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2009 Tony Award Winner: next to normal For 'Best Original Score'

By: Jun. 07, 2009
LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA
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The American Theatre Wing's 63rd Annual Antoinette Perry "Tony"® Awards were held at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, June 7, 2009 and broadcast on the CBS Television Network. For more information visit tonyawards.com.

Nominations in 27 competitive categories for the American Theatre Wing's 63rd Annual Antoinette Perry "Tony"® Awards were announced on May 5th by Tony Award Winners Cynthia Nixon and Lin-Manuel Miranda from the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center.

The Antoinette Perry "Tony" Awards are bestowed annually on theatre professionals for distinguished achievement. The Tony is one of the most coveted awards in the entertainment industry and the annual telecast is considered one of the most prestigious programs on television.

To view the complete list of 2009 Tony Award winners, click here.


BroadwayWorld Congratulates
next to normal
2009 Tony Award Winner
'Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre'

next to normal
Music by Tom Kitt, Lyrics by Brian Yorkey

Tom Kitt: Tom is the composer of next to normal, which recently had successful productions at both Second Stage (Outer Critics Circle Award for Best New Score; Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Drama League nominations) and Arena Stage (nominated for five 2009 Helen Hayes Awards including Best Musical). He composed the music for High Fidelity (Broadway) and From Up Here (MTC), and his original songs have been featured in film and TV. He recently created new orchestrations for the CTG/DeafWest production of Pippin. As a musical director, conductor and arranger (Broadway and Off-Broadway), shows include 13, Hair, Laugh Whore, Urban Cowboy and Debbie Does Dallas. This spring, Tom will be the musical supervisor/arranger/orchestrator for Everyday Rapture at Second Stage, and his string arrangements will appear on the new Green Day album 21st Century Breakdown. He is the proud leader of The Tom Kitt Band.

Brian Yorkey: Theatre credits include Making Tracks, which has played Off-Broadway and regionally; the musical adaptation of Ang Lee's The Wedding Banquet; and the new country musical Play It By Heart. Film and TV include the features Time After Time, in development at Universal with Marc Platt, and Sluts for Lionsgate and Furst Films; he is currently writing Love Undercover for Pandemonium Films and Overture, and Chase for Anonymous Content and Rosenzweig Films; and he co-created "Bears," a new series for the Logo network. He has directed Off-Broadway and regionally, and for seven years was associate artistic director at Village Theatre in Washington state, one of the nation's leading producers of new musicals. He's a graduate of Columbia University, where he was artistic director of the Varsity Show, an alum of the BMI/Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop and a proud member of the Dramatists Guild and the WGA.

 


'Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre'
2009 Tony Award Nominees

9 to 5: The Musical
Music and Lyrics by Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton is not only the reigning queen of country music but an iconic songwriter, musician, movie star and entrepreneur as well. She has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, won countless awards including eight CMA and seven Grammy Awards, has taken more than 20 songs to No. 1 and recorded 42 top 10 country albums. Her film career includes 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Rhinestone, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk. In 1999, she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 2001 she was inducted into the National Academy of Popular Music's Songwriters Hall of Fame and in 2007 the Songwriter's Hall of Fame gave her their Johnny Mercer Award. Dolly was awarded the Kennedy Center Honor in 2006. She continues to tour extensively and release albums at a prolific rate. Dolly is also proud to be a successful author and creator of the Imagination Library which provides books to pre-school children. It currently operates in all 95 counties in Tennessee and has expanded into 839 communities in 46 states, plus D.C., Canada and Europe. And last but not least, Dollywood - her very own theme park - flourishes in Tennessee.


Billy Elliot
Music by Elton John, Lyrics by Lee Hall

Elton John: The monumental career of international singer/songwriter and performer Elton John has spanned more than three decades. He is one of the top-selling solo artists of all time, with 35 gold and 25 platinum albums and more than 250 million records sold worldwide. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences has awarded Elton multiple Grammys, including the Grammy Legend Award. In the early 1990s, Elton collaborated with lyricist Tim Rice on the soundtrack for The Lion King, winning him an Academy Award. The album produced two top-selling, award-winning singles: "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" and "Circle of Life." The Tony Award-winning Broadway productions of The Lion King and Aida both awarded Elton with Grammys for Best Musical Show Album. Elton composed the music for Billy Elliot, which was nominated for a record nine Olivier Awards, winning Best Musical, among others. He garnered a top-five UK hit with the song "Electricity." Elton continues to tour the world with his critically acclaimed Red Piano show. In 1992, Elton established the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which today is one of the leading nonprofit HIV/AIDS organizations. In 1998, the Queen of England knighted him Sir Elton John, CBE. In 2004, Elton received the Kennedy Center Honor for his lifetime contributions to American culture and excellence through the performing arts.

Lee Hall: was born and bred in Newcastle Upon Tyne and educated at Cambridge University. Lee was nominated for an Oscar for his screenplay of Billy Elliot the movie. Among his theatre work are The Pitmen Painters (Live Theatre/Royal National Theatre, 2008), Cooking With Elvis (nominated for an Olivier Award) and the multi-award-winning Spoonface Steinberg. He has also adapted many plays including The Good Hope (Royal National Theatre), A Servant to Two Masters (RSC/Young Vic), Mr. Puntila and His Man Matti (Almeida), Leonce and Lena (Gate Theatre), Mother Courage (Shared Experience), The Barber of Seville (Old Vic Bristol). He has worked extensively for the BBC in both radio and television, most recently with a TV adaptation of "The Wind in the Willows." His version of I Pagliacci opened in September 2008 at the English National Opera. He has been writer in residence at the Live Theatre, Newcastle Upon Tyne and the Royal Shakespeare Company. He is currently working with Roger Waters on a theatrical version of Pink Floyd's The Wall.


Shrek The Musical
Music by Jeanine Tesori, Lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire

Jeanine Tesori: has written three Tony-nominated scores for Broadway: Twelfth Night at Lincoln Center, Thoroughly Modern Millie (lyrics, Dick Scanlan), and Caroline, or Change (lyrics, Tony Kushner). The production of Caroline, or Change at the National Theater in London received the Olivier Award for Best New Musical. Her first off-Broadway musical, Violet, written with Brian Crawley, received the New York Drama Critics Circle Award in 1997. She has been the recipient of many other honors including Drama Desk and Obie awards, and was cited by ASCAP as being the first woman composer to have "two new musicals running concurrently on Broadway." She composed the music for The New York Shakespeare Festival's production of Brecht's Mother Courage, as translated by Tony Kushner, starring Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline. She has written songs for the movie Shrek The Third. Her film scores include Nights in Rodanthe, Winds of Change, Show Business, and Wrestling With Angels. She has composed songs for Disney DVD releases Mulan II, Lilo and Stitch II, and Little Mermaid III. She has produced sixty CD's for Silver-Burdett Ginn's Making Music and the original cast albums for Twelfth Night, Violet and Caroline, or Change. Ms. Tesori, a graduate of Barnard College, lives in Manhattan with her husband, Michael Rafter, and daughter, Siena.

David Lindsay-Abaire: was most recently awarded the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Rabbit Hole, which premiered on Broadway last season at MTC's Biltmore Theatre. The play also received five Tony Award nominations, including Best Play, and the Spirit of America Award. His other plays include Fuddy Meers, Kimberly Akimbo, Wonder of the World and A Devil Inside, among others. In addition to his work in theater, David wrote the screenplay for the upcoming Newline feature Inkheart, and is currently at work on screen adaptations of his plays Rabbit Hole for 20th Century Fox, starring Nicole Kidman, and Kimberly Akimbo for DreamWorks. David is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and the Juilliard School, as well as a proud member of New Dramatists, the Dramatists Guild and the WGA.

 




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