Martin Charnin (born November 24, 1934) is an American lyricist, writer, and theatre director.

Born in Washington Heights in New York City, He attended Music & Art High School and graduated from Cooper Union. Charnin began his theatrical career as a performer, appearing as one of the Jets in the original production of West Side Story. His first assignment as a lyricist was Hot Spot (1963), with music by Mary Rodgers. He has directed and produced numerous nightclub acts for Dionne Warwick, Nancy Wilson and Mary Travers. In 1972, he conceived, produced, wrote and directed several television variety specials. And in 1972, he won two primetime Emmy Awards for "S'Wonderful, S'Marvelous, S'Gershwin", a variety television special which starred Jack Lemmon and Fred Astaire. He also directed and produced various television specials "Get Happy" and "Dames at Sea." He made his stage directing debut with Nash at Nine, a 1973 revue he conceived (based on the works of Ogden Nash and starring E.G. Marshall). He has written and collaborated with Charles Strouse, Harold Arlen, Richard Rodgers and Mary Rodgers. In 1974, he supplied music and lyrics to the hit,"The Best Thing You've Ever Done" sung by Barbra Streisand which was on the album, "The Way We Were". Charnin's best-known work is as conceiver, director and lyricist for the hit musical Annie.

Contents 1 Stage work 2 Awards and nominations 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Stage work

• The Girls Against the Boys (1959) – standby to Dick Van Dyke
• Zenda (1963) - lyricist
• La Strada (1969) – additional lyrics
• Two By Two (1971) – lyricist; music by Richard Rodgers
• Annie (1977) - conceived, director and lyricist, music by Charles Strouse
• I Remember Mama (1979) – lyricist; music by Richard Rodgers
• The Madwoman of Central Park West (1979) – lyricist
• The First (1981) – lyricist, director
• A Little Family Business (1982) – director
• Cafe Crown (1989) – director
• Sid Caesar & Company (1989) - director
• Annie Warbucks (1993) – director, lyricist; music by Charles Strouse
• The Flowering Peach (1997) – director
• Jeanne La Pucelle (1997) - director; book & lyrics by Vincent de Tourdonnet, music by Peter Sipos
• Robin Hood: The Legend Continues (2004) - director, lyricist; music by Peter Sipos; book by Thomas Meehan

[edit] Awards and nominations

Awards

• 1972 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy, Variety or Music-"S'Wonderful, S'Marvelous, S'Gershwin"
• 1972 Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Program-Variety or Musical-Variety and Popular Music-"S'Wonderful, S'Marvelous, S'Gershwin"
• 1973 Peabody Award for Broadcasting-"S'Wonderful, S'Marvelous, S'Gershwin"
• 1977 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical – Annie
• 1977 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics – Annie
• 1977 Tony Award for Best Original Score – Annie
• 1999 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album -Songwriter- Vol. 2...Hard Knock Life

Nominations

• 1972 Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing Achievement in Comedy, Variety, or Music-"S'Wonderful, S'Marvelous, S'Gershwin"
• 1973 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy, Variety, or Music-"Get Happy-tribute to Harold Arlen"
• 1977 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical – Annie
• 1982 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical – The First
• 1982 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical – The First

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Martin Charnin at the Internet Broadway Database
• Martin Charnin at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Martin Charnin at the Internet Movie Database

Awards
Preceded by –	Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics 1976-1977 for Annie	Succeeded by Carol Hall for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

v • d • e Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical Arthur Laurents (1975) · Michael Bennett (1976) · Martin Charnin (1977) · Peter Masterson / Tommy Tune / Stephen Schwartz (1978) · Harold Prince (1979) · Harold Prince (1980) · Wilford Leach (1981) · Tommy Tune (1982) · George Abbott (1983) · James Lapine (1984) · Wilford Leach (1986) · Mike Ockrent (1987) · Harold Prince (1988) · Tommy Tune (1990) · Scott Ellis (1991) · Jerry Zaks (1992) · Des McAnuff (1993) · Nicholas Hytner (1994) · Harold Prince (1995) · Christopher Renshaw (1996) · Walter Bobbie (1997) · Julie Taymor (1998) · Matthew Bourne (1999) · Michael Blakemore (2000) · Susan Stroman (2001) · Michael Mayer (2002) · Jack O'Brien (2003) · Joe Mantello (2004) · James Lapine (2005) · John Doyle (2006) · Michael Mayer (2007) · Bartlett Sher (2008) · Stephen Daldry (2009)