Genres Musical theatre Years active 2008-present | Instruments Guitar, vocals, piano Genre Musical theatre | |
Born January 10, 1994 (age 23)
Princeton, New Jersey ( 1994-01-10 ) Occupation(s) Composer, lyricist, director, actor Website www.christopheranselmo.com | ||
Christopher Anselmo is an American songwriter and composer of musical theatre. He attends college full-time at Northwestern University, where he is studying for a B.A. in Theatre while also participating in the school's Music Theatre Certificate program and Advanced Playwriting sequence.
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Anselmo is a member of ASCAP and the Dramatists Guild of America.
Early years
Born in Princeton, NJ, Anselmo spent the majority of his childhood in nearby Freehold, NJ (more specifically, in the suburb of Millstone Township, NJ). His first extended venture into songwriting happened at Allentown High School, when he wrote a book report on David Copperfield as a song cycle. Anselmo moved to East Greenwich, RI after his sophomore year of high school; he is a 2012 graduate of The Wheeler School.
Fable
Anselmo is best known for his musical Fable, co-written with his childhood friend, Harrison Kaufman. Originally written by Anselmo after his high school graduation as a song cycle, he brought Kaufman on to write a script, which would help to transform the collection of songs into a full-length musical. The pair developed the material at French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts and workshopped the show for two years with organizations such as Arts Alliance at Northwestern and the Actors Training Center in Wilmette, IL before submitting it to the New York Musical Theatre Festival (more colloquially known as NYMF). Out of hundreds of submissions, Fable was among ten shows selected for NYMF's Next Link Project, and was granted a fully staged production Off-Broadway at the 2014 edition of the festival.
Fable ran at the Pershing Square Signature Center from July 22–27, 2014; the show's run was extended twice. Anselmo's score was widely lauded by critics as "clever and oddly endearing," "tuneful [and] insightful," and "by turns soaring, jaunty, and hard-rocking."
Anselmo and Kaufman are the youngest writers ever to be accepted to the festival in history; both were twenty years old on opening night.
The Haunted Train
Commissioned by Unmasked Theater Company, Anselmo wrote music and lyrics for the world premiere production of The Haunted Train (book by Christian Fleming and Randy Gross).
The show was produced Off-Off-Broadway at Theater for the New City from October 14–18, 2015. Nickolaus Hines of OnstageBlog wrote that Anselmo's score is "A warm wave of perfect harmony" which is "critical to the piece.... it almost comes off as a set of musical numbers interrupted by lines."
Involvement at Northwestern
Anselmo frequently participates in multiple roles within Northwestern's theatrical and musical community. As a director, he has helmed established musicals, like Spamalot, while also developing new works, like Fight or Flight (a song cycle). He has also contributed to Northwestern's a cappella community, performing and arranging (and formerly serving as musical director) with Freshman Fifteen, an all-male a cappella group.