David Goldsmith

His three plays Hotel Buzz, American Guernica, and I Ragazzi (this last co-written with his daughter, Madeleine Goldsmith Garner) are available for production through Broadway Licensing and the Dramatists Play Service (www.dramatists.com).

On Broadway, David was billed as “Script Consultant” for Motown The Musical for which he wrote the book and original lyrics with Motown founder Berry Gordy (Charles Randolph Wright, dir.). Motown enjoyed a successful two-year run on Broadway (Lunt-Fontanne Theater), which was followed by a three-year stand in London’s West End (Shaftesbury Theatre), two US National tours, and a UK tour.

In the West End, David wrote the lyrics for Imagine This (New London Theatre and Theatre Royal Plymouth, Timothy Sheader, dir.), a filmed production of which aired on PBS and is part of the ShopPBS catalogue, as well as a 2017 revival at the Union Theatre off-West End.) Off-Broadway at the 2nd Stage Theatre, David served as Story Consultant for the musical Invisible Thread (formerly known as Witness Uganda) with Diane Paulus, dir.

In Los Angeles, David wrote the book & lyrics for the celebrated “five women at an airport” musical Having It All (Ovation nominee, Best Musical, Best Book; also at the Laguna Playhouse) with John Kavanaugh (music) and Wendy Perelman (co-book), Richard Israel, dir. David is currently represented at the National Theatre of Israel in Tel Aviv with book & lyrics for Masada 1942 (Shuki Levy, music, Moshe Kepten, dir).

Future works by David include (but are not limited to) Good Man (book, music & lyrics, based on the life of Las Vegas Mob Attorney/Mayor Oscar Goodman); Fallout (book, with music and lyrics by Dmitry Koltunov, about a family of Ukrainian immigrants escaping Soviet anti-Semitism in the aftermath of Chernobyl to resettle in Brighton Beach), which was one of eight shows selected for the prestigious 2023 National Alliance for Musical Theatre Festival; and Dickens’ Little Dorrit (lyrics, with music by Paul Gordon and book by David & John Caird, to be directed by Caird).

Among his many television and songwriting credits, David wrote the lyrics for the song “My Once Upon A Time,” from “Descendants 3,” with music by Kavanaugh, performed by Dove Cameron, for the Disney Channel. Also for Disney, he wrote the lyrics for all the songs from “A Mickey Mouse Christmas,” “Mickey’s Halloween, A Tale Of Two Witches” (2021), and “Mickey’s Stop-Motion Halloween Movie” (2023), with music by Beau Black.

David is currently the author/conceiver of the multimedia, multi-ensemble, all-star retrospective A Tribute to Stephen Flaherty set to be performed at Carnegie Hall on 14 January, 2024, directed by Marcia Milgrom-Dodge.

David lives in Manhattan with his wife, Broadway’s Bryonha Marie.