Education
MFA, Columbia University
BFA, The Hartt School, University of Hartford
Danny Brown is a playwright, composer, lyricist, and dramaturg whose work focuses on the development of new plays and musicals. A proud graduate of The Hartt School, he earned a BFA in Musical Theatre and was one of the first students to graduate with a minor in music composition. He later earned an MFA in Theatre Dramaturgy from Columbia University. He is delighted to rejoin the University of Hartford as an adjunct professor.
As a writer, Danny’s play As Time Goes By premiered Off-Broadway in 2025 with Obie Award-winning theatre company Out of the Box, following developmental workshops with Iceberg Productions. His other plays and musicals, including Dead Dog, Ruthy, and Wallflower, have received productions or developmental workshops. As a lyric assistant, he worked under Susan Birkenhead during the Chicago tryout of Boop! The Musical before its Broadway transfer. His current projects include Manhattan Beach and The Pansy Craze, which received a reading at Hartford Stage featuring the Hartford Gay Men’s Choir.
Also a trained dramaturg, Danny engages with new works, experimental reinterpretations, and classic works alike. At La MaMa, he worked on Stairwell Theater’s production of Shakespeare’s Henry VI Part 2, and further uptown was dramaturg for a new found-space production of William Finn’s Elegies.
Outside of theatre and music, he works in libraries and freelances as an archivist. He collaborated closely with former New York Theatre Workshop Artistic Director Jim Nicola on preserving his personal archives.
Danny’s teaching and research interests include musical theatre history and criticism, new play and musical development, and dramaturgy for new work. He has taught guest workshops for various high schools and developed new coursework during his studies at Columbia University.