was married to Emma Parenteau, née Summersgill. He died on September 13, 1972, at the Actors Fund Home in Englewood, New Jersey, at the age of 89.