Theatre and Performance
Perseus Bayou
The Odyssey of Telemaca
Performing in The Cherry Orchard
Perfume River
Lift: Icarus and Me
Street performance in Philadelphia
Gandhara orchestra
Perseus Bayou
Music directing
Playing with The Cornell Brothers
Suitcase drum kit
Grimm Tales
Jamming, Cuernavaca
Lift band
Lift: Icarus and Me
The Odyssey of Telemaca
Mississippi Pinocchio
Recordings
Some of what they said
“David Maddox has written a score replete with fanfares and flourishes that is most effective.”
— THE NEW YORK TIMES (on Richard II)
“The show is magnificently dressed by David Maddox.”
— VARIETY (on Nijinsky’s Last Dance at the Housman Theatre)
“ ‘Perseus Bayou’ is a triumph of atmosphere and theatrical imagination.”
— THE WASHINGTON POST
“Pure magic.”
— WASHINGTON PARENT (on Sing Down the Moon)
“The band (David Maddox & Dwayne Nitz) makes slick jokes both musical and physical, emerging from the pit now and again to swell the ranks of the soldiers.”
— THE CITY PAPER (on A Man’s a Man at Arena Stage)
“The production is a total disaster: the set, the acting, the direction, the lights, and what somebody thinks is music.”
— THE TUCSON CITIZEN (on La Malinche at the Arizona Theatre Company)
“The supple music composed (and performed) by David Maddox and Dwayne Nitz evocatively shifts the evening's tone whenever sultriness or a slick cynicism is called for.”
— THE WASHINGTON POST (on A Man’s a Man at Arena Stage)
“An essential element of the production is David Maddox’s detailed soundscape of sound effects and music, including references to Nijinsky ballet scores by Debussy, Stravinsky and Weber, some of which are electronically transfigured. The main theme of Debussy’s “Afternoon of a Faun” is played by a variety of solo instruments, starting with a cello, as Davidson’s Nijinsky tells of that ballet’s scandalous reception. And toward the end, as darkness and madness descend on the now-married Nijinsky, the poundings and howlings of Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” are ominous omens of what’s to come.”
— VARIETY (on Nijinsky’s Last Dance at Signature Theatre)
“ ‘The … design elements are well-executed, especially the exceptional sound design and music by David Maddox.”
— CURTAIN UP (on Never the Sinner at Signature Theatre)
As a composer, musician, lyricist, and playwright, I have created various recordings and eight produced works of musical theatre, many with long-time collaborator Mary Hall Surface and three published by Dramatic Publishing. I have created sound designs and scores to over 100 productions around the U.S., and have worked in dance, museum design, and documentary film. I have received various awards for my work in theater, including 13 Helen Hayes Award nominations (and one win), and various other awards.
I am an international speaker and transdisciplinary connector and have created a website of nature-themed graffiti, led community projects, edited two books of short fiction, created an eco-poetry journal. I co-lead (with the US Forest Service) an arts residency program that creates teams of artists and scientists to learn from each other, and ihave created a nature-themed comics series in Europe called NBS Comics. This work that has led to many arts happenings, from murals and installations, to participatory meetings merging art, planning, science, and communities.
I also happens to run an international NGO called The Nature of Cities.
Major Musical and Theatrical Works and Commissions
The Invention of Murder (musical) In development. Book and Lyrics by Randi Barnes and David Maddox; Music by David Maddox. Murder becomes show business.
Paradise (musical) In development. Commission from Signature Theatre, Arlington, VA; Lyrics Music & Book by David Maddox. Six pilgrims seek the outside.
Perfume River: A Swamp Water Love Story (musical) Lyrics & Music by David Maddox & Jon Carroll, Book by David Maddox & Mary Hall Surface. A New Orleans musical on the qualities of swamp water.
LIFT: Icarus and me (musical) Commissioned by Theater of the First Amendment & the Clarice Smith Center for the Arts; Lyrics by David Maddox & Mary Hall Surface, Music by David Maddox; Book by Mary Hall Surface.
The Odyssey of Telémaca (musical) Commissioned by ChildsPlay, Tempe, AZ; Lyrics by David Maddox & Mary Hall Surface, Music by David Maddox; Book by Mary Hall Surface; inspired by Homer’s Odyssey, set in late 19thC northern Mexico.
Mississippi Pinocchio (musical) Commissioned by Theatre of the First Amendment; Lyrics by Maddox & Surface, Music by Maddox, Book by Surface; adaptation of Collodi’s Pinocchio, set in early 1900s Natchez, Miss. Published by Dramatic Publishing.
Perseus Bayou (musical) Commissioned by Theatre of the First Amendment; Lyrics by Maddox & Surface, Music by Maddox, Book by Surface; Adaptation of the Perseus myth, set in Cajun Louisiana. Published by Dramatic Publishing.
Sing Down the Moon (musical) Commissioned by Theatre of the First Amendment; Musical adaptation (with Surface) of six Appalachian folk tales. Published by Dramatic Publishing.
Available Light (play with music) Commissioned by Signature Theatre; score for a play with music (text by Heather McDonald); string quartet, boy soprano, English Horn.
Gandhara: East West Passages (modern dance/ballet) 1999 Kennedy Center commission, score to a ballet concerning Alexander the Great in Gandhara (now Pakistan); chamber orchestra, soprano, and sitar; 42 minutes.
Journey to Taxila (concerto) 1999 Music for string quintet, English Horn, and percussion; 14 minutes.
The Nighingale (dance-theater) Commissioned by The Kennedy Center, with extensive national touring (with writer Surface & choreographer Dana Tai Soon Burgess), score to dance theatre adaptation of Anderson’s story; orchestra, Erhu, hammer dulcimer, voice, 52 minutes.
Steak! (musical comedy) Commissioned by Consenting Adults Theater Co. Music by David Maddox; Book & lyrics by Christi Stewart-Brown & Elizabeth Pringle. Cattle-rustling vegetarians.
