In 2008, Kitt teamed with Brian Yorkey to create Next to Normal, a show about mental illness in suburban America. The musical addressed issues such as suicide, drug abuse, and ethics in modern psychiatry. He had met Yorkey while studying at Columbia University, and they had attended the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop as a team.[3]Next to Normal was well received by critics. Kitt won the 2008 Outer Critics Circle Award, Outstanding New Score,[6] and was nominated for the Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Music; and Tony Awards for Best Original Score Written for the Theatre and Best Orchestrations for the show.[7] Kitt and Yorkey shared the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Next to Normal. The Pulitzer Board called it "a powerful rock musical that grapples with mental illness in a suburban family and expands the scope of subject matter for musicals."[8] Kitt received the 2009 Frederick Loewe Award for Dramatic Composition for Next to Normal from the Dramatists Guild of America.[9]
Also in 2008, Kitt composed the music for the play From Up Here, which was also nominated for the 2008 Drama Desk Award, Best Play; and the Outer Critics Circle Award.[10][11]
Kitt was the music supervisor, orchestrator and music arranger for the musical American Idiot, which opened on Broadway in March 2010.[13]
Kitt composed the score for The Public Theater Shakespeare in the Park (New York City) production of The Winter's Tale, which ran in July 2010. The New York Times reviewer wrote that, "His score is a triumph of the less-is-more approach to incidental music."[14]
In August 2010, Brian Yorkey and Kitt's musical In Your Eyes was workshopped at the Village Theatre's Festival of New Musicals in Issaquah, Washington.[15]
Kitt's next musical, Bring It On, a musical adaption of the film, was a collaboration with Lin-Manuel Miranda, Amanda Green and playwright Jeff Whitty. The musical premiered at the Alliance Theatre, Atlanta, running from January 15, 2011 to February 20, 2011.[16][17] Miranda later called Kitt "one of the best melodists of our generation," and attributed personal growth and education to their relationship.[18]
In 2012, he worked on arranging strings sections for Green Day's album trilogy Uno, Dos and Tre.[citation needed]
He worked with Brian Yorkey on a new musical titled If/Then which was workshopped in 2013 in New York City with Idina Menzel in the lead role. Following the workshop, the show had an out-of-town tryout at Washington D.C.'s National Theatre, from November 5 to December 8, 2013. It opened on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on March 4, 2014 in previews, officially on March 30, 2014. The show is directed by Michael Greif, produced by David Stone, and stars Menzel, LaChanze and Anthony Rapp. The choreography is by Larry Keigwin, sets are by Mark Wendland, and costumes by Emily Rebholz.[19][20]
Kitt and Yorkey wrote a musical adaptation of the book (and films) Freaky Friday, with the book by Bridget Carpenter. The musical, developed by Disney Theatrical, began performances at the Signature Theatre, Arlington, Virginia on October 4, 2016. Directed by Christopher Ashley, with choreography by Sergio Trujillo, the cast featured Emma Hunton, Jason Gotay and Heidi Blickenstaff.[21][22] The musical begins performances at the La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego on January 31, 2017 to March 12. Directed by Ashley, Hunton and Blickenstaff reprise their original roles.[23]
Kitt had reteamed with Brian Yorkey for a musical adaptation of Magic Mike, with Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa writing the book.[27] By May 2019, the creative team of Kitt, Yorkey and Aguirre-Sacasa left the project and a developmental lab that had been scheduled for the week of May 3 was cancelled.[28][29]
Kitt then composed the new musical titled Almost Famous, the world-premiere musical adaptation of Cameron Crowe's 2000 coming-of-age film Almost Famous. The musical opened September 27, 2019 at The Old Globe in San Diego, California.[30]
Kitt is the composer of the musical titled Flying Over Sunset, which was expected to premiere in a Lincoln Center Theater production on Broadway on March 12, 2020 in previews. The book is by James Lapine, who is also the director, with the lyrics by Michael Korie.[34][35] The show was postponed when Broadway shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[36] It was announced in May 2021 that the show would resume production on November 4, 2021 in previews, with the official opening on December 6, 2021.[37][38]
Kitt has performed his own songs in a one-man show at various venues such as the Bitter End in New York.[41] He is the founder of The Tom Kitt Band, in which he plays piano. The band's first album is Find Me.[42] Kitt also contributed in 2006 to Julia Murney's self-titled debut album, I'm Not Waiting, for which he co-wrote the song Perfect.
Personal life
He married Rita Pietropinto in 2000.[5] They have three children.[43]
James Elliot Lapine is an American stage director, playwright, screenwriter, and librettist. He has won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical three times, for Into the Woods, Falsettos, and Passion. He has frequently collaborated with Stephen Sondheim and William Finn.
Disney Theatrical Productions Limited (DTP), also known as Disney on Broadway, is the stageplay and musical production company of the Disney Theatrical Group, a subsidiary of Disney Entertainment, a major division and business unit of The Walt Disney Company.
Stephanie Janette Block is an American actress and singer, best known for her work on the Broadway stage.
Next to Normal is a 2008 American rock musical with book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey and music by Tom Kitt. The story centers on a mother who struggles with worsening bipolar disorder and the effects that managing her illness has on her family. The musical addresses grief, depression, suicide, drug abuse, ethics in modern psychiatry, and the underbelly of suburban life.
Brian d'Arcy James is an American actor and musician. He is known primarily for his Broadway roles, including Shrek in Shrek the Musical, Nick Bottom in Something Rotten!, King George III in Hamilton, and The Baker in Into the Woods. He has received five Tony Award nominations for his work. On-screen, he is known for his recurring role as Andy Baker on the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why, Officer Krupke in West Side Story, and reporter Matt Carroll in Spotlight.
Second Stage Theater is a non-profit theater company that presents work by living American writers both on and off Broadway. It is based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and is affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres.
Sarah Uriarte Berry is an American actress and singer.
Alice Ripley is an American actress, singer, songwriter and mixed media artist. She is known, in particular, for her various roles on Broadway in musicals, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Next to Normal and Side Show. She most recently played three roles in the short-lived Broadway musical, American Psycho. Alice Ripley has released albums with her band, RIPLEY, including the single, "Beautiful Eyes", released in February 2012. She also performs as a solo artist, while in February 2011 she released Alice Ripley Daily Practice, Volume 1, a stripped-down collection of acoustic rock covers.
Rob Ashford is an American stage director and choreographer. He is a Tony Award, Olivier Award, Emmy Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award winner.
The New York Musical Festival (NYMF) was an annual event held each summer from 2004 to 2019 in New York City's midtown theater district. It mounted more than 30 new musicals each year, more than half selected through an open-submission, double-blind evaluation process involving prominent theater artists and producers. The festival's artist staff invited the remaining shows. NYMF premiered some 447 musicals, engaging more than 8,000 artists and attracting over 300,000 attendees.
Heidi Blickenstaff is an American actress and singer based in New York City best known for playing a version of herself in the musical [title of show] during its Off-Broadway and Broadway runs, as well as for originating the role of Bea in the 2015 musical Something Rotten!. She co-starred with Cozi Zuehlsdorff in the Disney Channel musical version of Freaky Friday which was broadcast on August 10, 2018.
Karen Mason is an American musical theatre actress and singer. She has appeared on stage in Broadway theatre, notably as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, and is a multiple award-winning cabaret performer.
Brian Yorkey is an American playwright and lyricist. His works often explore dark and controversial subject matter such as mental illness, grief, the underbelly of suburbia, and ethics in both psychiatry and public education.
Robert Longbottom is a New York City-based choreographer and director, primarily for theatre and opera.
Carmen Cusack is an American musical theater actress and singer. She is known for playing Elphaba in the Chicago, North American Tour, and Melbourne productions of the musical Wicked and for originating the roles of Alice Murphy and Clare Boothe Luce in the Broadway musicals Bright Star and Flying Over Sunset, respectively.
If/Then is a musical with a libretto by Brian Yorkey and a theatrical score by Tom Kitt, directed by Michael Greif. It tells the story of a 38-year-old woman named Elizabeth who moves back to New York City for a fresh start.
Betsy Wolfe is an American actress, singer, and entrepreneur.
Freaky Friday is a musical with music by Tom Kitt, lyrics by Brian Yorkey, and a book by Bridget Carpenter. It is based on the 1972 novel of the same name by Mary Rodgers and its 1976, 1995, and 2003 film adaptations. In the story, when an overworked mother and her teenage daughter magically swap bodies, they have just one day to put things right again before the mom's wedding.
Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures is the live show, stageplay and musical production arm of Warner Bros. Discovery. The company forms a part of Warner Bros., one of the major business segments of Warner Bros. Discovery. Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures is led by Mark Kaufman.
Flying Over Sunset is a musical with music by Tom Kitt, lyrics by Michael Korie, and a book by James Lapine. The musical is a fictional account of a meeting between Aldous Huxley, Clare Boothe Luce and Cary Grant, who all used the drug LSD.
1 2 "Tom Kitt's Big Year". Westchester Magazine. July 20, 2010. Archived from the original on August 17, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2010. Tom Kitt wanted to be the next Billy Joel. He was 13, and he had just moved from Port Washington, Long Island, to the Armonk border (technically Bedford) and started attending Armonk's Byram Hills High School.
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