Herb Schapiro

Herb Schapiro (January 20, 1929 – October 17, 2014) was an American playwright, lyricist, poet, and educator whose work spanned theater, television, community arts, and university teaching. His plays were produced at the Actors Studio, Provincetown Playhouse, and Henry Street Playhouse, and his poetry appeared in journals including Virginia Quarterly Review and Helicon. Schapiro is best known as the co‑creator and co‑lyricist of The Me Nobody Knows, a musical based on writings by New York City schoolchildren. The show premiered Off Broadway in May 1970, where critic Clive Barnes called it “a dark and lovely rock‑folk musical,” and later transferred to Broadway, running for nearly a year. It…