Name: Paul Scott Goodman
Born: Glasgow, Scotland, 1957
Residence: Soho, New York City
Family: Married since 1986 to Miriam Gordon. Three children: Shayna, 21; Glory, 18; Gordon, 15.
Notable works:
“Bright Lights, Big City” (1999) — Based on Jay McInerney’s 1984 novel about an aspiring writer losing himself in cocaine and the NYC nightlife.
“The minute I read the novel, I had to do it, because I related so strongly,” Goodman said. “I’ve had my own history with nightclubs and drugs and staying up all night. I was lucky, because Jay McInerney really liked it, and he was very hands-off. He let me do what I wanted with his book.” Cast album released in 2005.
“Alive in the World” (2006) — In progress. “As time goes on it’s becoming more a period piece,” Goodman said of this post-9/11 musical romance. Staged at the 2006 New York Musical Theatre Festival, then two years later in a concert version, with larger-scale productions planned. “It’s kind of in a drawer, then it kind of comes out and inches forward,” he said.
“Rooms: A Rock Romance” (2008) — Semiautobiographical tale following two struggling singer-songwriters from late-’70s Glasgow to mid-’80s Manhattan. Cast album released 2009.
“Reek Roon a Campire” (TBD) — A musical biography of the Scottish oral storyteller Stanley Robertson commissioned by Fela producer Steve Hendel, to be developed and staged in Scotland.
— Chris Klimek
