Most Underrated Composer
Most Underrated Composer
#1Most Underrated Composer
Posted: 11/7/14 at 3:38pmFor me it's Todd Almond. Haven't heard musch of his work, but adore everything I've heard of his, specifically Spring is Coming (Laura Benanti covered it on her live album).
neonlightsxo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/08
AKarp2013
Broadway Star Joined: 7/25/11
#2Most Underrated Composer
Posted: 11/7/14 at 3:50pmNot underrated, but rather under appreciated, my choice would have to be Jeanine Tesori. I've always loved her work and I think she is long overdue for a Tony.
dreaming
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/24/09
#3Most Underrated Composer
Posted: 11/7/14 at 3:53pmKarp-she's going to get it this year, I think. However, she's very inconsistent-and I think that's largely to do with her lyricists. The composers get all the credit while the lyricists don't get their due. Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori should try to work together as much as possible. That's the best lyricist she's had.
#4Most Underrated Composer
Posted: 11/7/14 at 4:07pm
Better than T.K., dreaming? I like FUN HOME and all, but, man, when I listen to CAROLINE, it blows my mind that the music and lyrics were written by two different people, so perfectly blended and complementary they are.
CHURCH DOOR TOUCAN GAY MARKETING PUPPIES MUSICAL THEATER STAPLES PERIOD OIL BITCHY SNARK HOLES
dreaming
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/24/09
#5Most Underrated Composer
Posted: 11/7/14 at 4:12pm
I HATE Caroline or Change-I fell asleep at the show itself and tried hard to like it but Kushner's lyrics in most songs made it something I failed to connect with. (I didn't like the story much, either-it really oversimplified something and felt like a half-baked show.)
Tesori and Kron balance each other better.
#6Most Underrated Composer
Posted: 11/7/14 at 4:12pm
I know I am changing the heading but I honestly think that one of the most underAPPRECIATED composer is Frank Wildhorn. I know some people have it out for him but his melodies are truly amazing at time.
That being said one of the most under-rated
is
Craig Carnelia (Is there Life After Highschool)
and
David Friedman
I know they do work still but I wish they had been more appreciated and loved-- as their work is breath-taking.
"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around."
#7Most Underrated Composer
Posted: 11/7/14 at 4:18pm
Ahhhhhh, okay. This I did not know. Thank you.
CHURCH DOOR TOUCAN GAY MARKETING PUPPIES MUSICAL THEATER STAPLES PERIOD OIL BITCHY SNARK HOLES
#8Most Underrated Composer
Posted: 11/7/14 at 4:35pm
Laurence O'Keefe (Heathers, Legally Blonde, Bat Boy)
Andrew Lloyd Webber is always put into the overrated category but I don't agree.
Damon Intrabartolo (Bare)
Frank Wildhorn (Jekyll and Hyde, Wonderland, Bonnie and Clyde)
Updated On: 11/7/14 at 04:35 PM
#9Most Underrated Composer
Posted: 11/7/14 at 5:06pmAndrew Lippa!!!!!
Use my fabulous TodayTix code: JEYCY
Lovinbroadway2
Stand-by Joined: 11/1/14
#11Most Underrated Composer
Posted: 11/7/14 at 6:11pm
I love Lippa too!
I also have totally fallen in love with
Scott Alan. What an amazing songwriter.
"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around."
RippedMan
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/05
#13Most Underrated Composer
Posted: 11/8/14 at 1:13am
I think O'Keefe only because people tend to write it off as pop fluff, but writing a catchy melody is really difficult.
And my favorite is Tesori.I haven't listened to Violet, but I love Caroline, or Change and love Fun Home. They're complex scores that take a few listens to get those melodies to grow on you, but in turn, her work on Shrek was pretty fantastic. The fact that she can write something so heady in one turn and churn out some great pop tunes in another is pretty great.
#14Most Underrated Composer
Posted: 11/8/14 at 1:25amPut me in the camp that loves Lippa (judge if you want, but I ADORE The Addams Family). Also Wildhorn, Tesori, and O'Keefe as others have said. I will add Michael Gore. Say what you want about Carrie, but some of the music in it is beautiful. Maybe not underrated as much as unrecognized is Stephen Schwartz. He has been around since the 70s and has not yet won a Tony for any of his work.
#15Most Underrated Composer
Posted: 11/8/14 at 8:52pm
^^ Michael Gore wrote the score to one of my favorite underrated films of all-time, Albert Brook's DEFENDING YOUR LIFE. Yes, he won Oscars for FAME and in these parts is notorious for CARRIE, but the cue "You're Going Back/Finale" from DEFENDING YOUR LIFE is among my favorite movie-music moments.
When I saw the thread title, my first thought was Tesori. Yes, her shows have won Tonys and great acclaim, but she's not nearly as famous as I would have her be based on her work. The thing that floors me, in retrospect, is how thoroughly different MILLIE sounds compared to VIOLET compared to CAROLINE compared to SHREK compared to FUN HOME. In the way that her compositions really suit the world of her story, I liken her to a Sondheim. Their styles each bleed through occasionally, but the scores are indisputably distinct from each other.
Also, Schwartz may be underrepresented, but as I always say: no awards are given in a vacuum. By my reckoning, none of Schwartz' five nominations for Best Score were the best score in their year.
Words don't deserve that kind of malarkey. They're innocent, neutral, precise, standing for this, describing that, meaning the other, so if you look after them you can build bridges across incomprehension and chaos. But when they get their corners knocked off, they're no good anymore…I don't think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.
Updated On: 11/8/14 at 08:52 PM
henrikegerman
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/29/05
#17Most Underrated Composer
Posted: 11/9/14 at 10:49am
It's that word 'underrated' again isn't it? Does that mean unknown or under-praised?
I agree on the LaChiusa front: and the recent GIANT score was the best for many a season in my view, not even taking into account The Wild Party, Marie Christine etc.
The person who I would like to hear more from is Jeff Blumenkrantz.
And in the unfairly dismissed category I would count Boy George- for all Taboo's many problems, the score was not one of them. I would love him to write another show score.
#18Most Underrated Composer
Posted: 11/9/14 at 11:52am
"The thing that floors me, in retrospect, is how thoroughly different MILLIE sounds compared to VIOLET compared to CAROLINE compared to SHREK compared to FUN HOME."
THIS is why I love Jeanine Tesori. Her scores are all so different and unique, really serving the worlds they are from. Here's hoping that she could snag a Tony for her great score to FUN HOME.
I also love me some LaChiusa (GIANT, SEE WHAT I WANNA SEE, WILD PARTY, MARIE CHRISTINE, are some of my favorites).
"I saw Pavarotti play Rodolfo on stage and with his girth I thought he was about to eat the whole table at the Cafe Momus." - Dollypop
#19Most Underrated Composer
Posted: 11/10/14 at 12:05am
Love Jeff Blumenkranz and Brad Alexander (See Rock City)
dreaming
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/24/09
#21Most Underrated Composer
Posted: 11/10/14 at 10:46am
I would hardly compare Tesori to Sondheim. First of all, Sondheim writes his own lyrics occasionally (Ms. Tesori has yet to show that ability). IMO, the scores for Shrek and Millie are really no masterpieces (particularly Shrek). Personally, I was on the fence about her being overrated until I saw Fun Home (and as I've said-I think Lisa Kron deserves as much credit as Tesori-why do the composers get the credit but the lyricists/book writers get none? Do we really think the composers do it all? Kron wrote both the book and the lyrics.) Just saying...
Let's see what she does going forward. So much of her work depends on her lyricist I think.
#22Most Underrated Composer
Posted: 11/10/14 at 10:48amI was kidding about Sondheim. He's generally considered one of the best. Tesori and Lippa are my actual choices. Tesori's VIOLET score is truly under appreciated.
#23Most Underrated Composer
Posted: 11/10/14 at 11:05amI'd say Maltby and Shire and Yes, Cy Coleman too.
#24Most Underrated Composer
Posted: 11/10/14 at 9:18pm
dreaming, I was only comparing Tesori to Sondheim in the sense that her scores sound distinctly unique and appropriate to their stories' tone and setting. Much in the same way Sondheim's scores are so distinct. I agree, there are obvious reasons (lyrics chief among them) that they are not very comparable. But what I was comparing was clearly stated in my original post. Stylistic chameleons, them two.
ETA: Maltby & Shire are a damn good choice, too. BABY has some of my favorite showtunes of the '80s.
Words don't deserve that kind of malarkey. They're innocent, neutral, precise, standing for this, describing that, meaning the other, so if you look after them you can build bridges across incomprehension and chaos. But when they get their corners knocked off, they're no good anymore…I don't think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.
Updated On: 11/10/14 at 09:18 PM
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