As the principal author/composer of the Broadway hit, PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES, Mr. Wann also sang and acted the role of “Jim” in its original New York incarnations. Nominated for Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Best Musical and Best Music on Broadway, nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Musical in London, and winner of Canada’s Dora Award for Best Musical, PUMP BOYS is the longest-running musical in Chicago theatre history; has been produced around the world from Prague to South Africa to Australia; and continues to flourish annually across America.

Mr. Wann’s off-Broadway successes include DIAMOND STUDS: The Life Of Jesse James, A Saloon Musical, notable for creating “Musicians’ Theatre” as a genre; and KING MACKEREL & THE BLUES ARE RUNNING, both co-authored with Bland Simpson. KING MACKEREL’s original cast of “Coastal Cohorts” (Mr. Wann, Mr. Simpson, and Don Dixon) is now in its twentieth year of special engagements, raising funds for environmental and cultural organizations, with a new cd, WILD PONIES, due in summer, 2006.

New musicals include THE PEOPLE VS. MONA and JIM’S GARAGE (co-author, Patricia Miller); and THE GREAT UNKNOWN (co-author, William Hauptman). Two solo recordings, PARDON MY SOUTHERN ACCENT (Vol. 1, Johnny Mercer songs, and Vol. 2, Jim Wann songs), produced by Don Dixon, have garnered recent acclaim.