Matty Selman

Matty Selman is a playwright, lyricist and composer who makes his home in New York City. He first came into the national spotlight when he was hand-selected by Harvard's Robert Brustein to write the lyrics to an adaptation of Lysistrata with music by HAIR composer, Galt MacDermot. The resulting work starred Tony Award winner Cherry Jones and was presented by the American Repertory Theatre at Harvard and the Prince Theatre in Philadelphia. Both having lived on Staten Island, Selman and MacDermot continued their collaboration and wrote Goddess Wheel a further exploration of the Lysistrata tale, and The Tinderbox, based on the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen and set in war-torn Iraq. Prior to working with Galt MacDermot, Matty had collaborated with Agnes of God playwright, John Pielmeier on three musicals, Steeplechase the Funny Place, Young Rube, and Slow Dance with a Hot Pickup.