This is the official website
of playwright/lyricist/librettist
David Zellnik
Photo: David Perlman Photography
DAVID ZELLNIK is the author of numerous plays and musicals. His most produced work is the musical Yank! with composer Joseph Zellnik (York Theatre, 2010, 7 Drama Desk noms; Best Musical noms from the Outer Critics’ Circle and Lucille Lortel Foundation) It has received productions in London, Rio de Janeiro (winner CENYM Best Musical of Brazil, 2017), Brisbane, as well as Chicago, Columbus, Richmond, and Louisville. A Portuguese-language graphic novelization (“Yank: Diario de Guerra”) will be on sale on Amazon Spring 2024
Plays: His newest work is The Genocidaires of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, a furious comedy about American Zionists (2025). Previous plays include The Letters (Developed @NY Stage and Film, Bridge Theatre 2019) The Udmurts (Winner: Equity Library Theatre competition 2015, semi-finalist O’Neill; Defunkt Theatre 2016); Ariel Sharon Stands at the Temple Mount and Dreams of Theodor Herzl (workshop productions @Theatre J, Culture Project, and Chautauqua Theatre Company 2005); and Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom (New Ensemble 2001, Defunkt 2012). With playwright Ismail Khalidi, he created “Break the Wall,” which commissions and curates short plays about Israel/Palestine from writers including Najla Said, Naomi Wallace, and Kia Corthron.
At Ensemble Studio Theatre, he was a founding member of the Youngblood playwright initiative and a proud member of the Playwrights Unit. He has written three one-acts seen in EST’s Marathon (Killing Hand, For Elise, and Blue Handed) as well as the EST Sloan mainstage full-length Serendib (EST 2008; The Hippodrome 2011), created with a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which sent him for two months to Sri Lanka to observe macaques.
Musicals: With composer Eric Svejcar, his play with songs The F#@%king Wright Brothers was part of FringeNYC (premiering New Coordinates, Chicago 2014). Their episodic podcast musical Loveville High was released in 2019 featuring Ali Stroker, Isaac Cole Powell, and Hailey Kilgore, among others; it has been downloaded 150k times and performed in an hour-long format at AMDA under the title Loveville. A Brazilian produced version was released in 2023 (under the title “Amorlândia”). For Disney, he and Eric created Peter Pan Jr. which has been performed over 10K times.
With Joseph Zellnik, in addition to Yank!, his previous musicals include an adaptation of Arthur Giron’s “Flight” for TheaterworksUSA, culminating in the musical First in Flight which toured the country. City of Dreams won the 2002 Nat’l Music Theatre Network competition and was performed at the first Int’l Music Theatre Festival in Cardiff, Wales. Two songs are featured on Alison Fraser's “Men in My Life.” The Zellnik Brothers performed at The Kennedy Center as part of the ASCAP New Voices series.With composer Cecilia Lin, he has written the lyrics for Noble Family (concert at La Mirada Theatre, LA 2023). With composer Joseph Zellnik, he wrote book and lyrics for First in Flight (TheaterworksUSA national tour) as well as City of Dreams (Midtown Theatre Festival 2002, Int’l Musical Theatre Fest 2002, NAMT winner 2003)
Solo Work: Finally, over the past several years he has also become a monologist performing his full-length O TIME (United Solo 2024; Bridge Theatre 2025) as well as shorter stories in New York at EST, Caveat, Ginger’s, and in Vienna twice at the legendary Volkstheater (in English). He is the co-host and co-curator of "Truth Be Told" a live show at EST and podcast of true stories. Finally, his fiction has been published by Massachusetts Review.
Plays: His newest work is The Genocidaires of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, a furious comedy about American Zionists (2025). Previous plays include The Letters (Developed @NY Stage and Film, Bridge Theatre 2019) The Udmurts (Winner: Equity Library Theatre competition 2015, semi-finalist O’Neill; Defunkt Theatre 2016); Ariel Sharon Stands at the Temple Mount and Dreams of Theodor Herzl (workshop productions @Theatre J, Culture Project, and Chautauqua Theatre Company 2005); and Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom (New Ensemble 2001, Defunkt 2012). With playwright Ismail Khalidi, he created “Break the Wall,” which commissions and curates short plays about Israel/Palestine from writers including Najla Said, Naomi Wallace, and Kia Corthron.
At Ensemble Studio Theatre, he was a founding member of the Youngblood playwright initiative and a proud member of the Playwrights Unit. He has written three one-acts seen in EST’s Marathon (Killing Hand, For Elise, and Blue Handed) as well as the EST Sloan mainstage full-length Serendib (EST 2008; The Hippodrome 2011), created with a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which sent him for two months to Sri Lanka to observe macaques.
Musicals: With composer Eric Svejcar, his play with songs The F#@%king Wright Brothers was part of FringeNYC (premiering New Coordinates, Chicago 2014). Their episodic podcast musical Loveville High was released in 2019 featuring Ali Stroker, Isaac Cole Powell, and Hailey Kilgore, among others; it has been downloaded 150k times and performed in an hour-long format at AMDA under the title Loveville. A Brazilian produced version was released in 2023 (under the title “Amorlândia”). For Disney, he and Eric created Peter Pan Jr. which has been performed over 10K times.
With Joseph Zellnik, in addition to Yank!, his previous musicals include an adaptation of Arthur Giron’s “Flight” for TheaterworksUSA, culminating in the musical First in Flight which toured the country. City of Dreams won the 2002 Nat’l Music Theatre Network competition and was performed at the first Int’l Music Theatre Festival in Cardiff, Wales. Two songs are featured on Alison Fraser's “Men in My Life.” The Zellnik Brothers performed at The Kennedy Center as part of the ASCAP New Voices series.With composer Cecilia Lin, he has written the lyrics for Noble Family (concert at La Mirada Theatre, LA 2023). With composer Joseph Zellnik, he wrote book and lyrics for First in Flight (TheaterworksUSA national tour) as well as City of Dreams (Midtown Theatre Festival 2002, Int’l Musical Theatre Fest 2002, NAMT winner 2003)
Solo Work: Finally, over the past several years he has also become a monologist performing his full-length O TIME (United Solo 2024; Bridge Theatre 2025) as well as shorter stories in New York at EST, Caveat, Ginger’s, and in Vienna twice at the legendary Volkstheater (in English). He is the co-host and co-curator of "Truth Be Told" a live show at EST and podcast of true stories. Finally, his fiction has been published by Massachusetts Review.