He is a musical theatre composer born in Pittsburgh who often works in collaboration with the lyricist Lynn Ahrens. They are best known for their shows such as Ragtime, which won one Tony Award and a further twelve nominations, and Once on This Island which had eight Tony nominations. Their other musicals include Lucky Stiff, A Christmas Carol and Seussical the Musical.
They have also worked on songs for the movies Anastasia, which was nominated for an Academy Award, and Bartok the Magnificent.
He was nominated for a 2004 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best New Musical of 2003 with Ragtime performed at the Piccadilly Theatre.
In 2007 he and Ahrens collaborated on is the musical The Glorious Ones , in 2010 they wrote Little Dancer and in 2012 they wrote Rocky the Musical. In 2015 he wrote the music for In Your Arms with Lynn Ahrens providing the lyrics for the title song.
In 2016 he was married to Trevor Hardwick in New York City.
Boston Pops Orchestra recordings
With Voices Raised (Flaherty/Ahrens)
Conductor – Keith Lockhart
Tenor – Jason Danieley
RCA 63516
New York Pops Recordings
Ragtime
Conductor and piano – Skitch Henderson
Vocals – Michael Maguire
Centaur CRC 2401
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