Michael Korie

Michael Korie received The Marc Blitzstein Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters for his work in both musical theater and opera. Korie wrote the lyrics to composer Scott Frankel’s music for the Broadway productions of War Paint and Grey Gardens, books by Doug Wright, and

the Off- Broadway productions of Far From Heaven with book by Richard Greenberg, and Happiness with book by John Weidman. His collaboration with Tom Kitt and James Lapine, Flying Over Sunset, premiered at Lincoln Center Theater with a Tony-nominated score. Korie and Frankel’s scores have been nominated for Tony and Drama Desk Awards, received The Outer Critics Circle Award, and have been produced nationally and abroad. The London premiere of Grey Gardens won the Offie Award for Best Musical of the year. 

For opera, Korie adapted Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath composed by Ricky Ian Gordon, produced originally at Minnesota Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Detroit Opera, in concert at Carnegie Hall and Disney Hall, and in numerous opera houses across the country. Also with Gordon, The Garden of the Finzi-Continis premiered at New York City Opera and National Yiddish Folksbiene-Theatre and was presented abroad in Italy. Korie's original librettos to operas composed by Stewart Wallace include Harvey Milk produced at Houston Grand Opera and San Francisco Opera; Where’s Dick? produced at Houston Grand Opera; Kabbalah at BAM Next Wave Festival; and Hopper’s Wife at Long Beach and New York City Opera. A new version of Harvey Milk Reimagined premiered last season to acclaim at San Francisco’s Opera Parallele. 

Korie’s lyrics received the Edward Kleban Prize, Jonathan Larson Award, and ASCAP Richard Rodgers Award. His songs with Frankel were featured at Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series at Jazz at Lincoln Center, and at The Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage Broadway. Korie’s collaborations with Frankel and Wright were honored by Playwrights Horizons and Theatre Communication Group. He was a 2025 Dramatists Guild Foundation honoree. Korie co-chairs the Dramatists Guild Opera Committee which recently issued its national report Best Practices in Opera. He produced the short film Credit the Librettist featuring interviews with leading American opera composers and playwrights. For the Dramatists Guild Foundation, Korie mentored the musical theater division of the Fellows Program for emerging musical theater creators. He teaches musical-theater writing at Yale and Columbia University, and leads opera collaboration seminars for American Opera Project and American Lyric Theater. Korie serves on the advisory committee of The American Theatre Wing.