Doug Besterman | |
---|---|
Born | Douglas Besterman February 3, 1965 |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | University of Rochester (graduated 1985) [1] |
Occupation(s) | Orchestrator Musical arranger Music producer |
Known for | Fosse , The Producers , Thoroughly Modern Millie |
Style | Musical theatre |
Awards | Tony Award for Best Orchestrations Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations |
Douglas Besterman (born February 3, 1965) is an American orchestrator, musical arranger and music producer. He is the recipient of three Tony Awards out of six total nominations and two Drama Desk Awards out of six total nominations, and was a 2009 Grammy Award nominee.
Besterman currently resides in New York. Doug grew up in the New York suburb of Monsey. He attended Ramapo High School and the University of Rochester/Eastman School of Music. His father (Kenny Besterman) was a child performer on The Horn and Hardart Children's Hour. Doug Besterman married Alida Michal in 2021. He has three children from previous marriages.
Besterman found work in New York City in 1986 as a rehearsal pianist. In 1990, he met Danny Troob, who recommended Besterman to work on an Off-Broadway musical with Alan Menken. [2] Besterman then began an extensive career in film with Lincoln (1992), subsequently orchestrating Disney's Pocahontas in 1995.
He made his Broadway debut with Damn Yankees (1994), for which he was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations. Besterman was also nominated for the latter in 1997, with Big: the Musical . [3] He won his first Tony Award for Best Orchestrations in 1999, for orchestrating Fosse with Ralph Burns.
Besterman was nominated for the Tony Award for The Music Man in 2000, for which he also received his third Drama Desk Award nomination. [3]
Besterman won his second Tony Award and his first Drama Desk Award for the Broadway and West End productions of The Producers (2001). In 2002, he shared these awards with Ralph Burns for the original Broadway production of Thoroughly Modern Millie , starring Sutton Foster. Burns had died in November 2001 [4] and Besterman accepted the awards. [3] In his acceptance speech at the 2002 Tony Awards, Besterman was quoted as saying, "I'm sad to be here without him." [5]
In 2001, Besterman orchestrated Rodgers and Hammerstein's score in the TV movie South Pacific . [6] In 2002 he served as orchestrator for the Academy Award-winning film adaptation of Chicago . [7] Besterman also arranged music for the 2003 film Piglet's Big Movie .
In 2004, Besterman orchestrated music for the original productions of Dracula, the Musical at the La Jolla Playhouse and Broadway's Belasco Theatre. [8] [9]
Besterman provided orchestrations and arrangements for the 2005 West End production of Guys and Dolls . [10]
Also in 2005, Besterman reunited with The Producers composer Mel Brooks for the film version of the same name. [11] He again worked with Brooks on his 2007 musical adaptation of Young Frankenstein , for which he was nominated for his sixth Drama Desk Award and first Grammy Award. [3] [12] [13]
Besterman worked with writer Debra Fordham and composers Jeff Marx and Robert Lopez for a musical episode of Scrubs , titled "My Musical", which aired in 2007. [14] Many [ who? ] described initial misgivings that the musical concept would make the episode seem gimmicky, but these fears were, for the most part, put to rest by the fact that the episode was "logically insane." [15]
In 2008, Besterman orchestrated songs for the Houston, Texas, premiere of The Gershwins' An American In Paris , a musical adaptation of the 1951 film of the same name. It played from April 29, 2008, to June 22, 2008. [16]
In concerts, Besterman has orchestrated performances for Mel Brooks and Chita Rivera at the Kennedy Center Honors, Beyoncé Knowles' 2002 benefit concert, and the "Stephen Sondheim 75th Birthday Celebration" with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In addition, he has worked with the Boston Pops Orchestra and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. [17] [18]
Orchestrations for ballets include Take Five (More Or Less) (Pacific Northwest Ballet), Double Feature (New York City Ballet), and But Not For Me (Martha Graham Dance Company); all of these were choreographed by Susan Stroman. [19]
He wrote orchestrations to the La Jolla Playhouse's 2010 production of Limelight: The Story of Charlie Chaplin . He orchestrated songs for a musical adaptation, titled Elf the Musical , of the 2003 film Elf, [20] which played at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on Broadway in winter 2010. [21]
Besterman was the orchestrator for Rob Ashford's 2011 Broadway revival of Frank Loesser's How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying , starring Daniel Radcliffe, for which he has been nominated for his fifth Tony Award for Best Orchestrations. [22] [23] For this production, Besterman scaled down the orchestra: "Music director David Chase and orchestrator Doug Besterman explored ways to honor the contributions of the original music team (music director Elliot Lawrence and orchestrator Robert Ginzler) while capitalizing on the assets of a streamlined 14-member orchestra." [24] When describing Besterman's approach for these new orchestrations, producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron wrote:
They decided to not use strings (other than a harp) and to think in terms of a muscular jazz ensemble rather than a symphonic sound. Jo Sullivan Loesser (Frank Loesser’s widow and a renowned performer in her own right) was very excited to go down this new path with the score. Inspiration came from the work of 1950’s arranger Marty Paich, whose Dek-Tette recordings (most famously with Mel Tormé) found fresh and versatile sounds from a 10-member ensemble (5 brass, 3 saxes, bass and drums). Added to our mix were guitar (muted guitar vamp figures were a favorite of Ginzler’s, as in "Gotta Stop That Man"), percussion (for the Latin sounds so popular at the time as exemplified by "Coffee Break"), piano (you can’t do this show without a nod to Grieg), and harp (for over-the-top romanticism in "Rosemary"). [24]
He also provided orchestrations for the London, Broadway, and Hamburg productions of the musical Sister Act . These productions opened on June 2, 2009 (London), [25] December 2, 2010 (Hamburg), [26] and April 20, 2011 (Broadway). [27]
Besterman provided orchestrations for the 2011 film remake of Winnie the Pooh , with music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, with contributions by The Sherman Brothers. [28]
Besterman orchestrated, with Michael Starobin, the Roundabout Theatre Company's musical The People in the Picture (2011), concerning a grandmother recalling her life in the Yiddish theater and the Holocaust. [29] Besterman will also provide orchestrations for the upcoming MCC Theater revival of the 1988 musical Carrie . [30]
Title | Performer | Label |
---|---|---|
Barbra Streisand | Sony/Columbia Records | |
Oscar and Steve | ||
Mamaloschen | Mandy Patinkin | Nonesuch Records |
Kidults | Mandy Patinkin | Nonesuch Records |
Mandy Patinkin | Nonesuch Records | |
Standing Room Only | ||
Here’s To The Ladies | — |
The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Following the 1964 renaming as the Drama Desk Awards, Broadway productions were included beginning with the 1968–69 award season. The awards are considered a significant American theater distinction.
Jonathan Tunick is an American orchestrator, musical director, and composer, and one of eighteen of the "EGOT" – people to have won all four major American showbusiness awards: the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. He is best known for orchestrating the works of Stephen Sondheim, their collaboration starting in 1970 with Company and continuing until Sondheim's death in 2021.
Stephen Flaherty is an American composer of musical theatre and film. He works most often in collaboration with the lyricist/book writer Lynn Ahrens. They are best known for writing the Broadway musicals Ragtime, which was nominated for thirteen Tony Awards, two Grammy Awards, and won the Tony for Best Original Score; Once on This Island, which won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical, the Olivier Award for London's Best Musical, and was nominated for a Grammy Award and eight Tony Awards; and Seussical, which was nominated for a Grammy and is now one of the most performed shows in America. Flaherty was also nominated for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for his songs and song score for the animated film musical Anastasia.
Sutton Lenore Foster is an American actress, singer and dancer. She is known for her work on the Broadway stage, for which she has won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical twice, in 2002 for her role as Millie Dillmount in Thoroughly Modern Millie, and in 2011 for her performance as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes, a role which she reprised in 2021 for a production in London and for which she received a nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical. Her other Broadway credits include Little Women, The Drowsy Chaperone, Young Frankenstein, Shrek the Musical, Violet, and The Music Man. On television, Foster played the lead role in the short-lived ABC Family comedy-drama Bunheads from 2012 to 2013. From 2015 to 2021, she starred in the TV Land comedy-drama Younger.
Jeanine Tesori, known earlier in her career as Jeanine Levenson, is an American composer and musical arranger best known for her work in the theater. She is the most prolific and honored female theatrical composer in history, with five Broadway musicals and six Tony Award nominations. She won the 1999 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music in a Play for Nicholas Hytner's production of Twelfth Night at Lincoln Center, the 2004 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music for Caroline, or Change, the 2015 Tony Award for Best Original Score for Fun Home, making them the first female writing team to win that award, and the 2023 Tony Award for Best Original Score for Kimberly Akimbo. She was named a Pulitzer Prize for Drama finalist twice for Fun Home and Soft Power.
Lewis Jefferson Mays is an American actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a Tony Award, a Helen Hayes Award, a Lucille Lortel Award, two Drama Desk Awards, two Outer Critics Circle Awards and three Obie Awards.
David Norman Yazbek is an American writer, musician, composer, and lyricist. He wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musicals The Full Monty (2000), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (2005), Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (2010), The Band's Visit (2017), and Tootsie (2019).
Matthew Sklar is an American composer for musical theatre, television, and film. His works have appeared on Broadway, the West End, and theatres worldwide. Sklar has written primarily with lyricist Chad Beguelin, having written music for their Broadway shows The Prom, Elf the Musical, and The Wedding Singer. The Prom and The Wedding Singer earned him nominations for the Tony Award for Best Original Score.
Gregg Edelman is an American movie, television and theatre actor.
Christopher Cantwell Fitzgerald is an American actor and singer. He is known for his role as Boq in the musical Wicked, Igor in the musical Young Frankenstein, and Ogie Anhorn in the musical Waitress. He earned Outer Critics Circle Award, Drama Desk Award, and Tony Award nominations for his performances in Waitress and Young Frankenstein and won the Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for his performance in Waitress.
Rob Ashford is an American stage director and choreographer. He is a Tony Award, Olivier Award, Emmy Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award winner.
The 56th Annual Tony Awards ceremony was held at Radio City Music Hall on June 2, 2002 and broadcast by CBS. "The First Ten" awards ceremony was telecast on PBS television. The event was co-hosted by Bernadette Peters and Gregory Hines.
Young Frankenstein is a musical with a book by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan, and music and lyrics by Brooks. It is based on the 1974 comedy film of the same name written by Gene Wilder and Brooks who also directed and has described it as his best film. It is a parody of the horror film genre, especially the 1931 Universal Pictures adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and its 1935 and 1939 sequels, Bride of Frankenstein and Son of Frankenstein.
Alex Timbers is an American writer and director and the recipient of Tony, Golden Globe, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and London Evening Standard Awards, as well as two OBIE and Lucile Lortel Awards. He also received the 2019 Drama League Founder's Award for Excellence in Directing and the 2016 Jerome Robbins Award for Directing. He was nominated for a 2020 Grammy Award. For his work on Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Timbers won a 2021 Tony Award for Best Director of a Musical.
Stewart F. Lane is a Broadway producer, director, playwright and former actor. He has also written books, including Let's Put on a Show! and Jews of Broadway. He has also produced in Dublin. In addition to publishing two plays, he has directed across the country, working with Stephen Baldwin, Shannen Doherty, Chazz Palminteri, and more. He is co-owner of the Palace Theatre (Broadway) with the Nederlander Organization and a partner in the Tribeca Grill with Robert De Niro, Sean Penn and Mikhail Baryshnikov. He has written three books: Let's Put on a Show!, Jews on Broadway: An Historical Survey of Performers, Playwrights, Composers, Lyricists and Producers, and Black Broadway: African Americans on the Great White Way.
Alex Lacamoire is a Cuban-American composer, arranger, conductor, musical director, music copyist, and orchestrator who has worked on many shows both on and off-Broadway. He is the recipient of multiple Tony and Grammy Awards for his work on shows such as In the Heights (2008), Hamilton (2016), and Dear Evan Hansen (2017). Lacamoire was awarded the Kennedy Center Honor in 2018.
Casey Nicholaw is an American theatre director, choreographer, and performer. He has been nominated for several Tony Awards for his work directing and choreographing The Drowsy Chaperone (2006), The Book of Mormon (2011), Aladdin (2014), Something Rotten! (2015), Mean Girls (2018), The Prom (2019), and Some Like It Hot (2023) and for choreographing Monty Python's Spamalot (2005), winning for his co-direction of The Book of Mormon with Trey Parker and his choreography of Some Like It Hot. He also was nominated for the Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Direction and Choreography for The Drowsy Chaperone (2006) and Something Rotten! (2015) and for Outstanding Choreography for Spamalot (2005).
Michael Starobin is an orchestrator, conductor, composer, arranger, and musical director, primarily for the stage, film and television. He won Tony Awards for the orchestrations of Assassins (2004) and Next to Normal.
Larry Hochman is an American orchestrator and composer. He has won four Emmy Awards for his original music on the TV series Wonder Pets! and a Tony Award for his orchestrations for The Book of Mormon.
Bruce Coughlin is an American orchestrator and musical arranger. He has won a Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award, and an Obie Award.