Ross Rawlings

Last updated

Ross Rawlings
Born1966or1967(age 57–58)
Education Towson University (B.A.)
Occupations
  • Pianist
  • Composer
  • Music director
  • Conductor
Awards Kevin Kline Award (2010)
Musical career
Years active1982–present

Ross Scott Rawlings (born c.1966or1967) is an American pianist, composer, conductor, and music director. [1] [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Rawlings was born {Circa 1965} to Daryl Lee (née Prysock) and Dennis Scott Rawlings. [3] [4] His mother was a contract analyst for the Government of Maryland and his father was a collection agent. [3] [5] Ross Rawlings and his brother, Kevin D. Rawlings [3] lived in Baltimore County, but later moved to Harford County, Maryland before middle school. He began taking piano lessons at the age of 3 and started a singing group in middle school that continued through high school. When Rawlings was 16, he was injured in a car crash while en route to the first orchestra rehearsal for a production of Seesaw at Liberty Showcase Theatre in [Randallstown, Maryland], [Maryland]. He was in a hospital for over a month due to broken ribs, wrists, kneecaps, sternum and fractured elbows. [4] Despite the crash, Rawlings was able to conduct and play piano for the production. In 1993, Rawlings earned a Bachelor's of Science in Music Education and Piano from Towson University. [4] [6]

Career

Rawlings became the resident musical director of Toby's Dinner Theatre circa 1989. For four years in the mid-1990s, Rawlings also taught at Atholton High School. [4] In the early 2000s, Rawlings was the conductor for the national/international tour of Fosse directed by Ann Reinking/Debra McWaters. [4] [7] In 2006, he was the musical director for broadway revival of Sweet Charity . [8] [9] At Olney Theatre Center in 2012, Rawlings conducted and orchestrated a production of A Chorus Line and was the musical director for Little Shop of Horrors. [10] [11] Rawlings was the musical director of Rep Stage's 2014 production of The Fantasticks . [12] Rawlings was the Director of Choral Activities and Piano at Glenelg High School 2012-2018. [6] In 2017, composer Stacey V. Gibbs wrote a piece of music entitled Go Down, Moses for the Glenelg choir and dedicated it to the students and Rawlings. [13] Rawlings was the musical director of the inaugural premier of the musical, Magic Under Glass, by the Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts under the direction of Toby Orenstein. [2]

Personal life

In the mid-1990s, Rawlings purchased a house in Columbia, Maryland where he lived for 16 years. [4] As of 2018, he resides in Westminster, Maryland. [3]

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryResultWorkVenueNotesRef(s)
2010 Kevin Kline Award Outstanding Dramatic SeriesWon Hairspray The Muny Tied with Diane White-Clayton [14]
2015 Helen Hayes Award Nominated Memphis Toby's Dinner Theatre [15]
Nominated Spamalot [15]
2018Nominated Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gwen Verdon</span> American actress and dancer (1925–2000)

Gwyneth Evelyn "Gwen" Verdon was an American actress and dancer. She won four Tony Awards for her musical comedy performances, and she served as an uncredited choreographer's assistant and specialty dance coach for theater and film. Verdon was a critically acclaimed performer on Broadway in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, having originated many roles in musicals, including Lola in Damn Yankees, the title character in Sweet Charity, and Roxie Hart in Chicago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Fosse</span> American actor, choreographer, dancer, and director (1927– 1987)

Robert Louis Fosse was an American actor, choreographer, dancer, and film and stage director. Known for his work on stage and screen, he is arguably the most influential figure in the field of jazz dance in the twentieth century. He received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and 9 Tony Awards.

<i>Sweet Charity</i> 1966 American musical

Sweet Charity is a musical with music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields and book by Neil Simon. It was directed and choreographed for Broadway by Bob Fosse starring his wife and muse Gwen Verdon alongside John McMartin. It is based on the screenplay for the 1957 Italian film Nights of Cabiria. However, whereas Federico Fellini's black-and-white film concerns the romantic ups-and-downs of an ever-hopeful prostitute, in the musical the central character is a dancer-for-hire at a Times Square dance hall. The musical premiered on Broadway in 1966, where it was nominated for nine Tony Awards, winning the Tony Award for Best Choreography. The production also ran in the West End as well as having revivals and international productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joel Grey</span> American actor, singer, dancer, director, and photographer (born 1932)

Joel Grey is an American actor, singer, dancer, photographer, and theatre director. He is best known for portraying the Master of Ceremonies in the musical Cabaret on Broadway and in Bob Fosse's 1972 film adaptation. He has won an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony Award. He earned the Lifetime Achievement Tony Award in 2023.

<i>The Fantasticks</i> Musical by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones

The Fantasticks is a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and book and lyrics by Tom Jones. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the 1894 play The Romancers by Edmond Rostand, concerning two neighboring fathers who trick their children, Luisa and Matt, into falling in love by pretending to feud.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chita Rivera</span> American actress, dancer and singer (1933–2024)

Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero, known professionally as Chita Rivera, was an American actress, singer, and dancer. Rivera received numerous accolades including two Tony Awards, two Drama Desk Awards, and a Drama League Award. She was the first Latina and the first Latino American to receive a Kennedy Center Honor in 2002, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. She won the Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paula Kelly (actress)</span> American actress and dancer (1942–2020)

Paula Alma Kelly was an American actress, singer, dancer and choreographer in films, television and theatre. Kelly's career began during the mid–1960s in theatre, making her Broadway debut as Mrs. Veloz in the 1964 musical Something More!, alongside Barbara Cook. Kelly's other Broadway credits include The Dozens (1969), Paul Sills' Story Theatre (1971), Ovid's Metamorphoses (1971), and Sophisticated Ladies (1981), based on the music of Duke Ellington, appearing with Gregory Hines and Phyllis Hyman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olney Theatre Center</span> Arts center in Olney, Maryland, United States

Located in Olney, Maryland, the Olney Theatre Center offers a diverse array of professional productions year-round that enrich, nurture, and challenge a broad range of artists, audiences and students. One of the two official state theaters of Maryland, Olney Theatre Center is situated on 14 acres (57,000 m2) in the middle of the Washington–Baltimore–Frederick "triangle." There are three indoor venues: the Historic Theatre, the Roberts Mainstage, and the Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab. There is also an outdoor venue, the Root Family Stage at Omi’s Pavilion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stefan Sittig</span> Director/Choreographer

Stefan Sittig is an American theatre director, choreographer, educator, performer and podcast host.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ann Reinking</span> American actress, dancer, and choreographer (1949–2020)

Ann Reinking was an American dancer, actress, choreographer, and singer. She worked predominantly in musical theater, starring in Broadway productions such as Coco (1969), Over Here! (1974), Goodtime Charley (1975), Chicago (1977), Dancin' (1978), and Sweet Charity (1986).

Chroniclers of the musical theater have been around for years, collecting pictorial surveys, librettos and scores, and recording the careers of various theatrical celebrities. Nothing in the American musical theater has been more inaccessible, however, than the record of its dance traditions, and there are many to recount.

Wayne Louis Cilento is an American director, choreographer, actor and dancer. He is best known for originating the role of Mike in the Broadway show A Chorus Line, and later becoming one of Broadway's most prolific choreographers.

Michael John Rupert is an American actor, singer, director and composer. In 1968, he made his Broadway debut in The Happy Time as Bibi Bonnard for which he received a Tony Award nomination and the Theater World Award. Later, he starred as the title role in Pippin for three years on Broadway starting in 1974. He originated the role of Marvin in the William Finn musicals March of the Falsettos, Falsettoland and Falsettos. In 2007, he originated the role of Professor Callahan in the Broadway cast of Legally Blonde. Rupert has been the nominee and recipient of several Tony and Drama Desk awards. He won a Tony for his performance in Sweet Charity in 1986.

<i>Sweet Charity</i> (film) 1969 film by Bob Fosse

Sweet Charity is a 1969 American musical comedy-drama film directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse in his feature directorial debut, written by Peter Stone, and featuring music by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields.

Mary Hall Surface is an American playwright and director of theater, working primarily in the Washington, D.C. area. Surface's work has focused primarily on youth and family content. Surface has received accolades from critics for the inventive use of costumes and music mixed with classic storytelling, often with origins in folk tales. She has earned one Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Direction of a Resident Musical - out of eight nominations. In addition, soundtrack of her musical The Odyssey of Telémaca co-written with composer David Maddox won the 2004 Parents' Choice Gold Award.

Jared Mezzocchi is an American theatre director and projection designer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rachel Chavkin</span> American theatre director

Rachel Chavkin is an American stage director best known for directing the musicals Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812 and Hadestown, receiving nominations for a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for both and winning for Hadestown in 2019.

Julio Agustin is a Broadway performer and Broadway Legacy Robe winner. He performed in the original Broadway companies of Fosse, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown with actress Patti LuPone, Steel Pier, Never Gonna Dance, the revival of Bells Are Ringing, and was featured opposite Bebe Neuwirth in Chicago (musical). He appeared in the movies Center Stage and The Producers. In addition to his extensive work as a Broadway performer, he is a working director/choreographer, and was most nominated for an Audelco Award for his work as the director for the New Haarlem Arts Theatre’s Latina-inspired production of Sweet Charity.

Blair Ross is an American actress.

Sandra Mae Frank is an American actress. She is known for performances in theatre, films and TV series.

References

  1. "Rawlings, Ross Scott". worldcat.org. OCLC World Cat Identities. Archived from the original on October 1, 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  2. 1 2 Schelle, Crystal (July 24, 2016). "Smithsburg writer has novels turned into musicial [sic]". Herald Mail Media.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Dennis Scott Rawlings". Cumberland Times. May 17, 2017. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rousuck, J. Wynn (May 5, 2003). "Don't call his music a bowl of cherries". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  5. "Daryl Lee Rawlings". Cumberland Times. February 17, 2017.
  6. 1 2 "Howard County Arts Council Announces Performers for CELEBRATION OF THE ARTS Gala". Broadway World. April 21, 2017. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  7. Leverone, Barbara (April 16, 2004). "'Fosse' kicks up a storm". Sarasota Herald. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  8. Morgan, Terry (October 12, 2006). "Sweet Charity". Variety. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  9. "Theater: 'Sweet Charity' ends with Ringwald". Orange County Register. November 22, 2006. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  10. Pressley, Nelson (August 5, 2013). "'A Chorus Line' at the Olney Theatre Center is a largely enjoyable re-creation". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286. Archived from the original on February 17, 2016. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  11. Pressley, Nelson (August 12, 2012). "Olney Theatre Center's 'Little Shop of Horrors' takes itself too seriously". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286. Archived from the original on June 18, 2017. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  12. Giuliano, Mike (May 12, 2014). "'The Fantasticks' -- time-tested and still sweet". Columbia Flier. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  13. Trobridge, Tracy (April 6, 2017). "Glenelg choir singing a new tune written just for them". Howard County Times. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  14. Newmark, Judith (March 23, 2010). "Kevin Kline Awards feature six ties". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  15. 1 2 "2015 Helen Hayes Awards nominations". Washington Post. January 26, 2015. ISSN   0190-8286. Archived from the original on July 14, 2017. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  16. "Nominations for the 2018 Helen Hayes Awards". Washington Post. February 5, 2018. ISSN   0190-8286. Archived from the original on February 18, 2018. Retrieved March 6, 2018.