Erik Della Penna


Erik Della Penna is a Tony-nominated American composer-lyricist, songwriter, and musician. He has scored two films, composed and written the lyrics for two children’s musicals, and has written and recorded twelve albums of songs. He has also been the principal guitarist for pop singer Natalie Merchant since 2001. For co-writing the music and lyrics for the musical Dead Outlaw with David Yazbek, he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Original Score and won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics.

Early life

Erik Della Penna was born in The Bronx and grew up on Long Island, New York. He is conservatory-trained, having received a degree in Classical Guitar from the Mannes School of Music.

Career

In 1994, Della Penna began touring with pop singer Joan Osborne on the Mercury Records label. Later, he toured and recorded with American singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant in support of several studio albums. During this time he also toured with folk singer Joan Baez and joined the international band Hazmat Modine as a guitarist and songwriter. Della Penna also has his own band called Kill Henry Sugar, a "metropolitan folk" duo with drummer and grammy-winning producer Dean Sharenow.
In February 2024, his musical Dead Outlaw opened at the Minetta Lane Theatre. It became a New York Times critic's pick and earned eleven Drama Desk Award nominations, winning three. It opened on Broadway at the Longacre Theatre on April 27th, 2025. This production was also designated a New York Times critic's pick and was nominated for seven Tony Awards in May of 2025.

Awards and nominations

YearAssociationCategoryNominated workResultRef
2024Drama Desk AwardOutstanding LyricsDead OutlawWon
2024Drama Desk AwardOutstanding MusicDead Outlaw
2024Drama Desk AwardOutstanding OrchestrationsDead Outlaw
2024New York Drama Critics CircleBest MusicalDead OutlawWon
2024Outer Critics Circle AwardOutstanding New Off-Broadway MusicalDead OutlawWon
2024Outer Critics Circle AwardOutstanding New ScoreDead Outlaw
2024Outer Critics Circle AwardOutstanding OrchestrationsDead Outlaw
2025Tony AwardBest Original ScoreDead OutlawNomitated