The Team -- YANK!

JOSEPH AND DAVID ZELLNIK - Composer and Lyricist/Bookwriter

Joseph and David are author of a number of musicals seen in New York and beyond. Their Off-Broadway musical YANK! received 7 Drama Desk nominations (including for his book and lyrics) as well as nominations from the Outer Critics’ Circle, and Lucille Lortel Foundation. YANK! also had an award winning run at the Gallery Players in Brooklyn 2007 (IT Award for Best Musical, GLAAD nomination for best Off-Off Broadway Musical) and a sold out run in San Diego's Diversionary Theatre 2008. Several regional productions are planned for the 2013/2014 season.

Their previous musicals include First in Flight: The Wright Brothers for TheaterworksUSA, which toured the country to raves in 2004-05, and City of Dreams, which was performed at the first International Music Theatre Festival (Cardiff, Wales 2002), the Midtown International Theatre Festival (New York, 2002), and which won the National Music Theatre Network competition in 2003. Two songs from City of Dreams appear on Alison Fraser's album Men In My Life.

DAVID's numerous plays include: SERENDIB (The Hippodrome 2011; Off-Broadway Ensemble Studio Theatre 2008, created with a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation who sent him for 2 months to Sri Lanka to observe the scientists studying macaques in Polonnaruwa); ARIEL SHARON STANDS AT THE TEMPLE MOUNT AN DREAMS OF THEODORE HERZL (Epic Theatre Ensemble, Theatre J); LET A HUNDRED FLOWERS BLOOM (OOBR Award winner for Best Play, seen in London and NYC; t.b.perf in Portland at the Defunkt Theatre Company, Feb 2014); as well as the one-acts FOR ELISE, IDEOGRAM and KILLING HAND were all in various Ensemble Studio Theatre's Marathons. Recently 3 of his one act plays were performed in Italian in Milan (2012). Blue Coyote Theatre Company has commissioned a new full length titled HUNTERS AND THIEVES. Recently, David worked with Disney Theatricals to create PETER PAN JR (music, Eric Svejcar) which has been licensed and have several concurrent productions starting in 2013/2014.

He has been given grants from the Sloan Foundation, NYSCA, Jerome Foundation. He is a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre and The Playwrights Unit, as well as The Dramatists Guild.

JOSEPH's solo work includes two dance pieces for the Chase Brock Experience, incidental music/songs for "The Tempest" at NYU, and – as composer/lyricist – the musical "The Uncrowned Queen of Ireland" and various songs for cabaret performers. Joseph was the first recipient of the Rosetti Grant, which resulted in the musical “Trust Me” and has been a member of the BMI Workshop and the Nautilus Librettist Workshop at New Dramatists. An evening of his solo work was featured as part of the Songbook Series at the Donnell Library. Joe received a BA in Music from Duke University, where he was the recipient of the Mary Duke Biddle Composition Scholarship, and the Henry Schumann Award for Composition in 1991.

In addition, Joe is co-author (along with his sister Miriam) of two historical mystery novels, "Murder at the Portland Variety" and "A Death at the Rose Paperworks". For more, check out www.LibbySeale.com.