Doug Besterman

Doug Besterman
Born Douglas Besterman
(1965-02-03) February 3, 1965
Nationality American
Alma mater University of Rochester (graduated 1985)[1]
Occupation Orchestrator
Musical arranger
Music producer
Known for Fosse, The Producers, Thoroughly Modern Millie
Style Musical theatre
Spouse(s) Johanna Besterman
Awards Tony Award for Best Orchestrations
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations

Douglas "Doug" 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.

Personal life

He currently resides in Los Angeles, California, with his wife, Johanna and his children.[2]

Career

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.[3] 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.[4] 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.[4]

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[5] and Besterman accepted the awards.[4] In his acceptance speech at the 2002 Tony Awards, Besterman was quoted as saying, "I'm sad to be here without him."[6]

In 2001, Besterman orchestrated Rodgers and Hammerstein's score in the TV movie South Pacific.[7] In 2002 he served as orchestrator for the Academy Award-winning film adaptation of Chicago.[8] 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.[9][10]

Besterman provided orchestrations and arrangements for the 2005 West End production of Guys and Dolls.[11]

Also in 2005, Besterman reunited with The Producers composer Mel Brooks for the film version of the same name.[12] 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.[4][13][14]

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.[15] Many 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."[16]

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.[17]

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.[18][19]

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.[20]

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,[21] which played at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on Broadway in winter 2010.[22]

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.[23][24] 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."[25] 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”).[25]

He also provided orchestrations for the London, Broadway, and Hamburg productions of the musical Sister Act. These productions opened on June 2, 2009 (London),[26] December 2, 2010 (Hamburg),[27] and April 20, 2011 (Broadway).[28]

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.[29]

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.[30] Besterman will also provide orchestrations for the upcoming MCC Theater revival of the 1988 musical Carrie.[31]

Discography

Title Performer Label
A Love Like Ours
Barbra Streisand
Sony/Columbia Records
Timeless: Live in Concert
Barbra Streisand
Sony/Columbia Records
Manilow Sings Sinatra
Barry Manilow
Arista Records
Oscar and Steve
Mandy Patinkin
Nonesuch Records
Mamaloschen
Mandy Patinkin
Nonesuch Records
Kidults
Mandy Patinkin
Nonesuch Records
Experiment
Mandy Patinkin
Nonesuch Records
Standing Room Only
Jerry Hadley
Bertelsmann Music Group
Here’s To The Ladies
Christine Andreas
 N/A

Awards and nominations

Wins
Nominations

References

  1. ↑ "The Orchestration of a Tony Award Winner". Rochester Review. Retrieved 22 April 2011.
  2. ↑ "Doug Besterman", broadwayworld.com
  3. ↑ "Interview". dougbesterman.com. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Doug Besterman Awards". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
  5. ↑ "Homophobia in Jazz". Jazz Times. 2001.
  6. ↑ Pogebin, Robin."At Tonys, 'Millie' Is Tops, but Its Book and Score Aren't" New York Times, June 6, 2002
  7. ↑ Kenrick, John (March 2001). "South Pacific". Musicals 101. ABC-TV. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
  8. ↑ "The 2003 Oscar Winners". Ropeofsilicon.com. Retrieved August 10, 2009.
  9. ↑ "LaJolla History" lajollaplayhouse.org, retrieved January 10, 2010
  10. ↑ Dracula listing ibdb.com, retrieved January 10, 2010
  11. ↑ "Guys and Dolls (2005)". broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
  12. ↑ "The Producers (2005)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
  13. ↑ "Gypsy, In the Heights, Mermaid, Pacific and Frankenstein Are Grammy-Nominated", playbill.com, December 3, 2011.
  14. ↑ "Mel Brooks Thinks It Time for Frankenstein to Dance". New Zealand Herald. April 10, 2006. Retrieved 2007-07-04.
  15. ↑ Debra Fordham, Stephanie D'Abruzzo (January 13, 2007). Scrubs Blog: My Musical - Part 1 (mov). Quick Stop Entertainment. Retrieved 2007-07-06.
  16. ↑ Iverson, Dan (2007-01-19). "Scrubs: 'My Musical' Review". IGN. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
  17. ↑ "An American in Paris (2008)". broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
  18. ↑ "Orchestrations (Concerts)". dougbesterman.com. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
  19. ↑ "Disc Recordings". dougbesterman.com. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
  20. ↑ "Orchestrations (Ballet)". dougbesterman.com. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
  21. ↑ Healy, Patrick. "Musical Version of ‘Elf’ Heading to Broadway". The New York Times, June 11, 2010.
  22. ↑ Broadway News Report. "Elf: new family musical for the winter holidays". New York Theatre Guide, June 10, 2011.
  23. ↑ "2011 Tony Nominations Announced", broadwayworld.com, May 3, 2011.
  24. ↑ Hetrick, Adam."John Larroquette Will Join Daniel Radcliffe in How to Succeed Broadway Revival" playbill.com, October 20, 2010
  25. 1 2 How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, 2011 Revival Cast Recording, CD Booklet
  26. ↑ Gans, Andrew."Habit Forming: Whoopi Goldberg to Produce London Premiere of Sister Act", playbill.com, November 13, 2008
  27. ↑ Sister Act, official website, Hamburg, Germany.
  28. ↑ Hetrick, Adam. "'Sister Act The Musical' Will Open at the Broadway Theatre in April 2011" playbill.com, October 5, 2010
  29. ↑ Gans, Andrew (March 30, 2011). "Book of Mormon's Robert Lopez Is Co-Writer of Songs for Disney's New "Winnie the Pooh"". Playbill. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
  30. ↑ Jones, Kenneth." 'People in the Picture', With Donna Murphy Living Two Lives, Comes Into Focus on Broadway April 1" playbill.com, April 1, 2011
  31. ↑ Gans, Andrew (October 25, 2010). "MCC Theater to Produce Infamous Broadway Flop Carrie". Playbill. Retrieved 10 April 2011.

External links

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