Quick Facts
Biography
Michael Patrick Walker is a composer, lyricist, writer and musician.
Life
Walker was born in Carlisle, PA and raise in New Freedom, PA. He lived in Pittsburgh for several years while earning his bachelor's degree from Carnegie Mellon University and then moved to New York, NY where he currently resides. He played piano and keyboards and/or conducted for various theatrical Broadway, Off-Broadway and touring productions including Avenue Q (conductor), The Roundabout Theatre Company's production of The Tin Pan Alley Rag (music director/arranger), Wicked, The Lion King, Thoroughly Modern Millie, tick, tick...BOOM! (conductor), and others.
Work as Composer/Lyricist
Michael Patrick Walker, with fellow composer/lyricist Gary Adler and book writer Kevin Del Aguila, wrote and created the Off-Broadway musical, Altar Boyz which won the 2005 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical. In addition, the show was nominated for 7 Drama Desk Awards (including 2 each for Walker and Adler for Best Music and for Best Lyrics) and 4 Lucille Lortel Awards including Best Off-Broadway Musical. The show ran for 2,032 performances making it the 9th-longest running Off-Broadway musical off all times and has been translated into multiple languages to be performed around the world.
In 2005 through 2008, Walker composer numerous songs for the Emmy-nominated Disney Channel TV Series Johnny and the Sprites, becoming the music director and supervisor for Season 2 of the show. In this capacity, Walker served as the lead composer, oversaw a team of noted theatre composers who wrote the original songs for each episode and developed the stories for each of 26 scripts for the series. He also arranged, orchestrated and produced the recordings of the songs and co-produced the CD for the series. Season 2 of Johnny and the Sprites received four Daytime Emmy nominations, including one for Outstanding Pre-School Children's Series. His involvement lead to his writing original music and lyrics for the Nick JR television show Olivia (TV series).
In 2009, another musical Walker co-created and for which he wrote the score, The Distant Bells, was selected as a finalist for the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's musical theater conference. This led to a 2011 reading produced by the Roundabout Theatre Company which starred Chita Rivera, Ana Gasteyer and Rachel York.
On November 8, 2011, Walker's album of his music and lyrics, Out of Context: The Songs of Michael Patrick Walker, was released on the Yellow Sound Label. It includes songs from his musical in development, trunk songs, stand-alone songs and a new version of "I Believe" from Altar Boyz. The thirteen tracks were performed by Broadway performers including Cheyenne Jackson, Kelli O'Hara, Telly Leung, Michael Arden, Rachel York, Lisa Howard, Peter Friedman, Andy Karl, Anne L. Nathan, Kate Wetherhead, Kerry O'Malley, Natalie Venetia Belcon, Jim Stanek, Andy Mientus and Noah Galvin. Walker co-produced the album with Yellow Sound Label co-founder, Michael Croiter.
His most recent musical, Dog and Pony, with music and lyrics by Walker and book by Rick Elice, had its world premiere at The Old Globe in San Diego in June 2014, starring Nicole Parker, Jon Patrick Walker, Heidi Blickenstaff, Beth Leavel and Eric William Morris, with direction by Roger Rees.
Awards
- Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical - Altar Boyz - WINNER
- Drama Desk Award Outstanding Lyrics - Altar Boyz - Nomination
- Drama Desk Award Outstanding Music - Altar Boyz - Nomination
- Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical - Altar Boyz - Nomination