Favorite Active Musical Theatre Composer?

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 11/24/16 at 10:16pm

Who's your favorite Musical Theatre Composer/Songwriter who's working today?

 

For me, it's a tie between Andrew Lippa and Jason Robert Brown

[Cupid Boy2]

Posted: 11/24/16 at 10:30pm

Jeanine Tesori. I admire the breadth of projects she's taken on and how skillfully she has adapted her sound to fit them. Beyond the work, she just seems like such a cool, humble person in interviews. 

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 11/24/16 at 11:06pm

Oddly I read this as favorite FEMALE active theatre composer which made the OP's examples make me do a double take haha.

Female Jeanine Tesori is also my pick anyway. 

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 11/24/16 at 11:09pm

Lin-Manuel Miranda.

[darquegk]

Posted: 11/24/16 at 11:16pm

Deeply interested in how Tim Minchin continues, and my chance to work with Lena Gabrielle has made me invested in her, but I'm seconding Tesori as current best in show.

[After Eight]

Posted: 11/26/16 at 7:15am

Gary Barlow.

[Dave28282]

Posted: 11/26/16 at 7:36am

BroadwayConcierge said: "Lin-Manuel Miranda.

 

"

Really? All of Hamilton is on 1 note and the songs in Moana have only 4 chords, which means you can sing "let it go" on all of them, and also every top100 song of the last 5 years.

 

I would say Boublil and Schonberg, their music is glorious.

 

 

[NOWaWarning]

Posted: 11/26/16 at 12:22pm

Jeanine Tesori. Her range as a composer is unparalleled, in my opinion.

[hork]

Posted: 11/26/16 at 12:31pm

I don't think I have a favorite composer. I have favorite scores, and favorite songs, but there isn't one composer whose body of work stands out from those of others. And it seems like all of my favorite musicals are by composers who only wrote one musical that I really like (or one musical, period).
Updated On: 11/26/16 at 12:31 PM

[uncageg]

Posted: 11/26/16 at 12:52pm

Sondheim and Tesori. Caroline or Change was a masterpiece.

[TheGingerBreadMan]

Posted: 11/26/16 at 1:01pm

Tesori and JRB. Neither of them have done a show that I'm not fond of. 

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 11/26/16 at 2:14pm

Jeanine Tesori and Michael John LaChiusa for me. 

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 11/26/16 at 2:31pm

Jeanine Tesori and Jason Robert Brown are my favorites.  Jeanine Tesori has such an incredible range and she has wriiten, in my opinion, two of the greatest musicals of the 21st century (Caroline, or Change and Fun Home).  Jason Robert Brown is such a lush and wonderful composer.  I don't really have anything to say about him.  He's just fantastic.

I also really love Dave Malloy's work.  The Great Comet and Ghost Quartet have some really interesting things going on, musically.

Lin Manuel Miranda is probably Broadway's baby right now and he deserves to be.  Hamilton's score is a masterpiece.  It's a masterclass in musical storytelling.

 

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Posted: 11/26/16 at 6:55pm

My favorites, in no order, Miranda, Tesori, Pasek and Paul, Malloy, Ryan Scott Oliver, Ahrens and Flaherty, and LaChiusa. I'm excited to see more from Minchin!

[adam.peterson44]

Posted: 11/29/16 at 2:12pm

Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey

[xxdrewboy85xx]

Posted: 11/29/16 at 4:08pm

perfectlymarvelous said: "Jeanine Tesori and Michael John LaChiusa for me. "

 

Agree 100%. Tesori and LaChiusa for sure. 

 

[mamaleh]

Posted: 11/29/16 at 4:11pm

Jason Robert Brown and Pasek & Paul

[BroadwayRox3588]

Posted: 11/29/16 at 5:15pm

Jeanine Tesori and Pasek & Paul

[Theater_Nerd]

Posted: 11/29/16 at 5:17pm

Tom Kitt

Brian Yorkey

Jeanine Tesori

LaChiusa

[tazber]

Posted: 11/30/16 at 7:01am

William Finn

Tim Minchin

Stephen Sondheim

Alan Menken

 

 

[steven22]

Posted: 11/30/16 at 8:08am

Tom Kitt & Brian Yorkey, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, and Jeanine Tesori. 

[adam.peterson44]

Posted: 11/30/16 at 8:45am

Yes, I should have also had Alan Menken on my list!

 

[Sertzo19]

Posted: 11/30/16 at 11:24am

I have to go with Jason Robert Brown and Jeanine Tesori. As most have said, what I admire most about Tesori is that EVERYTHING she has done has it's own personal, individual sound. I will say, I absolutely HATE Shrek The Musical, but that has little to do with the score and more to do with the book, but everything else she's done is just so fantastic. As for JRB- I love how he's able to inject so much heart into his scores. One of my favorite scores of his (I know I'm in the minority) is Honeymoon in Vegas. It's just so lush and rich! I'm also a HUGE fan of his often forgotten Parade score. 

I love Alan Mencken but I would love to see him tackle a truly original music that isn't an adaptation of anything. His film scores are unparalleled, though.