Tom Kitt’s got something cooking in Hell's Kitchen with Alicia Keys.

The Pulitzer Prize winning composer of Next to Normal discusses working with everyone from Alanis Morrissette (Jagged Little Pill), The Go Go’s (Head Over Heel), Green Day (American Idiot), and Lin-Manuel Miranda (Bigger). Tom shares the journey of Next to Normal from its infancy as a 10 minute musical class assignment with Brian Yorkey. Tom Kitt recounts working with an array of recording artists to bring Spong Bob Square Pants to Broadway and the thrill he had working with a James Lapine on Flying Over Sunset.

Also in this Episodes - Shemar Moore announces Susan Lucci’s iconic Daytime Emmy win for Best Actress after 19 nominations.

Eila & Bruce delve into an already packed 2024/2025 Broadway season which they are dubbing the Kenny Leon Season. Highlights include; Othello starring Denzel Washington & Jake Gyllenhall, Sunset Boulevard starring Nicole Scherzinger, and Elton John’s Tammy Faye.

Tom Kitt is a two-time Tony, two-time Emmy, Pulitzer Prize and Grammy Award winner. As a musical theater composer, he has written the music for six Broadway shows: Next to Normal (Tony Award), If/Then (Tony Nomination), Flying Over Sunset (Tony Nomination), High Fidelity, Bring it On, The Musical, and Almost Famous. His work for the stage has also been seen Off Broadway at 2nd Stage (Next to Normal, Superhero), The Public Theater (The Visitor, Shakespeare in the Park) and he has worked at some of the most prestigious regional theaters including The Old Globe, Arena Stage, Berkeley Rep, The Signature Theater, and ART. In addition, Tom’s Broadway credits as an orchestrator include: Next to Normal (Tony Award), The SpongeBob Musical (Tony Nomination), Jagged Little Pill (Tony Nomination), Almost Famous, Head Over Heels, Everyday Rapture, and American Idiot. 

Tom has also been active in the world of film and TV. As one of the vocal arrangers working on the Pitch Perfect films, Tom most notably helped create the classic “Riff-off.” Tom also served as music supervisor/arranger/orchestrator for Grease Live and contributed songs for Royal Pains and Penny Dreadful. He also provided music supervision for the NBC series, Rise and has written numerous songs for Sesame Street. And he is known for his two original opening numbers for The Tony Awards, Live in 2019, written with David Javerbaum for James Corden, and the Emmy Award winning, Bigger in 2013, written with Lin-Manuel Miranda for Neil Patrick Harris. Tom is also proud that his musical adaptation of Freaky Friday, co-written with Bridget Carpenter and Brian Yorkey was turned into an original movie musical for Disney Channel. Most recently, Tom served as a Supervising Music Producer on the new Bobby Lopez/Kristen Anderson-Lopez/Steven Levenson/Thomas Kail musical television series, Up Here.

As a recording artist/producer, Tom has worked on numerous original cast recordings, winning a Grammy award for his work on Jagged Little Pill. In 2019, he was signed to a recording contract with Sony Masterworks, and his debut album, Reflect featured a number of brilliant Broadway artists with whom Tom collaborated to create a song cycle touching on the challenges brought on by the pandemic. One of Tom’s compositions, She Has Hope was co-written with Danny Burstein and his late wife, the brilliant and gifted artist, Rebecca Luker. Featuring Brian D’Arcy James on vocals, a video of She Has Hope was filmed in 2021 in collaboration with Project ALS to bring more awareness and support to finding a cure. Reflect was also chosen by the Library of Congress to be featured in an exhibit showcasing art created during the pandemic. 

Make sure to check out Eila's book, "The Tony Awards", and all her other amazing books: https://amzn.to/43WMu5Y.

Connect with Eila and Bruce:

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices