About Peter
As a composer and lyricist, Peter Ekstrom weaves melodies and words to create captivating musical experiences. His passion for music and storytelling drives his to craft unique compositions that resonate with audiences. With a blend of creativity and expertise, he brings characters to life through enchanting songs and emotive lyrics.
Peter Ekstrom graduated from Antioch College in 1973 and in 1978 traveled down the Mississippi River on a raft with Otrabanda Theatre Company, stopping in two dozen towns from St. Louis to New Orleans to perform a vaudeville show in a circus tent. His professional career began when Jon Jory of Actors Theatre of Louisville hired him to write music and lyrics to a satirical revue in the Humana Festival of New American Plays.
His Matrimonium and Doctors and Diseases (in which he also performed) followed in the next two Festivals. In 1981, he wrote a musical adaption of O. Henry’s The Gift of the Magi which ran at Actors Theatre of Louisville every Christmastime for 17 consecutive years as well as many regional and amateur theatres across the country. Doctors and Diseases was revived by Barter Theatre in Virginia in 1997 and subsequently moved to off-Broadway.
Mr. Ekstrom’s musical comedy with Steve Hayes, Kiss Me Quick Before the Lava Reaches the Village, has been produced at St. Peter’s at Citicorp (NYC), Northshore Theatre (Cape Ann, MA), and in 2000 at the Village Theatre (Issaquah, WA). His musical romance with Steve Hayes and David Deboy, Girl of My Dreams, has had productions by Musical Theatre Works (NYC), Barter Theatre (VA) and the Village Theatre (WA). From 2001 to 2004, Mr. Ekstrom wrote and performed weekly with Michael Quinn in the political satire revue The Front Page Follies at the Cornelia Street Café (NYC). For Jon Jory Peter, he has written over a dozen incidental scores for plays from Shakespeare’s to Charles Ludlum’s The Mystery of Irma Vep.
He wrote the incidental score for Jon’s adaptation of Pride and Prejudice when it premiered in 2005 at Arizona Theatre Company in Tucson. Peter and Jon turned this version into a musical that went on to be produced by the Chekhov Moscow Art Theatre for two years in repertory. From 2013 to 2022 (ten years!), Mr. Ekstrom’s An O. Henry Christmas was produced at The Moscow State Theatre (Pushkin, Russia) in repertory. The production garnered its director, Alexey Frandetti, a Golden Mask Award, Russia’s equivalent of a Tony Award. Peter is a member of ASCAP and lives in Chinatown, NYC.
OR Picture of Peter playing the piano?
TESTIMONIALS
Working with Peter has been one of the great pleasures of my career. We collaborated on a musical based on Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” and it had its premiere at the prestigious Moscow Art Theatre.
As Artistic Director at Actors Theatre of Louisville, I commissioned him many times both for original works and music for existing texts. I have always loved his music which is slyly tuneful and always different in tone depending on the commission. Peter is a joy to work with and an important artist in the American Theatre.
JON JORY | 35 YEARS ARTISTIC DIRECTOR | ACTORS THEATRE LOUISVILLE
I have worked with many co-authors, but creating our first play with Peter was one of the most memorable and impressive experiences of my career. Our “An O. Henry Christmas” ran for 10 years on the Pushkin Theatre stage, each night a full house. It received several of the most prestigious Russian theatre awards, the Golden Mask, including one for “Best Musical”. Our second collaboration “Pride and Prejudice” on the Moscow Art Theatre stage became a real hit and is beloved by audiences.
In Peter I have found a true friend and partner, a co-author who knows what he wants but also really listens to and hears his co-creator. He is perceptive and discerning; he feels the written word wholly and translates it beautifully into music. His compositions are unforgettable and resonate deeply in the souls and hearts of both audiences and professionals in the theatre community
ALEXEY FRANDETTI | MUSICAL THEATRE DIRECTOR, PRODUCER, CHOREOGRAPHER, PLAYWRIGHT | OVER 60 PRODUCTIONS & NUMEROUS THEATRICAL AWARDS