Listen to Tracks from All Five Tony Nominees for Best Original Score
Best score nominees include The Sound Inside, The Inheritance, A Christmas Carol, Slave Play, and The Rose Tattoo.
By: Nicole Rosky Sep. 25, 2021
The big day is almost here! On Sunday, September 26 (7pm ET/4pm PT,), the best of Broadway will be at the Winter Garden Theatre to celebrate the 74th Annual Tony Awards, streaming exclusively on Paramount+. Hosted by Tony, Grammy and Emmy Award-winning actor and singer Audra McDonald, the presentation will honor the outstanding shows, performances and artistry of the 2019-2020 Broadway season, which was brought to a halt by the COVID-19 pandemic.
2020 proved to be an exceptional year for the Tony Awards and the nominees in the category of Best Original Score are equally exceptional. In a category usually dominated by musical scores, all five nominees in the category come from plays.
View a full list of 2020 Tony Awards nominees!
Looking for a refresher on the Tony-nominated music of the season? BroadwayWorld has collected tracks from all five plays below!
A Christmas Carol
Music by Christopher Nightingale
Christopher is the musical supervisor, orchestrator and created additional music for Matilda the Musical for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Orchestrations and a Grammy Award nomination for his work as co-producer on the Matilda album. He recently composed the score for the film Pride, which was BAFTA nominated. Theatre credits include: Composer Future Conditional (Old Vic), Musical Supervisor, Arranger and Orchestrator for Ghost the Musical (London and Broadway), co-composer for The Lord of the Rings (London and Toronto, also musical supervisor, arranger and orchestrator). He was musical supervisor and arranger for Yusuf Islam's Moonshadow and was musical supervisor and co-arranger for Andrew Lloyd Webber's Bombay Dreams, composed additional arrangements and was the musical supervisor of The Pet Shop Boys' Closer To Heaven (Arts Theatre). He was musical director for Whistle Down The Wind (West End), Oliver! (London Palladium) and musical director for 3 years at the RSC, working on many productions. Film credits include coaching, recording and conducting the cast on the set of Alan Parker's Evita.
The Inheritance
Music by Paul Englishby
Paul Englishby is a prolific, versatile and award-winning composer for film, television, theatre, the concert hall and dance. His best-known work includes: his thrillingly tense score for the BBC's Luther (BAFTA-nominated soundtrack); box office and critical hit The Inheritance, directed by Stephen Daldry (National Theatre and Broadway); EMMY Award-winning music for David Hare's Page Eight; his beautiful, lyrical music for-Oscar nominated An Education, starring Carey Mulligan (for which Paul received an ASCAP Award); and his many, varied and vivid scores for the Royal Shakespeare Company, with whom Paul is an Associate Artist. A prolific composer for the theatre, Paul has over 20 credits for the RSC, including landmark productions of Hamlet directed by Gregory Doran, starring David Tennant and Patrick Stewart; The Tempest, starring Simon Russell Beale; All's Well That Ends Well, starring Judi Dench; and Death of a Salesman, starring Anthony Sher. His work with Director Stephen Daldry in the West End and on Broadway includes The Audience starring Helen Mirren, Skylight, starring Bill Nighy and Carey Mulligan, and The Inheritance, by Matthew Lopez. Paul' scores for The National Theatre include Emil and the Detectives, A Taste of Honey, Peter Gynt and The Visit.
The Rose Tattoo
Music by Fitz Patton & Jason Michael Webb
Patton's Broadway credits include: Choir Boy (Tony and Drama Desk awards), Three Tall Women, Meteor Shower, Present Laughter, The Little Foxes, The Humans, Blackbird, Our Mother's Brief Affair, It's Only a Play, An Act of God, Airline Highway, The Other Place, I'll Eat You Last..., Outside Mullingar, Casa Valentina, The House of Blue Leaves, Brighton Beach Memoirs. Off-Broadway: Greater Clements (upcoming). Additional Drama Desk awards: When the Rain Stops Falling, The Humans. He is a founding editor of Chance magazine.
As a Writer/arranger Webb is: recipient of 2019 Special Tony Award and Drama Desk nominee (Choir Boy, MTC), "Battle Hymn of the Republic" (2013 Inauguration of President Obama), Kenny Leon's Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare in the Park, The Public Theater), Thompson and Webb's WiLDFLOWER (NBT/Apollo), George Brant's Marie and Rosetta (Atlantic Theater), David Makes Man (OWN). Musical director: John Doyle's The Color Purple (Broadway); Cynthia Erivo (U.S./Canada); Keala Settle (U.S./U.K.); other: Violet, The Greatest Showman, Dame Shirley Bassey, Christine Baranski.
Slave Play
Music by Lindsay Jones
Jones' Broadway credits include: The Nap, Bronx Bombers, A Time To Kill. Off-Broadway: Slave Play (NYTW); Privacy, Dry Powder (Public Theater); Mankind, Bootycandy (Playwrights Horizons); Feeding the Dragon (Primary Stages), and many others. International: Henry IV Parts 1 & 2 at Royal Shakespeare Company (England), Titus Andronicus at Stratford Shakespeare Festival (Canada). Regional: South Coast Repertory, Arena Stage, Goodman, McCarter, The Old Globe, Steppenwolf, Guthrie, Hartford Stage, Chicago Shakespeare, Lookingglass, and many others. Film and television scoring work: The Brass Teapot for Magnolia Pictures, A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin (2006 Academy Award winner, Best Documentary Short Subject) for HBO Films. Awards: seven Joseph Jefferson Awards and 24 nominations; two Ovation Awards and three nominations; LA Drama Critics Circle Award; Craig Noel Award; multiple nominations for Drama Desk, Barrymore, Helen Hayes, and IRNE, among many others. Founding member of the Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association (TSDCA) and The Collaborator Party.
The Sound Inside
Music by Daniel Kluger
Daniel Kluger is a composer, whose experience as an arranger, music producer and sound designer uniquely informs his success at creating music for theater and film. He earned a 2019 Tony nomination, Grammy nomination, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award for his work on Daniel Fish's visionary Broadway revival of OKLAHOMA! Other recent Broadway work includes the revival of MARVIN'S ROOM, directed by Anne Kauffman (starring Janeane Garofalo & Lili Taylor) and the world premiere of SIGNIFICANT OTHER, directed by Trip Cullman, starring Gideon Glick.
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