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 DAVID RHYMER 

 

is a multi-award winning composer and writer. His work - a combination of cabaret, salon and art song - has toured internationally to critical and popular acclaim.

 

They include MATA HARI IN 8 BULLETS  (which premiered off-Broadway and was voted one of the 'must see' shows of the season by the New York Times, ) the ballet/opera SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES developed in conjunction with sci-fi writer Ray Bradbury and CRIME DOES NOT PAY (with Kris Demeanor) based on the true-crime comics of the 40's.

 

With long time associate One Yellow Rabbit's Blake Brooker, he created the ground breaking impressionistic oratorio on the Beat Generation DREAM MACHINE and the notorious ILSA QUEEN OF THE NAZI LOVE CAMP, which toured Canada, the UK and Australia and was made into a feature movie. 

 

His musicals run the gamut from the 19th Century erotic song cycle SONGS FROM NIGHTINGALE ALLEY, to the agit-prop cabaret on the US 'war on terror'  CAMP XRAY;  from a female cross dressing runway musical TROUSER PARTS to a musical expose on Vancouver's infamous clothing optional beach. WRECK BEACH.

 

He co-wrote and composed the award winning musical AN EYE FOR AN EYE, the story of fundamentalist preacher, Weibo Ludwig and his one-man war with Alberta’s Oil and Gas that played to rave reviews at the National Arts Centre and was subsequently made into a CBC radio musical.

 

His longtime interest in the animated arts has resulted in a number of ‘puppet musicals’ including ONCE UPON AN ATOM BOMB and ISIS AND OSIRIS with Calgary's Green Fools and  PINOCCHIO and TOOTH FAIRY with the internationally acclaimed Old Trout Puppet Workshop.

 

Most recently he co-created and musically directed THIS LITTLE PIGGY a dust bowl blues phantasmagoria performed at Calgary's International High Performance Rodeo .

 

In 2007 he was honored with the Greg Bond Memorial Award for his lifetime contribution to Musical Theatre in Calgary.