Hi, I’m Paul Fujimoto
I was born and raised in Seattle, WA. I moved to New York City at age 19 and haven’t looked back since.
I grew up playing the trumpet (my first love) and idolized the greats like Dizzy Gillespie, Clifford Brown and Lee Morgan. In fact, one of my first jobs upon moving to NYC was ushering for Jazz at Lincoln Center. You can imagine how excited I was to get to watch Wynton Marsalis perform live every night!
But, I wasn’t exactly sure which path to take when I moved here. I loved playing trumpet and piano and I wrote arrangements for jazz orchestras in high school…but I also loved acting and performing on stage. If only there was a way to combine the two…
I decided the logical synthesis was to combine my passions and create my own musicals! So I wrote a handful of songs and was fortunate enough to have them performed in my very first concert NOT JEWISH OR GAY, by a cast of rising young singers and special guest Lauren Kennedy.
My passion ignited, I auditioned for and was accepted to the prestigious BMI Workshop, birthplace of such iconic shows as A CHORUS LINE, NINE, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, AVENUE Q and NEXT TO NORMAL.
Since then, I’ve had my songs performed in concerts and showcases around the world, at Juilliard, 54 Below and the Lincoln Center Library. I’ve worked and recorded with a plethora of Broadway talent, including Tony-winners Karen Ziemba and Gavin Creel, and nominees Lauren Worsham, John Tartaglia and Joshua Henry. We just got back from developing our new show at the 2020 Johnny Mercer Songwriters Colony at the Goodspeed Opera House. And most importantly, I’m happy. Even if I never become rich and famous, I truly am fulfilled by what I do and looking back, I have no regrets about the path I chose.
Next up: CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET, a new musical based on the NY-Times best-selling novel HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET, by Jamie Ford. I’m doing the Music and Lyrics and my fabulous collaborator, Lainie Sakakura is writing the book. The 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle is developing it with us and we couldn’t be more excited!
