Bruce Sussman
{{Short description|American lyricist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Bruce Howard Sussman
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|mf=yes|1949|07|12}}
| birth_place = Jackson Heights, Queens, New York
| education = Franklin and Marshall College (1971)
| occupation = Lyricist, librettist
| years_active =
| spouse = {{Marriage|Rob Shuter|2011}}
| website =
}}
Bruce Howard Sussman (born July 12, 1949) is an American lyricist and librettist. Though he has collaborated with numerous composers, he is probably best known for his work with his long-time collaborator, Barry Manilow. Together, they have written over two hundred songs for numerous recording artists, films, stage musicals and television programs.{{cite web |last1=Xenos |first1=Christina |title=Celebrity Interview: Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman |url=https://socalpulse.com/blog/2014/04/01/celebrity-interview-barry-manilow-bruce-sussman/ |website=SoCalPulse |accessdate=October 5, 2019 |date=April 1, 2014}}
Life and career
Sussman was born in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York and was raised on Long Island, where he graduated from Sanford H. Calhoun High School in Merrick, New York.Grant, Jason. [https://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/13/nyregion/thecity/after-129-years-a-dog-has-its-day.html "After 129 Years, a Dog Has Its Day"], The New York Times, February 13, 2005. Accessed October 27, 2019. He then graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.{{cite web |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yov2b6PTRnA | title=Common Hour: First There Was Harmony—From F&M to a Career in the Arts | last=Common Hour | date=September 19, 2014 | publisher=youtube |access-date=September 10, 2021}}
Upon his return to New York, he was accepted into the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. During this period, he met Barry Manilow, and they began writing jingles and songs together. Among their first successes was "Copacabana (At the Copa)" which became Sussman's first gold record as well as a Grammy Award-winning, international hit.{{cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/search/barry%20manilow|title=Search Results for barry manilow|website=GRAMMY.com}} It would later become the source material for a made-for-television film musical of the same title, a one-act casino show, and then a two-act stage musical for which he co-authored the book and lyrics with Manilow and Jack Feldman. The show ran for two years at the Prince of Wales Theatre on London's West End before extensive tours of Britain and the United States.{{cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/84488-Manilow-and-Sussman-Control-Harmony-Musical-Again-Is-It-Broadway-Bound |title=Manilow and Sussman Control Harmony Musical Again; Is It Broadway-Bound? |publisher=Playbill.com |date=February 19, 2004 |access-date=December 16, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121228215834/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/84488-Manilow-and-Sussman-Control-Harmony-Musical-Again-Is-It-Broadway-Bound |archive-date=December 28, 2012}}
Also for the stage, he co-authored with Feldman the song scores for Ted Tally’s Coming Attractions—which starred Christine Baranski, Jonathan Hadary and Griffin Dunne—and Wendy Wasserstein’s first musical, Miami—which starred Phyllis Newman, Marcia Lewis, Fisher Stevens, and Jane Krakowski. Both shows were produced by André Bishop at Playwrights Horizons off-Broadway. He also contributed a song to Howard Crabtree's off-Broadway and London productions of Whoop-Dee-Doo! Most recently, he is the author of the book and lyrics for Harmony: A New Musical about the Comedian Harmonists. The show had developmental productions at the La Jolla Playhouse, the Alliance Theatre, and the Ahmanson Theatre.{{cite web |last1=Byrd |first1=Craig |title=Curtain Call: Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman Discuss Their Musical in Perfect "Harmony" Los Angeles Magazine |url=https://www.lamag.com/culturefiles/curtain-call-barry-manilow-and-bruce-sussman-discuss-their-musical-in-perfect-harmony/ |website=Los Angeles Magazine |accessdate=October 5, 2019 |date=March 12, 2014}} It made its New York debut, in a production directed by Warren Carlyle, at the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene in March 2022.{{cite web |last1 =Willman |first1 =Chris |title=Barry Manilow's 'Harmony' Musical Will Finally Get Its First NYC Run in Spring 2022 Variety |url=https://variety.com/2021/legit/news/barry-manilow-harmony-musical-new-york-premiere-1235047222/ |website=Variety |accessdate=September 5, 2021 |date=August 12, 2021}} It opened on Broadway on November 13, 2023. Sussman is the 2022 recipient of the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical for Harmony.
With Manilow, he also wrote song scores for the animated films Thumbelina and The Pebble and the Penguin, as well as a song for Disney's Oliver and Company.
Personal life
In 1994, Sussman met entertainment columnist, Rob Shuter, in Edinburgh, Scotland. They were married on October 29, 2011.{{cite web|last=Shuter|first=Rob|title=Rob & Bruce Wedding|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He38oYD6Q04|work=Video|date=October 30, 2011 |publisher=Bruce16773|accessdate=October 30, 2011}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{DramaDesk Book}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sussman, Bruce}}
Category:American LGBTQ songwriters
Category:American musical theatre librettists
Category:American musical theatre lyricists
Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people