A Chat with Broadway Composer David Yazbek

Hi, Friends!

Last week, I had the pleasure of sitting in on a chat between Tony®, Grammy®, and Emmy® Award-winning composer, David Yazbek, and Old Mill Road Media CEO, Dr. Joshua Sherman. 

Photo courtesy of Next Stage Arts

You probably know David as the composer of smash hit Broadway musicals like The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Tootsie, and The Band’s Visit, but he also has a music career outside of Broadway, with 5 solo albums and a roster of live performances all over the East Coast and beyond. If that’s not enough, David started his career as a comedy writer on The David Letterman Show and has composed scores for film and TV, including HBO’s Boardwalk Empire. 

David’s most recent Broadway show, Dead Outlaw, premiered in April 2025. I loved listening to Joshua tell David about his experience seeing it in previews and what an impact it had on him as an audience member. We highly recommend that you check out the FULL recording of the production on Audible, which includes both the music and dialogue. Listen Here

We’re also big fans of Next Stage Arts- be sure to check out Benjamin Lerner’s article on this fantastic cultural institution in Stratton Magazine Holiday 2025 here.

David will be performing his solo show at Next Stage Arts in Putney, VT, this Saturday, December 13 at 7:30pm! A Night with Broadway Composer David Yazbek, blends humor, wit, songs, and storytelling. Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 at the door, available at nextstagearts.org. 

After sitting in on this funny and engaging chat with David, I can tell you it’s worth the drive to Putney to see his show.

Photo courtesy of Next Stage Arts

Sherman: David – Today, you’re probably best known as a TONY® and GRAMMY® Winning Composer, but you started off your career as a writer for David Letterman.  A lot of your music is very funny (both the lyrics and situations). Do you feel your experience at Letterman helped you in the world of musical theater? 

Yazbek: My experience at Letterman did not prepare me for Broadway. It prepared me for almost nothing, except the acceptance of the fact that you have to work hard and long hours sometimes. It helped me learn how to work on deadlines, but my influences—my everything—in terms of comedy and writing came from elsewhere: Monty Python when I was a kid. Steve Martin influenced everybody to some extent. But also comedy songwriters like Allan Sherman and Tom Lehrer. 

And I continue to pick up influences. For comedy, it all has to do with tone, as well as material. Recently, Tim Robinson. I think Tim Robinson is just a spectacular master of tone. Those are just a few influences of probably dozens and dozens and dozens.

The Letterman Show was my first job out of college. Some of it was fun, but I say this in my show—my peak showbiz moment was learning that I GOT THE JOB on Letterman, not the show; not the job itself.

Sherman:  You just referenced a lot of great comedians and some comedian-songwriters, but let's ask a slightly different question.  Who are some of the musical influences from your childhood that you feel shaped your ear?

Yazbek: My parents. I grew up in New York City. My dad’s still alive, and he’s still a fan of musical theater, but also of opera. My mother was a really good classical pianist. She played all kinds of stuff—Chopin, Beethoven. I remember really clearly the Appassionata.

I remember listening to my parents' cast album of The Most Happy Fella by Frank Loesser, who to this day is my favorite musical theater composer and lyricist. I remember listening to the song “Standing on the Corner.” The song itself is a very catchy, simple melody. And then comes the countermelody—and it's RIGHT on the angles. It's almost like a 12-tone. Hearing that countermelody was one of those moments - like biting into a lemon for the first time and realizing you really like the sensation. Again, it’s a matter of taste. Flash forward 20 or 25 years later: Andy Partridge from XTC says to me, “Hey, do you listen to Captain Beefheart?” I said, “No, not for a really long time.” And he goes, “Listen to Trout Mask Replica, but listen to it four times in a row.” I did it, and even in my late 20s it was another one of those right-angle things.

And TV theme songs. Both Lost in Space themes by John Williams (when he was just “Johnny Williams” as a young man). And jingles.

I remember lots of Gilbert and Sullivan, because we did them in school.

The other thing is, I grew up in a very funky building on the Upper West Side of New York City. On the first floor lived Goya and Mateo. Coming through that door, much of the time, was either the sound of raga or the sound of live castanets with stomping. They were a married couple. She was a flamenco dancer who used castanets. He was, I think, of Indian origin. Also on the first floor was a voice coach for popular-music singers, and you'd hear music like Burt Bacharach. On the floor below me was my piano teacher, and on the sixth floor there was an opera teacher, so you'd hear opera coming through. Then I’d go out into Central Park, and on a bench there'd be three guys playing Afro-Cuban music on congas and drums.

Sherman: Your answer explains the wide range of sounds in your music.

Yazbek: People say this to me all the time. They say, “Boy, your show stuff is so eclectic, and yet when I hear something, I can always tell it’s you.” You can have this weird watermark based on—God knows what—facets of your personality. There are probably a hundred things that contribute to that. But we all contain multitudes, right? Whatever persona we show the world, there’s all kinds of stuff going on inside. When you're a writer of any kind—whether you're a lyricist or not, whether you're just a composer, or a composer-lyricist, or just a lyricist, or a screenwriter writing characters—you are accessing something.

You have to access something true - that you perceive to be true - and it all comes down to sensation—your heart, your gut. You access that thing, then you use the tools that you have to communicate it. You're hoping for a connection on a deep level. If you're truthful, and you have some talent, and your taste translates into the style you put out there—if you can get to even a piece of that truth—you'll hit some people with it, whether it's a sad song, a funny song, a love song, a comedy song.

Sherman: Let’s talk about your most recent Broadway show, Dead Outlaw.  I saw it in previews off-Broadway, before the smash reviews and its transfer to Broadway.  I told everyone I knew: “See this show. It’s special.”

Yazbek:  Dead Outlaw is my favorite thing that I've ever worked on. I've known that story for 30 years. I've told it to people. We did it Off-Broadway with Audible, and people loved it. It got the best reviews of anything I’ve done—the best reviews I've ever seen. Then we did it on Broadway, and it got the same: the best reviews we've ever seen. And then it closed after a few months due to a very busy season. That was very frustrating. I think if no one else does, I'm going to try to bring it back Off-Broadway, so people - like you - who tell all their friends … can help us fill a 400-seat theater through word of mouth and whatever advertising we can do. 

When we did it for Audible, part of our deal was that they would record it and put it on Audible. We went into a recording studio—because, like you, I'm a record producer—and went in with Dean Sharenow, who co-produced all my albums except for one. Billy Stritch co-produced one of my albums, I think. Dean and I produced the entire show with the scenes, and then we laid on sound effects and did an Atmos mix.

So, there is a version—not just the cast album, which is available—but a version of the entire show that sounds like the greatest radio show you've ever heard in your headphones, on Audible. I want to spread that far and wide because I think that would be the best possible advertising for the rebirth of that show.

Sherman: And that’s available now?

Yazbek: Yes, it's available here. 

Sherman:  You should be really proud of Dead Outlaw. It's perfect.

Yazbek: Thank you, man. Honestly, I hear that so often.

Sherman: Talk to me about your process.  Are you a quick study? When I hear a song, I can often hear it once and it's in me.

Yazbek: I'm not like you. What you have is something I do not have. I have friends who are writers and playwrights—they remember everything. They'll see a movie or hear a conversation, or I'll say something funny that they'll remember, and I won’t even remember having said it.

I went to see Into the Woods with Adam Guettel, who's another composer and has been a friend of mine for many years. We were having dinner right after. Neither of us liked it very much at first listen. I said, “I kind of liked what he was doing with that main theme thing.” Adam said, “Which one?” I said, “If I hear it, I'll tell you.” He just sang it immediately. I said, “I wish I could do that. I can’t.”

Someone just played me something very hooky. It stuck in my head for a good two hours while I was hiking, and now it's gone. I don't even remember what the song was.

So for me, the initial excitement gets me listening again, and then I'll pick it up.

Sherman: You just mentioned Adam Guettel, who is a friend of mine, as well – and lives here in Vermont.

When I interviewed Adam and asked about his process, he said, “I've always hated homework.” When a director says, “I need a song by tomorrow for this moment in the show,” he hates it, because it feels like homework. So – instead - when he's inspired, he writes music and then puts it in a drawer. Then when he's told, “I need a song for tomorrow,” he goes through his drawer and sees what he can potentially use, then adjusts and tweaks it. He said he’d rather create from inspiration, and then convert something inspired to meet the need.

What’s your process in that situation.

Yazbek: It depends. Sometimes the idea is so undeniably good that it sparks you. You're like, “Oh, oh, oh,” and you almost feel like you could run off to your piano or guitar or just sing it into your phone. Usually, though, it takes me time. The main thing for me is that whatever I do, I don't ever want to get formulaic.

Sherman: You’re coming to Vermont. Is this your first time here?

Yazbek: I actually have very strong ties to Southern Vermont, because Billy—who is one of the founders of Next Stage Arts—has been a friend of mine for years. We’ve been in bands together, played music together, written jingles together—a million things—since we were 12 years old.

So, I've visited Newfane, Brattleboro, Putney—all those places—for as long as he’s been up there. So, it’s been like 30 years. I've been up there at least 30 times. I thought about moving there, but when I started doing the Broadway stuff, it was clear I'd be too far away. I love it. I love Vermont.

Sherman: That's great. It's very cool that the two of you have known each other so long.

Yazbek: He and I were in our first bands when he was 12, and I was 12. That’s when we were in our first band together.

Sherman: What can people expect from An Evening with David Yazbek?

Yazbek: I'm a very, very good pianist. I'm very idiosyncratic. It’s not a “then I wrote” thing. I'm trying to craft something that works as a theater piece. Yes, it's nine of my show songs from my seven shows, plus a few songs from my albums, plus a couple of new songs from what I think will be an album I release in March.

One thing I can guarantee you is that I'm very entertaining when I'm singing and playing, but I also love talking to an audience. These are not lines that I've written out. What I’ve done is create bullet points - and I’ve been rehearsing and doing the show so it’s not by rote or trite; it stays dynamic.

I'll do a question and answer, too, because I love responding. There's a lot of improvisation, both musical and talking. Lots of songs. The stories are engaging, some very funny. It all threads together: fear and loathing of musical theater evolving into understanding why it's so valuable to so many people, including me. And that's it. I hope it's just an awful lot of fun. That's what I'm hoping.

Sherman: Well, if it's anything like this conversation, I'm sure it will be. Thank you.

For tickets to A Night with Broadway Composer David Yazbek, go to nextstagearts.org.