Author Profile:  David Reiser

David Reiser began playing songs on the piano at age two and soon he was writing his own melodies.  Later on his interests shifted to that of vocal performance and, by his early teens, he had already become a much sought-after tenor soloist.

In college and graduate school he sang the tenor leads in three operas:  Die Fleidermaus, La Traviata, and Carmen (as well as playing piano and singing with various dance bands and in area clubs.)

After college Reiser began a career as a much-honored high school music educator.  It was then that his interest in composition returned and he began writing and arranging music for his students.

In 1970, Reiser wrote his first musical, based upon the legend of Robin Hood, which he and his students produced the following year.  Soon after that he teamed up with the late Jack Sharkey to write 19 musicals over a 15-year period.

Reiser has also written with Hollywood playwright Tim Kelly, Pennsylvania playwrights Judy Wolfman and Jules Tasca, Washington DC playwright Bernie Myers and New York playwright John Chodes.  He has also written a series of children's musicals with former student, Don Leonard.

As of May 2008, David Reiser has written music and lyrics for 48 musicals, 29 of which have been published (seven by Pioneer Drama Service).  His musicals are produced extensively throughout the United States and Canada and — occasionally — abroad.

Learn more about David Reiser in this interview from 1998.