ABOUT MICHAEL RENo (Member ascap & aea)
Michael's primary home is in Musical Theatre. He has worked in that field as Producer / Director / Music Director / Arranger and Orchestrator of over 150 stage productions as well as Business Theatre and Corporate events. His work has taken him all over the world to numerous theaters and other venues ranging from Montreal's Place des Artes and the Vienna Concert House to New York's Madison Square Garden, L.A.'s Universal Amphitheater, the White House, the Kennedy Center, and practically every major hotel in Las Vegas.
Along with singer Mary Donnelly Haskell, he founded the children's music series "My Songs."
With former Disney studio chief Peter Schneider, he produced "Sister Act", and collaborated on other stage productions such as Robby Benson's "Open Heart", the opera "Regina", and the re-conceived productions of "Pal Joey" and "Grand Hotel" under the auspices of the Rodgers and Hammerstein organization.
He spent a number of years in San Francisco doing local cabaret and theatre, where he became known for his song "San Francisco Bye-Bye," which became an unofficial anthem of the city at the time. He made his mark in Los Angeles with the West Coast Premiere of "Working" for which he won the L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Musical Direction.
His film credits include "The Lion King" (as arranger), and as composer he wrote scores and music for "North 'Cross Jordon", "Time on Their Hands," "Coming to Ametrica", and the Hallmark seasonal favorite "Twice Upon a Christmas." His television credits also include "The Miss America Pageant", and various projects for NBC including "An Evening at the Improv" and "The Great American Laugh Off."
From 1995-2005 he was Vice President of Command Performance Productions, providing original music and entertainment for corporate clients.
His recent projects include "Between Judy and the Moon: Stonewall ," a work for male chorus which is a musical homage to the story of the the Stonewall Inn Riots of 1969. He has also recently created a revue musical, "Judy & Johnny's I Doo-Wop Wedding," and composed a series of original Country songs.
Michael 's Works In Progress include writing music and lyrics for a new musical, "High Pockets", which tells the true story of Claire Phillips, who was an American spy, entertainer, club owner, and author most noted for her exploits in the Japanese-occupied Philippines during WWII. He is also working on a stage adaptation of his Stonewall project.
He currently resides in the Palm Springs area of California, where he has created Desert Musicals, a production company designed to utilize the wonderful talent to be found in the senior community there.