KEN CERNIGLIA is a dramaturg, writer, editor, and organizational leader, best known for dramaturging the innovative Broadway hits Hadestown (8 Tony Awards, including Best Musical) and Peter and the Starcatcher (5 Tony Awards).

 

As resident dramaturg and literary manager for Disney Theatrical Productions for 16 years, he developed over 70 stage titles for Broadway, touring, international, and licensed productions, including The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Freaky Friday, Aladdin, Newsies, The Little Mermaid, High School Musical, Tarzan, and Marvel Spotlight Plays, and edited two official Broadway “making of” books, Peter and the Starcatcher: The Annotated Broadway Play and Newsies: Stories of the Unlikely Broadway Hit.

 

Other dramaturgy includes the bilingual Shakespeare adaptation Romeo y Juliet by Karen Zacarías and KJ Sanchez (Cal Shakes); the chamber opera Blood Moon by Ellen McLaughlin and Garrett Fisher (PROTOTYPE 2020); and adaptations of Bud, Not Buddy, The Gift of Nothing, The Cricket in Times Square, and OLIVERio: A Twist on Dickens (Kennedy Center).

 

Now a full-time freelancer, Ken's creative work has expanded with fresh collaborations that take him around the world. Current new musical dramaturgy includes Redwood by Tina Landau and Kate Diaz (directed by Tina Landau), Five Notes by Karen Zacarías and Gloria & Emily Estefan (directed by Michael Greif); The Ten by Nambi Kelley, Emily Phillips & Future Cut (directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson); The Song of Bernadette by Rinne Groff, Robin Lerner & Frank Wildhorn (directed by Christopher Gattelli); Evening Train by Mick Flannery (directed by Julie Kelleher); and In My Own Little Corner: My Moods, My Mom, and Me. by Chryssie Whitehead (directed by Bryan Knowlton).

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​At this stage in his career, Ken has recently invested in his own creative voice, co-writing three new musicals. Atlantis (music and lyrics by Matthew Lee Robinson, book by Ken Cerniglia, Matthew Lee Robinson and Scott Morris) received its world premiere at Virginia Rep in Richmond in 2019 directed by Kristin Hanggi (Rock of Ages), and a concept album will be released later this year. Laurel Canyon: The Musical, book by Ken Cerniglia and Michael Walker, based on Walker's best-selling "inside story of rock and roll's legendary neighborhood, has been optioned by producer Ray Gaspard and was developed at Duke University in September 2024, directed by Kristin Hanggi. Dream: a love foolsical, based on Shakespeare, features a new book by Ken and '70s-inspired songs by Steven Mackenroth, Randolph Tallman, and Jim Abbott. This musical "revisal" is directed by Terry Berliner, executive produced by Jeff Lee, and optioned by producer Sally Tycher, who choreographed its original premiere at the Dallas Theater Center in the 1970s.

 

Ken is past president and current board member of Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA), co-founder of the American Theatre Archive Project, Artistic Director of Two Turns Theatre Company, board member of New Light Theater Project, and co-creator of Cultivating Feedback for Creative Success. He is a proud graduate of UC San Diego (BA), Catholic University (MA), and University of Washington (PhD); has three extraordinary sons; and lives in Harlem, NYC, and San Mateo, CA, with one incredible spouse.