Haddon Kime (born June 28, 1976) is an American theatre and film composer, lyricist, sound designer, and director. Early in his career, Kime frequent collaborated in the theatre scenes of
Boston and
New York City[The New York Times, Charles Isherwoo]
"Contract Laborers With Chips on Their Shoulders", 14 September 2004 writing music and sound designs for plays and musicals produced by
New Repertory Theatre,
Boston Playwrights Theatre, Gloucester Stage and Speakeasy Stage among others.
[The Boston Globe, Catherine Foste]
"Behind the Scenes He Uses Sound to Dramatic Effect", 10 March 2003 He currently lives and works in
Atlanta,
[Arts AT]
"Q&A: Quarantine can’t stop the beat of Haddon Kime and his original Zoom musical", 28 May 2020 and is credited with inventing the
zoomsical during the
COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.
[Fiona Brutscher, American Express Essentials Magazin]
"5 Minutes With… Zoomsical Writer Haddon Kime", 01 October 2020
Career
In 2013 he wrote the music and co-wrote the lyrics (with
Rick Lombardo
Rick Lombardo (born March 24, 1959) is a prolific and award-winning American theatre director, playwright and adaptor. He is the former producing artistic director of San Jose Repertory Theatre, and the former Artistic Director of New Repertory ...
and Kirsten Brandt) for the 2014 rock musical adaptation of
Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales.
Andersen's fairy tales, consisti ...
's "
The Snow Queen." The musical opened to previews at
San Jose Repertory Theatre on November 19, 2013
[The San Jose Mercury News, Crystal Cho]
"San Jose Rep to premiere musical version of 'The Snow Queen'", 18 November 2013 the same day as the Disney film "
Frozen (2013 film)" which is based on the same source material. After a successful month long run,
[The San Jose Mercury News, Karen D'Souz]
"Review: ‘Snow Queen’ sparkles at San Jose Rep", 05 December 2013 the musical earned a slot at the 2014
New York Musical Theatre Festival,
where in addition to positive critical reviews,
it won the Steele Spring Stage Rights Publishing Award as well as the award for Excellence in Overall Design, which Kime shared with co-sound designer Rick Lombardo, costume designer Frances Nelson McSherry and lighting/projection designer David Lee Cuthbert.
[Playbill, Michael Gioi]
"NYMF 2014 Awards for Excellence Announced", 28 July 2014
In 2015, Kime led an artistic team in
Atlanta in writing an experimental and immersive musical adaptation of
The Red Book (Jung) by
Carl Jung. The project was awarded a Reiser Artists Lab grant from the
Alliance Theatre where a workshop production of the first 45 minutes of the show was produced in 2016.
[Alliance Theatr]
"Alliance Announces Projects Chosen for its 2nd Annual Atlanta Artists Lab", 15 May 2015
In 2017, Kime collaborated with playwright and improv comic Travis Sharp and
Dad's Garage Theatre Company Dad's Garage Theatre Company, located at 569 Ezzard St. in the Old Fourth Ward in Atlanta, Georgia, was founded in 1995 by Chris Blair, Marc Cram, Sean Daniels, George Faughnan, John Gregorio, David Keeton, Joseph Limbaugh, Matt Stanton, and Matt Yo ...
on a parody musical entitled "Wicket: A Parody Musical," a comic satire of the film
Return of the Jedi that, like the Broadway musical
Wicked (musical), is a popular story told from the perspective of a different character, in this case the
Ewok
The Ewoks (singular: Ewok) are a fictional species of small, furry, mammaloid, bipeds in the '' Star Wars'' universe. They inhabit the forest moon of Endor and live in arboreal huts and other simple dwellings, being seen as primitive in comp ...
who is first to meet
Princess Leia
Princess Leia Organa is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, portrayed in films by Carrie Fisher. Introduced in the Star Wars (film), original ''Star Wars'' film in 1977, Leia is princess of th ...
.
[Dad's Garage Theatre, Jon Car]
"Wicket: A Parody Musical - Galactic Premiere", 08 September 2015 "Wicket: A Parody Musical" was subsequently produced and performed in
San Antonio, where it won the 2019 Regional Award for Best Musical from
Broadway World.
[Broadway Worl]
"Winners Announced For 2019 BroadwayWorld San Antonio Awards", 16 January 2020 In 2023, "Wicket: A Parody Musical" was produced in Buffalo, NY to critical acclaim.
In May 2020, Kime is credited with creating a new artform, the
zoomsical, when, in conjunction with Out of Hand Theater Company in Atlanta, he released an original 10-minute-musical comedy about a self-care class that makes the move online during the
Social distancing measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing measures have been implemented nearly worldwide in order to slow the spread of the disease. This article details the history of the social distancing measures, a list of countries implementing them ...
. Kime wrote the book, music and lyrics as well as directed. Since the musical was conceived and written for, and rehearsed and performed on
Zoom Video Communications software, Kime titled the production "LAG: A Zoomsical" after thinking of the term "zoomsical" while on a walk with his dog.
[Haddon Kime, Stage Rights Blo]
"3 Things to Consider When Writing A Zoomsical", 20 July 2020
"LAG: A Zoomsical" was subsequently re-titled "LAG: A Zoomsical Comedy", and is published by composer
Roger Bean
Roger Bean (born March 20, 1962) is a writer and director who specializes in jukebox musicals.
Bean wrote ''The Marvelous Wonderettes'', which played Off-Broadway at the Westside Theatre in New York City. ''The Marvelous Wonderettes'' was firs ...
's Stage Rights Publishing Company.
[Stage Right]
"Lag: A Zoomsical Comedy - Book, Music, and Lyrics by Haddon Kime" In October 2020, LAG was recognized by
American Express
American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...
Essentials Magazine on their list of "19 Unmissable Online Theatre Experiences"
[Brutscher, Fiona (1 October 2020)]
"19 Unmissable Online Theatre Experiences"
''American Express Essentials''. alongside online productions by
The Wooster Group,
The Metropolitan Opera, and
Abbey Theatre, Dublin. In 2022, LAG was featured as a digital offering
[ Merino, Megan]
"Edinburgh's Festivals 2022" The List in the 2022
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...
.
Education
Kime attended and graduated
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...
with a degree in
film scoring[Berklee Toda]
"Alumnotes", 02 September 2014
Awards
* 2015 Reiser Atlanta Artists Lab (Lead Artist) Recipient
* 2015 Best Original Music - San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle for "Game On"
[The San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circl]
"Excellence in Theatre Awards for 2014", 09 March 2015
* 2014 New York Musical Festival, Excellence in Overall Design (shared award)
* 2012 Honorable Mention, International Songwriting Competition (Lyrics Only Category) for song "Colorado Creek"
[International Songwriting Competitio]
"Previous Winners"
* 2008 Tanne Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts
[Berklee Today, Emily Dufresn]
"Alumnotes", 02 September 2008
* 2007 Best Sound Design - Independent Reviewers of New England (
IRNE Awards) for "A Streetcar Named Desire" at New Repertory Theatre
[Stage Sourc]
"Final Ballot for 2007 IRNE Awards", 14 April 2008
* 2004 Best Sound Design - Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE Awards) for "A Girls War" at New Repertory Theatre and "Haymarket" at Boston Playwright's Theatre
References
External links
*
*
*
Wicket: A Parody Musical WebsiteLAG: A Zoomsical Comedy Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kime, Haddon
1976 births
Living people
American musical theatre composers
American musical theatre lyricists
Berklee College of Music alumni
Musicians from Atlanta