David Hein

For the American professor and scientist, see David W. Hein.

David Hein is a Canadian librettist, composer-lyricist, musician, and actor best known for co-writing the Broadway musical Come from Away with his writing partner and wife, Irene Sankoff.[1]

Hein was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, and was educated at Lisgar Collegiate Institute in Ottawa and York University in Toronto, Ontario.[2][3] After graduating, he and his fiancée moved to New York City in 1999 where he worked at a music studio and she studied at the Actors Studio. After spending several years studying and working in New York the couple returned to Toronto where Hein wrote a song "My Mother's Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding", about his mother and her later life partner, which he and Sankoff expanded into a play that was staged at the Toronto Fringe Festival in 2009 and then picked up by Mirvish Productions for a run at Toronto's Panasonic Theatre before touring Canada.[4][5][6]

As a result of My Mother’s Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding's success, theatre producer Michael Rubinoff approached Hein and Sankoff with his idea about a show based on Operation Yellow Ribbon in which residents of Gander, Newfoundland, housed 7,000 airline passengers who had been stranded at Gander Airport as a result of the grounding of all North American air flights following the September 11 attacks, which became the musical Come from Away.[7]

Following the success of Come from Away, in 2023 Sankoff and Hein were awarded honorary doctorates by Memorial University of Newfoundland.[8]

  1. ^ Morrow, Martin (March 30, 2017). "Q&A: Irene Sankoff and David Hein, creators of the Toronto-born Broadway hit Come From Away". Toronto Life. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  2. ^ Robb, Peter (August 16, 2019). "Come from Away: Success for writing team travels from Fringe to Broadway". Artsfile.
  3. ^ Nestruck, J. Kelly (February 17, 2017). "Landing on their feet". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  4. ^ "W5: My Mother's Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding hits main stage". CTV News. November 21, 2009. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  5. ^ "Review: My Mother's Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding". CBC News. May 11, 2012. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  6. ^ Ouzounian, Richard (December 14, 2015). "From Sept. 11 tragedy, a theatrical triumph". Toronto Star. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  7. ^ Wong, Tony (November 13, 2016). "From Gander to Broadway". Toronto Star. p. E2. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  8. ^ "Convocation approaches: Memorial University to confer 14 honorary degrees during spring ceremonies". Memorial University Gazette. Memorial University of Newfoundland. April 5, 2023. Retrieved November 11, 2024.