Five Unordinary Things You Should Know About Adam Gwon

1 The upcoming production of Adam Gwon’s musical Ordinary Days at Roundabout Underground is not his first experience with the company. Gwon interned with Roundabout right after college, which led to his hire as Development Associate for four years. “To be honest, it never really occurred to me that this would happen,” Gwon says, “It feels like a homecoming.”

2 Adam Gwon won a major award for his songwriting. In 2008, he received the Fred Ebb Award, recognizing excellence in musical theatre songwriting. “It’s such a huge honor, and an amazing gift for an emerging writer – being able to take time away from a day job to focus on your artistic work,” Gwon said of the accolade. “It was hard for me to believe that people like John Kander, Sheldon Harnick, and Susan Stroman were all there to celebrate me, and not the other way around.”

3 Adam Gwon, like most everybody, adores Audra McDonald. Gwon’s songwriting has been described as having a “signature smart, catchy” style, and he aims to create sophisticated work that always remains accessible to audiences. He heard many of the composers who have most influenced him—Adam Guettel, Michael John LaChiusa, Jason Robert Brown, and Ricky Ian Gordon— on Audra McDonald’s debut album.

4 Adam Gwon plays it by ear. As a child, his parents gave him lessons with the organist of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (who happened to live down the street) after he had started playing piano by ear. Surprisingly, he has never had any formal music composition training.

5 Adam Gwon wanted to be an oceanographer in 6th grade. Over time that changed to roller coaster designer, actor, and finally to musical theatre composer. And now that he has achieved that final goal, what’s an ordinary day for Gwon? “Lots of coffee, and if I’m lucky, some good, productive writing!” —Jill Rafson