Drew Fornarola

Drew Fornarola is a songwriter and playwright from New York City.  He has written for DreamWorks' Shrek and VeggieTales franchises,and is currently the artistic director of STARRING BUFFALO.   

​Film: VeggieTales Noah's Ark (DreamWorks Animation) starring Wayne Brady; STRAIGHT (post-production, BH5 Productions) starring Alejandro Speitzer, 1 Night in San Diego (Streaming on Hulu, Metropolitan Entertainment)  starring Alexandra Daddario, High School Zoomsical (MTShorts and Broadway Unlocked) starring Ryann Redmond, and Jane (Pure Motion Pictures).  

Theater: STRAIGHT (New York Times Critics' Pick, productions worldwide include a sold out run in Mexico City and a European tour, now in development as a major motion picture);  Claudio Quest (winner of six NYMF Awards for Excellence, LA Ovation Award Nominee for Best Score, in development as an augmented reality experience); Shrek The Halls: The Musical (DreamWorks Theatricals), Molly Shannon’s Tilly The Trickster (Atlantic Theater Company, collaboration with Saturday Night Live's Molly Shannon); Thucydides (Winner of Samuel French Play Festival, pub Samuel French); Hershey's Unwrapped (Hershey's Chocolate World, May '19 - present, winner 2019 IAAPA Brass Ring for theme park show of the year); COLLEGE The Musical (MTVu Award, Hippodrome State Theatre, Dramatic Publishing Company); and 2 musicals for children.  

Concerts: Lincoln Center, Feinstein's/54 Below, Kaufman Music Center (NYC), Broadway au Carre (Paris), London Theatre Workshop (London), Bar Fedora at Au Lac (Los Angeles), among others.  

Recent Directing: Little Shop of Horrors starring Tony Award-Winner Matt Doyle (2019), Sunday in the Park... Starring Tony Award-Nominee Josh Young (2021), and the upcoming world premiere of Jeff Goode's Fursona Non-Grata (April 2023). 

Teaching: Broadway Dreams Foundation faculty (2014-2018), Salve Regina University (2020-2021), Shine Theater Arts Project (2020-present), Stoneman Douglas Songwriting Initiative, guest lectures at colleges around the country.

Other: Drew provided string arrangements for #1 charting Japanese band CREAM, and his score for Buddy Thomas' Devil Boys from Beyond (New World Stages) is available for licensing from Samuel French. He is the co-creator and host of the critically acclaimed Madame Mathieu's Soiree, an avant-garde variety show now in its fourth season in the West Village.   

Education: B.A. Princeton, J.D. Fordham, Alumnus BMI Musical Theatre Workshop.