"Every rhyme should be a perfect rhyme, every scan should be a perfect scan, and the songs should move the story forward." David Rackoff is the lyricist, composer and book-writer for Nothing Like Broadway!, which ran off-Broadway from September 14th through November 23rd, 2025 at The Marjorie S Deane Little Theater on 64th street. Theater Scene said that it was "a love letter to the art form of musical theater". Opening Night Reviews said that "Writer-composer-lyricist David Rackoff constructs his show with traditional craftsmanship: clear narrative purpose, honest emotional stakes, clever rhymes, and a belief that theater should engage both the intellect and affections." Hi Broadway said that the show was "hilarious, unhinged, and completely unforgettable".
David Rackoff wrote the lyrics for the seven original songs in his feature film I Am Bad (written and directed by David, with a score by Harry Gregson-Williams, the BAFTA-winning composer of Shrek and the Narnia movies). The film won Best Original Music at Chicago's Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival, and Best Horror Film at the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival, and starred NCIS's Pauley Perrette, Taylor Dayne, and Tony Award Winner for Rent Wilson Jermaine Heredia. David wrote and directed the play The Chase Lounge, which Backstage West called “a delightfully crafty… one-person Noises Off”, and LA Weekly called “side-splitting”. He wrote the lyrics for, and directed, the full-length stage musical Gilbert & Sullivan's Pulp Fiction (starring LA Drama Critics Circle winner Heidi Sulzman).
David attended the NMI (ANMT) Lehman Engel musical theater workshop in Los Angeles. After graduating, he teamed up with composer Sahara Sunday Spain and NMI executive director Scott Guy to write the full-length musical Wonderland Wars (or The Tyrant of Wonderland). NMI produced a workshop production of the musical.
David worked again with Spain to adapt D. H. Lawrence's The Rocking Horse Winner, a tale of a young boy trying to win his mother's love. The show had a staged reading with a full cast and an orchestra at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater Florida, then a staged reading in NYC. Broadway producer Zev Buffman said of The Rocking Horse Winner, "This is one of those journeys that deserves attention and recognition. The work is mysterious and original."
David studied orchestration with Tony winner Doug Besterman.
David lives in New York, and is currently writing the lyrics, book, and music to Genius Grant, a musical comedy, and The Turing Test, a one-person apocalyptic musical drama.
David Rackoff wrote the lyrics for the seven original songs in his feature film I Am Bad (written and directed by David, with a score by Harry Gregson-Williams, the BAFTA-winning composer of Shrek and the Narnia movies). The film won Best Original Music at Chicago's Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival, and Best Horror Film at the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival, and starred NCIS's Pauley Perrette, Taylor Dayne, and Tony Award Winner for Rent Wilson Jermaine Heredia. David wrote and directed the play The Chase Lounge, which Backstage West called “a delightfully crafty… one-person Noises Off”, and LA Weekly called “side-splitting”. He wrote the lyrics for, and directed, the full-length stage musical Gilbert & Sullivan's Pulp Fiction (starring LA Drama Critics Circle winner Heidi Sulzman).
David attended the NMI (ANMT) Lehman Engel musical theater workshop in Los Angeles. After graduating, he teamed up with composer Sahara Sunday Spain and NMI executive director Scott Guy to write the full-length musical Wonderland Wars (or The Tyrant of Wonderland). NMI produced a workshop production of the musical.
David worked again with Spain to adapt D. H. Lawrence's The Rocking Horse Winner, a tale of a young boy trying to win his mother's love. The show had a staged reading with a full cast and an orchestra at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater Florida, then a staged reading in NYC. Broadway producer Zev Buffman said of The Rocking Horse Winner, "This is one of those journeys that deserves attention and recognition. The work is mysterious and original."
David studied orchestration with Tony winner Doug Besterman.
David lives in New York, and is currently writing the lyrics, book, and music to Genius Grant, a musical comedy, and The Turing Test, a one-person apocalyptic musical drama.
