John Pike

Education

BA, Wake Forest University

BBA, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

MFA, Yale University

John Pike joined The Hartt School in 2003 where he currently teaches music theatre history, text analysis, current trends in professional theatre, and composition for the theatre. Previously he was on faculty of Syracuse University. Prior to academia, John was Artistic Associate for Goodspeed Musicals where he collaborated on more than 100 productions in various capacities including dramaturg and musicologist. Among the significant productions during his tenure at Goodspeed: The Most Happy Fella, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and By Jeeves (all on Broadway) He also revised the books for King of Hearts, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

 At Hartt he has directed Smile, Das Barbecü, and Working and served as musical director for Nicholas Nickleby, Coram Boy, among others. His work beyond Hartt as a director includes Fiddler on the Roof, Shrek (Little Theatre of Manchester) The Spitfire Grill, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Little Women, (Opera House Players) Cabaret, (CCSU) Big (Artful Living) and Seussical. Other productions as director/musical director/conductor include Gypsy with Leslie Uggams, Spamalot, How to Succeed in Business…, A Funny Thing…Forum (Connecticut Repertory Theatre), The Wild Party, A Little Night Music (Syracuse), Titanic, Pippin, The Frogs, and Smokey Joe’s Café (Ivoryton Playhouse). He is the co-author of The Christmas Tree Dinner which was performed at the Old Lyme Inn in 2010 and 2012. He has written music for several plays and is the author of The Grand View and The Womb.

John’s books include, Achieving the Impossible Dream, chronicling 50 years of Goodspeed Musicals and he is a contributing author to The Book of Broadway (Voyageur Press, 2015). He served as editor for HAIR: The Story of the Show That Defined a Generation. For twelve years John was also publisher of Show Music Magazine, the foremost periodical on the musical theatre in the U.S, where he oversaw the premiere text editions of Parade, Big, Triumph of Love and A Class Act. His articles have appeared in Playbill, The Sondheim Review and Dramatists Quarterly. He has served on ASCAP’s New Works panel, the Connecticut Commission on the Arts music and theatre panels and has worked for the NEA. He holds degrees in theatre, music, Latin and management from Wake Forest University, University of Pennsylvania (Wharton School) and the Yale School of Drama.