Larry Blank

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Larry Blank is an American composer, arranger, orchestrator and conductor. He has worked in film, theatre and television, and has been nominated for a Tony Award three times.

Early life and education

Blank was born in Brooklyn, New York on July 15, 1952, and grew up in Bayside, Queens.[citation needed] He began piano lessons at 16 and gained experience by performing as a rehearsal pianist, playing and conducting at various summer-stock theaters and dinner theaters around the United States.[citation needed]

Blank studied drama at the High School of Performing Arts, Manhattan.[citation needed] He was mentored by Don Pippin, Irwin Kostal and Ralph Burns. Blank later studied conducting with Rudi Bennett and piano with Leslie Harnley.[1][self-published source] Blank then moved to Los Angeles to continue his studies in orchestration and composition under Kostal.[citation needed]

Career

Conducting

Along with Alfred Newman and Glen Roven, Blank was one of the youngest conductors in Broadway history.[citation needed] He first conducted on Broadway at the age of 22, leading the orchestra as a replacement conductor for Goodtime Charley and other shows.[citation needed] On the recommendation of Donald Pippin, he was hired by Michael Bennett and Marvin Hamlisch as music director for the International Touring Co. productions of A Chorus Line and They're Playing Our Song.[citation needed] Several other productions followed, including Evita, Sugar Babies, La Cage Aux Folles, The Phantom of the Opera, Teddy and Alice, Onward Victoria, Copperfield,[2] and Colette.[citation needed]

In March 1999, Blank conducted the 20th anniversary production of Sweeney Todd at the Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, with Kelsey Grammer and Christine Baranski.[citation needed] In 2002, he was asked to conduct Sweeney Todd for the Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration, as well as a subsequent production for Wolf Trap Opera.[citation needed]

Blank is a regular guest conductor and orchestrator for

Olivier Awards for 10 years as a musical supervisor and conductor.[3] Blank is the resident POPS conductor for the Pasadena Symphony, California.[citation needed] He has guest conducted for the Opera de Toulon, including conducting their production of Bernstein's Wonderful Town.[citation needed
]

Blank was the musical director for Katie Couric's Hollywood Hits Broadway and her fund-raising tribute to West Side Story.[citation needed] In February 2020, he conducted for Jerry Herman's memorial at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.[4]

Arranging and orchestration

Blank has arranged two songs for the

Boston Pops tribute to Jerry Herman, and two songs for American Idol.[citation needed] He was the conductor and arranger of Jerry Herman's title song for the film Barney's Great Adventure.[citation needed
]

Blank has created orchestrations for Tommy Tune: White Tie and Tails, Three Coins in the Fountain, White Christmas and Roman Holiday at The Muny.[citation needed] He orchestrated and arranged Let the Eagle Fly, a musical about labor organizer Cesar Chavez.[citation needed] On the request from the composer Charles Fox, Blank orchestrated the ballet Zorro, performed by the San Francisco Ballet.[citation needed] He was the orchestrator for Barbara Cook’s christmas CD Count Your Blessings, as well as Christine Andreas' CD Piaf: No Regrets.[citation needed] Blank was also the orchestrator for Jerry Herman's concept recording Miss Spectacular.[citation needed]

In 2012, his orchestrations were performed during Singin' in the Rain at the Palace Theatre, London.[citation needed] In 2019, Blank orchestrated and conducted the music for FX's Fosse/Verdon for the composer Alex Lacamoire.[citation needed] He was the arranger, orchestrator, and conductor for Dolly Parton's 2020 film, Christmas On The Square.[citation needed]

Awards and nominations

Blank has been nominated for a

2001 Tony Awards after the show won Best Original Score.[citation needed
]

He has been nominated six times for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations for White Christmas, The Drowsy Chaperone, Catch Me If You Can, A Christmas Story, Honeymoon in Vegas and Fiddler on the Roof.[citation needed]

References

  1. ISBN 978-1-4628-1576-0
    .
  2. ISBN 978-0-19-979084-5
    .
  3. ^ a b Ackman, Nicole. "BWW Interview: Larry Blank On Being Music Director of the Olivier Awards". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2023-03-26.
  4. ^ "An Interview with Tony-nominated orchestrator and conductor Larry Blank ". Musical Criticism
  5. ^ "Catch Me If You Can - 2011 Broadway Musical: Tickets & Info | Broadway World". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2022-07-18.

Additional sources

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Larry_Blank&oldid=1161144147"