Composers to the Stage

Obviously film musicals have been popular since the beginning of the film industry.  There have been original works like the ones at MGM (Singin in the Rain, Top Hat), or the stage adaptations (My Fair Lady, West Side Story).  

Great stage composers like Frederick Loewe, Irving Berlin and George Gershwin have had their work featured in several films.  Composers like Alfred Newman started his career as a musical director/conductor for several Broadway shows.

This post highlights the film composers who wrote musicals, either on Broadway, off-Broadway or other locations.  There are even a few examples tossed in of plays with music or TV musicals.    

DAVID ARNOLD
Made in Dagenham (2014 London)

JOHN BARRY
Passion Flower Hotel (1965 London)
Lolita, My Love (1971 unopened on Broadway)
Billy (1974 London)
The Little Prince and the Aviator (1981 unopened on Broadway)
Brighton Rock (2004 London)

ELMER BERNSTEIN
Peter Pan (1954 Broadway) [incidental music]
How Now, Dow Jones (1967 Broadway)
Merlin (1983 Broadway)

LEONARD BERNSTEIN
On the Town (1944 Broadway)
Peter Pan (1950 Broadway)
Wonderful Town (1954 Broadway)
Candide (1956 Broadway)
West Side Story (1957 Broadway)
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (1976 Broadway)

JOHN DU PREZ
Spamalot (2005 Broadway)

HAROLD FALTERMEYER
Wake Up (2002 Vienna)


ERNEST GOLD
I'm Solomon (1968 Broadway)

ELLIOT GOLDENTHAL
Juan Darien (1996 Broadway) [book, music, lyrics]
The Green Bird (2000 Broadway) [incidental music]
M. Butterfly (2017 Broadway) [original music, soundscapes]

MARVIN HAMLISCH
A Chorus Line (1975 Broadway)
They're Playing Our Song (1979 Broadway)
Smile (1987 Broadway)
The Goodbye Girl (1993 Broadway)
The Sweet Smell of Success (2002 Broadway)

BERNARD HERRMANN
A Christmas Carol (1954 TV special)
A Child is Born (1955 TV special)

MAURICE JARRE
Incidental music/Music director: Lorenzaccio, Le Triomphe de l'Amour, Marie Tudor, Don Juan, Le Cid (all 1958 Broadway)

MICHAEL J. LEWIS
Cyrano (1973 Broadway)

MARK MANCINA 
The Lion King (1997 Broadway)

HENRY MANCINI
A Woman of Independent Means (1984 Broadway) [incidental music]
Victor/Victoria (1995 Broadway) [also dedicated to his memory]

ALAN MENKEN
God Bless You Mr Rosewater (1979 off-Broadway)
Little Shop of Horrors (1982 off-Broadway, 2003 Broadway)
Weird Romance (1992 off-Broadway)
Beauty and the Beast (1994 Broadway)
The Little Mermaid (2008 Broadway)
Sister Act (2011 Broadway)
Leap of Faith (2012 Broadway)
Newsies (2012 Broadway)
Aladdin (2014 Broadway)
A Bronx Tale (2016 Broadway)

JEROME MOROSS
Mother (1935 Broadway)
The Golden Apple (1954 Broadway)

ALFRED NEWMAN
George White's Scandals (1920 Broadway) [music director]
George White's Scandals (1921 Broadway) [music director]
The Greenwich Village Follies (1922 Broadway) [music director]
Jack and Jill (1923 Broadway) [additional music]

Funny Face (1927 Broadway) [music director]
Treasure Girl (1928 Broadway) [music director]

RANDY NEWMAN
Faust (1995 San Diego)

ALEX NORTH
Mother (1935 Broadway)
Tis of Thee (1940 Broadway)
Death of a Salesman (1949 Broadway, 1984 revival, 2012 revival)[incidental music]
The Innocents (1950 Broadway)[incidental music]

ANDRE PREVIN
Coco (1969 Broadway)

RACHEL PORTMAN
Little House on the Prairie (2008 Minneapolis/Tour)

DAVID RAKSIN 
If the Shoe Fits (1946 Broadway)
Orchestrations: (Thumbs Up!, Parade, At Home Abroad, Meet the People)

LAURENCE ROSENTHAL
Sherry (1967 Broadway)
Incidental Music/Dance Arrangements: (The Music Man, Goldilocks, Rashomon, Take Me Along, Donnybrook!)

NINO ROTA
Romeo and Juliet (1962 Broadway)

MARC SHAIMAN
Hairspray (2002 Broadway)
Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me (2006 Broadway)
Catch Me If You Can (2011 Broadway)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2017 Broadway)

DAVID SHIRE
The Sap of Life (1961 off-Broadway)
Starting Here, Starting Now (1977 off-Broadway)
Baby (1983 Broadway)
Urban Blight (1988 off-Broadway)
Closer Than Ever (1989 off-Broadway)
Big (1996 Broadway)

DIMITRI TIOMKIN
Ziegfeld Follies of 1931 (1931 Broadway)

STEPHEN TRASK
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (1998 off-Broadway)

JOHN WILLIAMS
Thomas and the King (1975 London)

VICTOR YOUNG
Blackbirds of 1933 (1933 Broadway)
Pardon our French (1950 Broadway)
Seventh Heaven (1955 Broadway)

HANS ZIMMER
The Lion King (1997 Broadway)

      
 

Besides Broadway, film composers have also had their hand in operas.  Many of these composers call the concert stage home, but have worked in film as well.    

CRAIG ARMSTRONG
The Lady from the Sea

LEONARD BERNSTEIN
Trouble in Tahiti
Candide
A Quiet Place

AARON COPLAND
The Tender Land

JOHN CORIGLIANO
The Ghosts Of Versailles

DON DAVIS
Rio de Sangre

TAN DUN
Marco Polo
Peony Pavilion
Tea: A Mirror of Soul
The First Emperor

PHILIP GLASS
Einstein on the Beach
Satyagraha
Akhnaten
The Voyage
Galileo Galilei
Waiting for the Barbarians
Appomattox
Kepler
The Perfect American

ELLIOT GOLDENTHAL
Grendel

BERNARD HERRMANN
Wuthering Heights

LEE HOLDRIDGE
Lazarus and His Beloved
Journey to Cordoba
The Prospector
The Magic Dream
Concierto Para Mendez
Tanis in America

ERICH WOLFGANG KORNGOLD
Der Ring des Polykrates
Violanta
Die tote Stadt
Das Wunder der Heliane
Die Kathrin
Die stumme Serenade

MICHAEL NYMAN
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
Vital Statistics
Facing Goya
Man and Boy: Dada
Love Counts

ANDRE PREVIN
A Streetcar Named Desire
Brief Encounter

RACHEL PORTMAN
The Little Prince

LALO SCHIFRIN
The Trial of Louis XVI 

HOWARD SHORE
The Fly

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