About
Jack Eric Williams 1944 - 1994
The musical compositions of Jack Eric Williams have lain dormant for 23 years. His award-winning chorales, modern operas, and chamber music from his youth in Texas and Nashville; the art songs inspired by poems by notable poets such as Kenneth Patchen, Theodore Roethke, Diane Wakoski, and Frank O’Hara; and his two anticipated Broadway shows – Mrs Farmer’s Daughter and The Nashville Show – have all been resting as time has passed them by, through no fault of their own.
Despite this forced hiatus, Jack Eric Williams' music remains relevant, incredibly beautiful, and unique among its peers.
in flagrante Music Productions is dedicated to the preservation of Jack’s work, ensuring it is preserved and restored in order that it can be produced, published, and performed. in flagrante exists solely to promote Jack Eric Williams and his remarkable music.
For further information on the creative work we are doing or if you are interested in performing, producing, or publishing any of Jack Eric Williams’ compositions, please Contact Me.
As a performer, Jack Eric Williams was best known for his creation of the role of The Beadle in Stephen Sondheim’s 1979 Broadway thriller, “Sweeney Todd.” Mr. Sondheim composed this challenging tessitura part specifically for Jack. He made his Broadway debut in 1976 in Richard Foreman’s revival of “Threepenny Opera,” produced by Joe Papp and performed at Lincoln Center. Additionally, Jack participated in Foreman’s first film, “Strong Medicine”. He also performed in "Tales from The Vienna Woods","Cat On A Hot Tin Roof", and Amahl and the Night Visitors", among many others. Photo credit: Martha Swope
As striking as his performances were, Jack Eric Williams preferred to focus on his work as a composer. He left the cast of “Sweeney Todd” to concentrate on his musical biography of Frances Farmer, “Mrs. Farmer’s Daughter”, which garnered a 1983 production at PepsiCo Summerfare, directed by Tom O’Horgan, and another, a year later at the American Musical Theater Festival in Philadelphia, directed by the late George Ferencz.
His other Broadway show, a Nashville romantic comedy called “Swamp Gas and Shallow Feelings”, now known as "Swamp Gas", was given developmental readings in 1988 and 1990 at the National Music Theater Conference of the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, and a third in 1991 by the National Music Theater Network as part of its Broadway Dozen Series. It was also the recipient of the 1990 Richard Rodgers Award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.
Jack Eric Williams
Additional Biographical Info
Jack Eric Williams was born in Odessa, Texas on August 28, 1944. He grew up in Texas before moving to Nashville, where he continued his work in music and theater, eventually relocating permanently to New York City, where he lived until his premature death on January 28, 1994.
In New York City, Jack Eric Williams showcased his talents through cabaret shows such as 'Songs and Other Devices, vols 1 - 4' and '5 Nights In May' at popular clubs like The Ballroom, Reno Sweeney, Lone Star Café, The Other End, and The West Bank Café. Concert evenings featuring his musical compositions were held at venues including the West Bank Café, Chelsea Theater Center, Ted Hook’s, and The Lucky Strike Club.
From an early age, Jack began setting poems to music, creating songs that form a significant part of his catalog. He drew inspiration from poets like Emily Dickinson, e.e. cummings, Archibald MacLeish, and especially Kenneth Patchen, revealing funny, wry, dark, and universal themes through his impossibly beautiful music.
Jack received numerous commissions for his musical compositions for theatrical works, with notable contributions to the Summer Theater of the University of South Carolina, the Tennessee Arts Commission, the American Dance Festival, Playwrights Horizons, Arena Stage, and the New York Theater Festival.
In addition to his creative work, Jack was a respected teacher of voice in New York City, maintaining a full roster of private students from 1982 to 1992.
His directing credits include 'Man Of La Mancha' for the Tennessee Repertory Theater and 'Threepenny Opera' during his time as an artist in residence at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN.
In the 1960s, Jack won numerous awards in composition from the Texas Manuscript Society, the Texas Young Composers, and the National Young Composers Societies. In 1965, he and writing partner, librettist Elizabeth Lyne, won the National Grass Roots Opera Competition with 'The Hinge Tune.'
About
in flagrante music productions
About
Eve Martinez, in flagrante sole proprietor
Jack saw me perform in a late night showcase at The West Bank Cafe, and contacted me soon after to join a group of singers he was working with to record a demo tape of the score for his musical, "Mrs. Farmer's Daughter".
I walked my large shaggy dog downtown to his apartment on 54th St, and all three of us were instant friends and collaborators. He asked me to sing on a lot of his projects, and I developed a cabaret act and performed his incredible Patchen poems (and other poets) solo and with him, and often my other friend, Richard Isen.
I was one of many people who cared for Jack when he became seriously ill in 1993. I was working full-time helping to implement NYC's recycling program, and had the day-to-day stability to also co-administer his estate.
It was in that role that I became aware of a large, unorganized body of award-winning compositions which no one but Jack's high school chums and early music teachers had ever heard. I attempted to obtain the rights to all of Jack's work while wrapping up his estate. To me, it was crucial that the music stay in New York City and in the hands of professionals who could continue to represent and promote Jack's work, especially "Swamp Gas and Shallow Feelings", which was under option and being rewritten at the time of Jack's death.
For better or worse, Jack's son would not sell, and all of Jack's music went to Texas for the next 18 years. I gave up any hopes I had had of achieving my musical efforts, and focused on my new future, as an environmental educator and program developer. I always kept in touch with Jack's son, who was very smart and a talented musician himself.
When he called me in 2011 and said he was ready to put all of Jack's music in the trash, but if I was still interested, I could have it. (Eden was quite cagey, and I always wondered if he made up that "putting it all out for the trash" line to get my attention.) I responded immediately that I did want it, and we finally made a deal. I got all those boxes of unorganized music back on my apartment doorstep, and they lived under my dining room table for several years as I did nothing but sort, count, make lists, and research the entire body of Jack Eric Williams' work.
The rescue mission continues
Missing Music Found!!!
Jack Eric Williams was born in Odessa, Texas on August 28, 1944. He grew up in Texas before moving to Nashville, where he continued his work in music and theater, eventually relocating permanently to New York City, where he lived until his premature death on January 28, 1994.
In New York City, Jack Eric Williams showcased his talents through cabaret shows such as 'Songs and Other Devices, vols 1 - 4' and '5 Nights In May' at popular clubs like The Ballroom, Reno Sweeney, Lone Star Café, The Other End, and The West Bank Café. Concert evenings featuring his musical compositions were held at venues including the West Bank Café, Chelsea Theater Center, Ted Hook’s, and The Lucky Strike Club.
From an early age, Jack began setting poems to music, creating songs that form a significant part of his catalog. He drew inspiration from poets like Emily Dickinson, e.e. cummings, Archibald MacLeish, and especially Kenneth Patchen, revealing funny, wry, dark, and universal themes through his impossibly beautiful music.
Jack received numerous commissions for his musical compositions for theatrical works, with notable contributions to the Summer Theater of the University of South Carolina, the Tennessee Arts Commission, the American Dance Festival, Playwrights Horizons, Arena Stage, and the New York Theater Festival.
In addition to his creative work, Jack was a respected teacher of voice in New York City, maintaining a full roster of private students from 1982 to 1992.
His directing credits include 'Man Of La Mancha' for the Tennessee Repertory Theater and 'Threepenny Opera' during his time as an artist in residence at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN.
In the 1960s, Jack won numerous awards in composition from the Texas Manuscript Society, the Texas Young Composers, and the National Young Composers Societies. In 1965, he and writing partner, librettist Elizabeth Lyne, won the National Grass Roots Opera Competition with 'The Hinge Tune.'
