Skip to Navigation

Stephin Merritt

News

  • Stephin Merritt's "Coraline" Musical Opens in Previews Tonight

    Coraline, the new musical featuring music by Stephin Merritt and based on the Neil Gaiman horror/children's book, opens in previews tonight at New York's MCC Theater at the Lucille Lortel. Merritt spoke with the Village Voice for an extensive article about the play. "Since the earliest Magnetic Fields albums," says the Voice, "critics have drawn comparisons between Merritt's songwriting and that of Cole Porter and Irving Berlin ... So it seemed only a matter of time before he would imitate those idols and write for the stage."

  • Stephin Merritt Adaptation of Neil Gaiman's "Coraline" to Open in May

    Stephin Merritt has written the music and lyrics for a new stage adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Coraline, set to begin its limited-engagement run at New York City's Lucille Lortel Theatre on May 7. The production is a collaboration between Merritt, director Leigh Silverman, and writer/actor David Greenspan. Tickets go on sale this Monday, March 23, with a special discount offer available through the theater's site.

About Stephin Merritt

Stephin Merritt releases albums under the band names the Magnetic Fields, the 6ths, the Gothic Archies, and Future Bible Heroes. He has also composes original music and lyrics for films and theater, and is currently working on an album of songs to accompany Lemony Snicket's 'A Series of Unfortunate Events', entitled The Tragic Treasury: Songs from A Series of Unfortunate Events by The Gothic Archies (Nonesuch, release date Oct 10, 2006).

A theater music album, Showtunes, was released on Nonesuch in March, 2006. It is a compilation of three music theater pieces directed by Chen Shi-Zheng; The Orphan of Zhao, Peach Blossom Fan, and My Life As a Fairy Tale. Full scores from these shows are also available online.

Merritt has released two film soundtrack albums, one for the academy award nominated film Pieces of April (dir. Peter Hedges) and for the independent film Eban and Charley. His song "The Book of Love," was recently covered by Peter Gabriel, in the film "Shall We Dance."

As The Gothic Archies, Merritt has recorded incidental music for HarperCollins' audio books of A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, and for Neil Gaiman's children's book Coraline, which Merritt is also adapting into a stage musical.

Merritt's most recognized band is the Magnetic Fields, whose 1999 album 69 Love Songs garnered widespread critical and popular acclaim, including "best of" year-end lists in Spin, Rolling Stone, the New York Times,and most other major national newspapers and magazines. In 2002, the Magnetic Fields performed as part of Lincoln Center's 'American Songwriters' series, and at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's 'Next Wave of Song'. In April, 2004, The Magnetic Fields released their seventh album, i (Nonesuch Records), and toured extensively throughout America and Europe.

Additional information on Stephin Merritt and his work can be found at www.houseoftomorrow.com.

Latest Release