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Born and raised in Louisiana, Roger was encouraged as a pianist,
songwriter and singer from an early age. His mother was a flamboyant minister
and piano player, his two brothers were
R&B recording
artists and country and gospel music were an integral part of his childhood.
But at 16 he left to study violin and viola
at the University of Southern California and soon after moved to New York
City to study voice, composition and theater. After composing song cycles
using poetry of James Agee, Robert Frost and Dorothy Parker, early in 1978 Anderson was
paired with lyricist Lee Goldsmith, more than 30 years his senior, to write
Shine, a musical about a bootblack. Based on the works of Horatio Alger
and developed for Broadway by 20th Century Fox, much of the making and now infamous "un-making"
of Shine is documented in Supporting Player,
an autobiography by Richard Seff.
The joyful collaboration with Goldsmith continued with several other works
including Beside the Seaside, El Dorado, Quality Street, Goodbye My Fancy
and
Ladykiller, A Musical Noir. As a team they are recipients
of numerous honors including South Florida’s Carbonell Award for
Chaplin, several ASCAP awards and the Broadway USA Award for
Shine
(published by
Samuel French with cast recording by
Original Cast Records).
He was privileged to work closely with such master talents as Ernest Kinoy,
Michael Smuin, Joe Layton, Vivian Matalon and Hal Prince.
Roger has designed sound
and
composed incidental music for several productions in New York City
including Of Lives and Leaves–An Evening of Chekhov at the
Red Room, Andrew Reaches the Other Side at the Bank Street
Theatre and We Were There and Two Spoons for
Otherside Productions.
In 2007 he was asked to
begin work on the score for
Flying Tiger, a large-scale Chinese-American co-production that explores the life of General
Claire Chennault and his relationship with
Madame Chiang
Kai-shek
with renowned playwright
William Luce
and lyricist Kenneth Jones. That project continues
development.
His new musical, Abe, commissioned by The
Muddy River Opera Company in Quincy, Illinois had its premiere in
February 2009 and is now licensed and published by
Samuel French, Inc. Abe is a mature and powerful
musical about Lincoln's life prior to his presidency.
Roger is a
member of The Dramatists Guild and represented by Leo Bookman
Associates in NYC (212.472.8976) |
