Mel Atkey has been writing musicals ever since he was in high school in his native Vancouver. He was a finalist for the Musical of the Year competition in Aarhus, Denmark, and his work has been short-listed for the Vivian Ellis Prize, the Quest for New Musicals, the Ken Hill Prize and Musical Stairs. His first musical, Shikara, was produced on radio in Canada. A single was released by singer Janice Jaud of one of the songs, "Far Away", and received airplay across Canada and the U.S.

Mel spent two years as a theatre critic in Vancouver before moving to Toronto to pursue his career as a musical theatre writer. He was commissioned to write songs for CBC Radio, and was a member of the Guild of Canadian Musical Theatre Writers' Lehman Engel Workshop. He was a director of the Cabaret and Musical Theatre Alliance until he moved to London in 1991. He made his New York debut in April 2001 with an off-off-Broadway showcase of O Pioneers! with book by Robert Sickinger. This show was then a finalist for "Stages 2002" at the New Tuners theatre in Chicago. Their second musical, A Little Princess was presented at Wings Theatre in New York in 2003, and his two character musical Perfect Timing, for which he wrote the book as well as music and lyrics, was showcased in 2005 to great acclaim as part of Greenwich Theatre (London)'s Musical Futures series. He wrote the opening number for Janie Dee's critically acclaimed one-woman show. He has also lectured internationally on the subject of musical theatre.

www.melatkey.com