Grammy® nominated songwriter and producer Tor Hyams is a 30-year entertainment veteran in the music, TV and film industries, from writing and performing his own material to producing world-class recording artists, and composing the musical scores for dozens of movies, television shows and musicals.

 

As a music producer, Tor has produced and written for Diane Warren, Joan Osborne, Howie D. (Backstreet Boys), Isaac Hayes, Lisa St. Lou, Michelle Branch, JC Chasez, Vivian Campbell, Edwin McCain, Lisa Loeb, Perry Farrell, Broadway Star Rachel York, Gretchen Parlato, and Lou Rawls. Hyams also wrote and produced an award-winning, star-studded children's album called "A World of Happiness," which he released on Disney Records. It featured performances from Samuel L. Jackson, Magic Johnson, Lou Rawls, Isaac Hayes, Debbie Harry, Gary Oldman, Perry Farrell, and many others.

 

After transitioning from the recording industry to musical theatre, Tor co-wrote and produced Greenwood, an original musical for the stage starring Andrea McArdle, which premiered at the 2011 New York Musical Theater Festival (NYMF). With writing partner, Lisa St. Lou, Tor has also written original works ,including STEALING TIME (premiered at York Musical Theater Festival 2012 and has been further developed by Emerging Artists Theatre, The Pitch at the Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival and at Goodspeed Opera House by way of the Johnny Mercer Writers Colony), GREEN ACRES (commissioned musical), the musical based on the legendary television show, COLLATERAL BEAUTY, an adaptation of the film starring Will Smith, Ed Norton and Kate Winslet (in collaboration with screenwriter Allan Loeb and produced by TRW), the play, IDIO(ma)TIC, a literal thinking-out-of-the-box comedic anthology of idioms about love, the devil and, yes, boxes (with John Cariani and produced by TRW), HOWIE D: BACK IN THE DAY, a family musical about belonging and race, based on the real-life experience of Backstreet Boy, Howie D (world-premiered at the Rose Theater in Omaha in January 2020), SENIOR LIVING, a play about people dying to live, which takes place in a retirement community (directed by Judith Ivey, first read at Cherry Lane Theatre in NYC and world-premiered at Portland Stage in Maine), and the 1st ANNUAL TRUMP FAMILY SPECIAL, which had an off-Broadway run at the Triad Theater.

 

In the live music arena, Hyams conceived and produced Kidzapalooza, a family festival nested within the Lollapalooza Festival. He then went on to produce several more family stages, including Austin Kiddie Limits as part of Austin City Limits, and the kids stages at the Hangout Music Festival, Westbeach Music Festival, and the Recess Music Festival. Tor’s live event status culminated with the White House Easter Egg Roll four consecutive years in a row under the Obama administration. Tor also co-founded KindieFest, the first ever family music conference.

 

In television, Tor and Lisa have written Clusterf*ck (pilot – “The Rewrite”), the story of two forty-something’s who decided to leave their crumbling marriages for each other and become writing partners. Amidst dwindling savings and a newly blended family, the two will stop at nothing to “write” all the wrongs of life’s banalities. The Lou (pilot – “Coming Home”), is a ½ hour dramedy with songs about a singer/songwriter who returns home to St. Louis after discovering her husband is a sex addict and struggles to rebuild her life, while contending with her dysfunctional family. Riverdale Manor (pilot – “Sex Again”), is a ½ hour comedy set in a retirement community about a group of people dying to live. It’s like Friends, but at a senior living facility instead of a fake apartment in the West Village that no one could afford in real life anyway. Animal Control (pilot – “Rabid Squirrel”), is a The Office style comedy about an animal control unit in Beaver County, Oklahoma. They keep us safe from the animals and the animals safe from us. The Whites (pilot – “Election Day”), is a ½ hour comedy about a black family living in a wealthy white suburb during the Obama years. It’s the Wonder Years, but set in the 2000’s with a black family named White. In Nowadays, a wanna-be-Broadway-star-turned-trophy-wife decides to reclaim the career she almost had. It’s a musical mixed with equal parts 2 Broke Girls, Mary Tyler Moore and Dead To Me.

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In branded content, Tor & Lisa Hyams and St. Lou wrote, produced and directed a television polit and three songs and music videos for Far Out Toys’ the “GloUp Girls” doll brand. Additionally they wrote, produced and starred in Mommy Needs A Timeout for Nickelodeon’s Nickmom channel.