David Yazbek

David Yazbek is a composer and lyricist known for witty, rock-tinged scores and a knack for turning movies into musicals. His shows include The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Tootsie, and The Band's Visit, which won him the Tony for Best Original Score. This page walks through his career in order and suggests where to start.

Who David Yazbek is

Yazbek was born in New York City in 1961. Before theatre he worked in television, and he won a Primetime Emmy in 1984 as part of the writing team for Late Night with David Letterman.

He writes both music and lyrics, and his songs are known for clever, often very funny wordplay over grooves drawn from rock, funk, jazz, and soul. He can also write with great restraint: The Band's Visit, about an Egyptian police band stranded in a small Israeli town, uses Middle Eastern sounds and quiet, aching ballads instead of big production numbers. His bookwriters have included Terrence McNally, Jeffrey Lane, Robert Horn, and Itamar Moses. Most of his shows adapt films, but each one finds a fresh theatrical voice rather than copying the screen version.

Yazbek's Broadway shows in order

The Full Monty (2000), with a book by Terrence McNally, moved the British film to Buffalo, New York, and was his Broadway debut. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (2005), with a book by Jeffrey Lane, was a con-artist comedy set on the French Riviera. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (2010), also with Lane, adapted Pedro Almodóvar's 1988 film.

The Band's Visit, with a book by Itamar Moses, began Off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theater Company and opened on Broadway in 2017. It won ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Tootsie (2019), with a book by Robert Horn, moved the 1982 film's story from a soap opera to a Broadway musical. Dead Outlaw, written with Erik Della Penna and Itamar Moses, about the strange afterlife of an outlaw's body, played Off-Broadway in 2024 and on Broadway in 2025, earning Tony nominations for Best Musical and Best Original Score.

Legacy and where to start

Yazbek won the Tony Award for Best Original Score in 2018 for The Band's Visit, and its cast album won the Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album. He has been nominated for Best Original Score for each of his other Broadway shows, from The Full Monty to Dead Outlaw.

Start with The Full Monty or Tootsie for big laughs and catchy songs, both warmly told stories about men learning something about themselves. Then listen to The Band's Visit, his most acclaimed score, which shows a completely different, gentler side of his writing. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is a fun bonus for fans of farce.

David Yazbek: frequently asked questions

All Broadway composers