Background
Joseph Darion was born on January 30, 1917, in New York City, New York, United States. He was the son of Isak and Rose (Nadelle) Darion.
160 Convent Ave, New York, NY 10031, United States
Darion attended City College of New York.
Joseph Darion was born on January 30, 1917, in New York City, New York, United States. He was the son of Isak and Rose (Nadelle) Darion.
Darion attended City College of New York.
Mr. Darion was a prolific lyricist who worked in every field of music from popular songs to opera. He served in the Navy during World War II. In the early 1950s he had three Top-10 hits the Patti Page ballad ''Changing Partners'' (music by Larry Coleman), the Teresa Brewer novelty ''Ricochet'' (music by Mr. Coleman and Norman Gimbel) and Red Buttons's comedy hit ''The Ho-Ho Song.''
Mr. Darion's first Broadway show, the innovative jazz opera ''Shinbone Alley'' in 1957 with music by George Kleinsinger, was a musical adaptation of Don Marquis's popular ''Archy and Mehitabel'' stories. The show evolved out of a popular recording featuring Carol Channing and Eddie Bracken. He also wrote ''Illya Darling'' (1967), a Broadway adaptation of the movie ''Never On Sunday,'' with music by Manos Hadjidakis. It ran for 320 performances. But Darion's greatest success came in the 1965-66 season with Man Of La Mancha (with a score by Mitch Leigh).
He also wrote librettos in collaboration with the composer Ezra Laderman. They included an oratorio, ''Galileo Galilei,'' and the cantatas ''And David Wept,'' ''A Handful of Souls,'' ''The Questions of Abraham'' and ''A Mass for Cain.''
Quotations:
"Write a lyric with beautiful words but with open vowels in the wrong places, and you won't live to hear the applause, because if the composer doesn't kill you, the singer will."
"Today the music must be woven into the warp and woof of the play to add a dimension, to put up another wall for the weight of the play to rest upon."
Darion was a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, American Guild of Authors and Composers, Dramatists Guild, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
On June 8, 1940, Darion married Hellen Solomon.