Al Tapper Wins Peabody Award for BROADWAY MUSICALS: A JEWISH LEGACY

Al Tapper, composer of the Off Broadway shows Sessions, An Evening at the Carlyle and National Pastime, has won a highly prestigious Peabody Award for his documentary Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy. Tapper produced the 90 minute show for WNET. The Peabody Award celebrates excellence in broadcasting. Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy is the first documentary film to explore the phenomenal relationship that Broadway has had with Jewish Americans. From George Gershwin to Irving Berlin to Kander and Ebb to Stephen Sondheim, the Broadway musical has been dominated by Jewish writers and composers.

Narrated by Joel Grey, the film features interviews with Sheldon Harnick, John Kander, Andrew Lippa, Stephen Schwartz, Phyllis Newman, Charles Strouse, Harold Prince, Stephen Sondheim, Mel Brooks and many others. Tapper also produced the critically acclaimed documentary Broadway: The Golden Age.

Tapper's own musicals have been produced in New York and around the country. Sessions, for which he wrote the book, music and lyrics, played for more than 300 performances Off Broadway. National Pastime recently finished productions in Phoenix, Scranton and Austin and hopes to return in 2015 as a Broadway show. He is currently working on a new musical Tickets, Please! and a new documentary video that focuses on the career of the immortal baseball player Ted Williams.