This website is currently under construction (i.e. although there has been exciting news on Yank! and new productions of Serendib, Peter Pan Jr, and Mohammed and the Sleeping Cat have been announced for the upcoming season.... news will have to wait until a new web designer is hired!)

YANK! OFF BROADWAY!!

Yank! opens off-Broadway at last! Performances at the York Theatre start February 16th and Yank! officially opens February 24th.

• Buy tickets!
• At a discount!
• Read David and brother Joe's interview in Time Out NY!
• Join our facebook fan group!
• Follow us on Twitter!
• Full cast!
• A recent Interview with Patrick Lee
• Pics of the Press Sneak peek!

David is thrilled to announce he will be working with Disney, adapting their Peter Pan into an hour-long musical that junior highs and high schools can perform around the country!

A new version of the one-act MOHAMMED AND THE SLEEPING CAT. A lyrical, intimate 2-hander,about just what we keep from those we love… about what we give up and what we gain…
…Download a pdf of MOHAMMED AND THE SLEEPING CAT

YANK! will return to NYC in February 2010 - this time Off-Broadway! Read about it in the NY Times and Playbill!

Read my recent blog entry on Phil Weiss's blog Mondoweiss, on Caryl Churchill's 8-minute masterpiece: SEVEN JEWISH CHILDREN, read last week at NYTW.

*** 2 New Downloadable One-Acts! ***

IDEOGRAM is a comedy about a stockbroker who doodles Chinese ideograms only to find out he's a great poet in Chinese.... A hit in EST's 2008 Marathon, getting a rave in the NYTimes. Click to download a pdf of IDEOGRAM

THE JACKALS is based on Kafka's little-known 1917 short story "Jackals and Arabs". This modern take tells of Katie, an American abroad in a fictional Middle-Eastern land, who discovers her destiny as a liberator of an oppressed minority...Click to download a pdf of THE JACKALS

A return engagement April 23, 25, 26 of critically-acclaimed "Roz G" at Baruch college! Come check out David's monologues for The Chase Brock Experience's 21st Century ballet reimagining of Vivaldi's Four Seasons! Visit CBE to learn more or Baruch College to purchase tickets!

The incomparable Nellie McKay to sing "Blue Twilight" from YANK! It will be performed at a benefit on October 20th for the Chase Brock Experience Dance Company. Chase choreographed the 2005 NYMF production of YANK! and will pair the song with a haunting male pas-de-deux. For tickets, go to Ticketmaster.com.

YANK! is on its way to Off-Broadway! 2 developmental readings for YANK! on November 10th at 3pm and 7:30 pm at the York brought to you by Broadway Producer Pam Koslow (Jane Eyre, Jelly's Last Jam) and Stuart Wilk and Maren Berthelsen. Check out The York!

David's short play VOTING MACHINE will be performed in an evening of Epic Theatre Ensemble's pre-election night of "satirical, scandalous, and inspiring short plays, songs, sketches, spoken op-eds, and toasts by writers such as David Auburn, Julia Cho, Tony Kushner, Craig Lucas, Richard Nelson, Nilaja Sun and others!" on Monday Nov 3rd 7:30pm-9:00pm at The Gerald W. Lynch Theater.

David's 2 one-minute plays (UNDERTOW and 20 SNEEZES) will be in Shstrng Prdctns 2nd Annual One-Minute Play Festival, Oct 25/26 at TBG Arts Center. Tickets available through Smarttix.

Great news: YANK! wins big at the 2008 New York IT Awards! At the ceremony, Michael Beresse presented the award for "Best Musical" to the 2007 production of YANK! at The Gallery Players. So yes, the economy is in tatters, and the election can't come quick enough.... but meanwhile there's always musical theatre! Check out theatremania's article (they even used YANK! as their lead picture!)

YANK! opens July 12th at the Diversionary Theatre in San Diego ...and gets raves!

Reviews
The Union Tribune
"Here's the word on Yank!: It's just about crazy good. Its understated feel serves to underline a show that's funny, moving and true. A polished piece...and a coup for the theater."

San Diego Theatre Scene
“Both the musical and the production are delightful: engaging, funny, and heartrending... If you don’t find humor and poignancy here, if this show doesn’t evoke a laugh and a tear, your heart is, like the Grinch’s a few sizes too small.”

The San Diego Weekly Reader
"The tight, flashy, and moving Diversionary Theatre production is outstanding."

News Blaze
"Yank! is (at one level) pure enjoyment and (at another level) a look at the homophobic history of the U.S. and especially that of the military. The entertainment is high and the message is subtle."

Gay and Lesbian Times
"The accidental discovery of a soldier’s World War II diary yields the plot of Yank!, a terrific new musical by brothers David and Joseph Zellnik, in its West Coast premiere... Every element of this show works. Long may it play."

New Fans of YANK!
StageSceneLA
"Diversionary is only the second theater company in the U.S. to stage Yank! since the Festival, and a WOW! of a production it is, thanks a terrific cast, staging by the original New York director Igor Goldin, and the hands-on presence of book and lyrics writer David Zellnik and composer Joseph Zellnik."

Broadway World
"I have no connection with the Diversionary theatre ( I'm not even a subscriber) nor do I know the creators, but I want to give a major RAVE to the regional premiere of YANK! the musical in San Diego."

Pam's House Blend
"This musical is wonderful. I don't think I've enjoyed a theater production in years as much as I enjoyed this one."

***Also check out an interview with David, Joe, and Director Igor Goldin on the web site for 'These days' on KPBS Radio, 89.5 FM San Diego from July 8th 10:30am

THE CASEBOOK OF RUDOLF H------ receives workshop at New York Theatre Workshop. Two standing-room only showings June 1st and 2nd.

Reviews are in for David’s first ballet collaboration: The New York Times loves “Roz G.”, David’s text for The Chase Brock Experience’s 4 Seasons Ballet.

Gay City News raves that Roz G. is a "dead-on send up!"

Stellar Reviews for IDEOGRAM at EST!

Backstage says “Zellnik is a playwright to watch!”… NYTheatre.com calls Ideogram “as perfectly funny and complete as a ten-minute comedy can be” … Theatremania says Ideogram “lots of laughs” … and The New York Times loves “goofy, appealing” Ideogram!

Come hear the song "Betty" from YANK! sung by Ivan Hernandez, Curtis Holbrook, Tally Sessions and Bobby Steggert at: "NEO4: A concert celebration of emerging talent in musical theatre a benefit for York Theatre Company" Monday MAY 19, 2008. At the York Theatre.

IDEOGRAM, my new one act, will be part of Ensemble Studio Theatre's Marathon 2008! EST's Marathon is the premiere showcase of new one-acts in the country. The evening IDEOGRAM is in ­ Series B ­ features work by Neil LaBute, Taylor Mac, Lloyd Suh, and Anne Washburn. From May 23 through June 20th at EST.

Come check out David's monologues written for The Chase Brock Experience's 21st Century ballet reimagining of Vivaldi's Four Seasons! Visit www.chasebrockexperience.com.

Check out YANK!'s New Website!

For news about YANK! and to hear tracks from the NEW DEMO, check out YANK!’s new website at www.yankthemusical.com!

YANK! has just received a nomination for an “Outstanding New York Theater: Off-Off Broadway” award from GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation). Read about it!