About the writer
Joshua H. Cohen’s honors include a Jonathan Larson Grant, Anna Zornio Children’s Theatre Playwriting Award (lyrics, Keep On Walkin’), and a MAC Award nomination for cult cabaret hit “The Sacrifice of Love” (a.k.a. the waxing song). Productions include play The Thirteenth Commandment (Libra Theater, 7 NY Innovative Theater Award nominations, 2 wins; publication, Next Stage Press), musical Tamar of the River (Prospect Theatre, 2 Drama Desk nominations, world premiere recording from Yellow Sound Label), and children’s musical Flight School (Vital Theatre, OCR available, national and international tour).
As a playwright, his work also includes the full-length plays Sam I Am and Fun and Games. The Findings Cycle, a set of a dozen wildly varied ten-minute plays inspired by recent scientific studies, is accumulating productions and readings around the country. His many other ten-minute plays that have been produced include "Odysseus Swims For It," which was published by Smith & Kraus in their anthology 2010: The Best Ten-Minute Plays.
With composer/co-bookwriter Marisa Michelson, in addition to Tamar of the River, he wrote full-length Still Life With Toe Shoes and one-act "The Lovers." Their song "All New" was recorded by Tony winner Nikki M. James for the Broadway Lullaby Project. With David Mallamud, his collaborator on Flight School, he is currently working on a new adaptation of Treasure Island. With composer Lavell Blackwell, in addition to Keep On Walkin' (book by James Armstrong), he wrote The Mole, City Upside Down, The Day the World Went Queer! (book by Jonathan Matthew Gilbert), and Far Away From America. With various collaborators, he has written countless short musicals and show-specific songs.
As a composer-lyricist, he has written the scores to Burned and Ordinary Island (formerly known as Maggie the Pirate), both with books by James Armstrong; My Mom is a Sex Therapist, with bookwriter/performer Lola Maltz; and two episodes of So Proudly We Hailed, a series of one-person filmed short musicals based on and written in collaboration with US military veterans, produced by New Musicals, Inc. His songs have been collected in full-length revues The Entropy Songs and True Story, and many other cabaret evenings.
All of these shows have been developed and workshopped, some of them multiple times. You can read many of them on the New Play Exchange. Joshua lives in Washington Heights with his wife and children, and earns his living doing financial management for non-profit arts organizations.
