David de Berry (1952–1995
) was a U.S. composer of theater music as well as an actor and music director.
De Berry is best known for the score of a 1987 adaptation of
Charles Dickens's ''
A Christmas Carol
''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas C ...
,'' on which he collaborated with playwright
Richard Hellesen and director Dennis Bigelow. Originally commissioned for the
Sacramento Theatre Company, the work has been widely seen, with perennial productions in
Rochester, New York,
Denver, Colorado,
Dallas, Texas,
Baton Rouge, Louisiana,
Phoenix, Arizona, among other communities.
The resident composer and musical director of the Sacramento Theatre Company, de Berry wrote original music for many productions there and at other companies, including the Portland Center Stage in
Portland, Oregon and the
Oregon Shakespeare Festival in
Ashland, Oregon. His scores graced many classic works by
Shakespeare and
Molière as well as contemporary plays. He was also co-author of the musical ''A Cappella,'' also written with Hellesen.
As an actor, the 6-foot-5 (196 cm) de Berry specialized in comic, often oversized roles. He gave a memorable performance in the title role of a Sacramento Theatre Company production of ''The Imaginary Invalid.'' The role of a hypochondriac was written by Molière—who, it turned out, was really ill, and who died shortly after a performance in the title role. De Berry put every ounce of himself into the role, knowing that for him, too, it was almost certainly his last time on stage. He died shortly thereafter in Oregon, where he was working on a score.
De Berry grew up in
Redding, California
Redding is the economic and cultural capital of the Shasta Cascade region of Northern California and the county seat of Shasta County. Redding lies along the Sacramento River, north of Sacramento, and south of California's northern border wi ...
and was a graduate of the
University of California, Davis, and
Boston University. As an undergraduate at UC Davis, de Berry performed in several plays, including the role of Don Quixote in ''
Man of La Mancha
''Man of La Mancha'' is a 1965 musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, music by Mitch Leigh, and lyrics by Joe Darion. It is adapted from Wasserman's non-musical 1959 teleplay ''I, Don Quixote'', which was in turn inspired by Miguel de Cervantes ...
''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:De Berry, David
1952 births
American male composers
Musicians from Sacramento, California
1995 deaths
Boston University alumni
University of California, Davis alumni
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American composers
20th-century American male musicians