A gifted, in-demand composer of film, television, theater, and dance scores, Tony-nominated and Drama Desk award-winner Grant Olding is often brought onboard projects early on to help shape the narrative as well as craft the music.

Impressed with his musical contributions to the animated 2013 musical Saving Santa with Tim Conway and Tim Curry, I first met Grant on Twitter after I reviewed the film and learned that he actually started his career as a child actor and dancer in the 1980s.

Cast in Jim Henson and Frank Oz's The Dark Crystal at the age of seven, which was the same year that he appeared onstage in Danton's Death at the National Theatre in London, Grant continued acting and played a number of roles in high-profile West End productions, opposite such co-stars as Daniel Day-Lewis, Brian Cox, and Judi Dench. Leaving school at sixteen, he performed in the original West End production of Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods and went on to study acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama.

Always playing, writing, and working on music in the background (whether with a band or solo as a singer-songwriter), when he performed in his now frequent collaborator Nicholas Hytner's original production of Miss Saigon, he wrote his first musical and stopped acting to concentrate on composing full time.

Most famous for the smash hit One Man, Two Guvnors - for director Nicholas Hytner and starring James Corden - that ran for over three years in the West End, on Broadway, and played internationally, Grant has written dozens of scores since for The Royal Shakespeare Company, the BBC, and others.

As funny and personable as he is sincere, it was a joy and a privilege to speak with Grant about all of this and more - including some of his favorite composers and film scores - in this fascinating episode.

Note: As September has proven to be exceptionally busy, I've had to delay new episodes of my solo film recommendation pod Watch With Jen for a moment but with such engaging and diverse guests, I know you'll enjoy these conversations on Watch With Jen & Friends as much as I have.

Originally Posted on Patreon (9/12/20) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/41534060

Theme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive