Gregory G. Allen: Biography

I was born in Denison, Texas (a small town known by few as the birthplace of Dwight D. Eisenhower), but grew up in a suburb of Dallas. I gave my first performance on stage at 5 years old & instantly realized I had a love affair with the arts and storytelling. I began writing short stories and scripts by elementary school - all relegated to a drawer deep inside my old spiral notebooks. But that affair I started early on stayed with me through school as I performed and wrote three musicals all produced on stage while I was in high school.

I moved to NYC to study acting and worked on Saturday Night Live at NBC, toured the country as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, performed in summer and dinner theater…but all the while had dreams of writing the great American Musical. I returned to my love of writing as I wrote songs for a children’s theatre company in New Jersey as well as jingles for Macy’s & McCall’s Magazine corporate events. I produced a concert version of my original musical Destiny & Dreams in New York and was told by a reviewer to get involved with the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop…immediately…and I did.

There I met a collection of writers, composers, and lyricists leading me towards several wonderful collaborations on different projects including the twice produced Invisible Fences written with Stephen Kitsakos. I am a member of the Dramatist Guild, ASCAP, and The Theatre Communications Group. An award-winning musical theatre writer (Peter Filichia's Straw Hat Award in Theatre Week Magazine for Best Score in 1995 forRiver Divine), I have had over ten original musicals produced which I have worked as a librettist and/or composer/lyricist. I’ve been a recipient of grants and awards for writing from the Catskill Watershed Corporation, the ASCAP foundation, and the BMI foundation.

I have been very involved in the arts since moving to New Jersey. I have directed and produced musicals and plays for numerous theatre companies; served on several boards and committees of regional arts organizations including the Essex County Advisory Board for the Arts; served as Artistic Director for 4th Wall Theatre 2004-2010; performed the duties of company manager of a professional children’s theater, and currently manage the Westminster Arts Center at Bloomfield College. I studied at the American Musical Dramatic Academy and Hunter College in NY and received a management certification from the Harvard Business School while spending over 13 years working at a Big Five Financial Services Firm.

That varied background has added to my tenacity and drive to continue to strive for new things. From a 10 year old boy caught in the largest tornado that Texas had seen at that time, to an 18 year old leaving home and moving to the largest city in the country, to a young 20-something just started out a job on the 98th floor of the World Trade Center when the 1993 bomb hit…and walking down all those flights of steps…I tend to relive every moment in my life in order to bring emotion, insight, and bare truth to all of my writing.

I happily reside in New Jersey with my partner, Anthony and Kitty.

Biography

Author. Actor. Arts.

There I met a collection of writers, composers, and lyricists leading me towards several wonderful collaborations on different projects including the twice produced Invisible Fences written with Stephen Kitsakos. I am a member of the Dramatist Guild, ASCAP, and The Theatre Communications Group. An award-winning musical theatre writer (Peter Filichia's Straw Hat Award in Theatre Week Magazine for Best Score in 1995 for River Divine), I have had over ten original musicals produced which I have worked as a librettist and/or composer/lyricist. I’ve been a recipient of grants and awards for writing from the Catskill Watershed Corporation, the ASCAP foundation, and the BMI foundation.

Sometime around 2006 I began to branch out from music and concentrating on short stories and poetry. I’ve had a dozen poems and short stories published while I worked hard on expanding my love of storytelling into writing novels.

I have been very involved in the arts since moving to New Jersey. I have directed and produced musicals and plays for numerous theatre companies; served on several boards and committees of regional arts organizations including the Essex County Advisory Board for the Arts; served as Artistic Director for 4th Wall Theatre 2004-2010; performed the duties of company manager of a professional children’s theater, and currently manage the Westminster Arts Center at Bloomfield College. I studied at the American Musical Dramatic Academy and Hunter College in NY and received a management certification from the Harvard Business School while spending over 13 years working at a Big Five Financial Services Firm.

That varied background has added to my tenacity and drive to continue to strive for new things. From a 10 year old boy caught in the largest tornado that Texas had seen at that time, to an 18 year old leaving home and moving to the largest city in the country, to a young 20-something just started out a job on the 98th floor of the World Trade Center when the 1993 bomb hit…and walking down all those flights of steps…I tend to relive every moment in my life in order to bring emotion, insight, and bare truth to all of my writing.

I happily reside in New Jersey with my partner, Anthony and Kitty.