Jeff Blumenkrantz
Encyclopedia
Jeff Blumenkrantz is an American
actor
and musical theatre
composer
/lyricist
.
Born and raised in New Jersey
, Blumenkrantz is a graduate of Northwestern University
. His acting credits include roles in such Broadway
productions as Into the Woods
(2002), The Threepenny Opera
(1989), Damn Yankees
(1994), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
(1995), and A Class Act
(2001), as well as appearances in such television
shows as Will & Grace
, Just Shoot Me!
, and Law & Order
.
In 2000, noted Broadway actress and recording artist Audra McDonald
included Blumenkrantz's song "I Won't Mind" on her CD, How Glory Goes
. This lullaby ( with lyrics by Annie Kessler and Libby Saines) has become a staple of McDonald's repertoire. Blumenkrantz also contributed a piece to The Seven Deadly Sins, a song cycle commissioned by Carnegie Hall for the singer. His comic song, "My Book," addressed the sin of sloth.
In 2003, Blumenkrantz was nominated for a Best Original Score Tony Award
for his work on Urban Cowboy
, a nomination he shared with Jason Robert Brown
and twenty-eight others.
In 2005-2006, he created and hosted The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast, a weekly podcast featuring the songs from his songbook, occasional additional episodes of which were released until at least February 2010. This project was succeeded in 2008 by the BMI Workshop Songbook Podcast, which Blumenkrantz hosted, showcasing the eponymous songbook, which features the work of members of the BMI Songwriters' Workshop
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
/lyricist
Lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
.
Born and raised in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, Blumenkrantz is a graduate of Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
. His acting credits include roles in such Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
productions as Into the Woods
Into the Woods
Into the Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986, and premiered on Broadway in 1987. Bernadette Peters' performance as the Witch and Joanna Gleason's portrayal of the Baker's Wife brought acclaim...
(2002), The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera is a musical by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill, in collaboration with translator Elisabeth Hauptmann and set designer Caspar Neher. It was adapted from an 18th-century English ballad opera, John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, and offers a Marxist critique...
(1989), Damn Yankees
Damn Yankees
Damn Yankees is a musical comedy with a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop and music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story is a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., during a time when the New York Yankees dominated Major League...
(1994), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert, based on Shepherd Mead's 1952 book of the same name....
(1995), and A Class Act
A Class Act
A Class Act is a musical with a book by Linda Kline and Lonny Price and music and lyrics by Edward Kleban. The musical is based on the life of composer-lyricist Ed Kleban, who died at the age of 48 in 1987...
(2001), as well as appearances in such television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
shows as Will & Grace
Will & Grace
Will & Grace was an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 21, 1998 to May 18, 2006 for a total of eight seasons. Will & Grace remains the most successful television series with gay principal characters...
, Just Shoot Me!
Just Shoot Me!
Just Shoot Me! is an American television sitcom that aired for seven seasons on NBC from March 4, 1997 to August 16, 2003, with 148 episodes produced. The show was created by Steven Levitan, the show's executive producer.-Description:...
, and Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
.
In 2000, noted Broadway actress and recording artist Audra McDonald
Audra McDonald
Audra Ann McDonald is an American actress and singer. She currently stars in the ABC television drama Private Practice as Dr. Naomi Bennett. She has appeared on the stage in both musicals and dramas, such as Ragtime and A Raisin in the Sun...
included Blumenkrantz's song "I Won't Mind" on her CD, How Glory Goes
How Glory Goes
How Glory Goes is the second album from Audra McDonald, released in 2000. Unlike her debut album Way Back to Paradise, which featured songs from younger composers, this album contains a mixture of new and old songs, mostly from musical theatre...
. This lullaby ( with lyrics by Annie Kessler and Libby Saines) has become a staple of McDonald's repertoire. Blumenkrantz also contributed a piece to The Seven Deadly Sins, a song cycle commissioned by Carnegie Hall for the singer. His comic song, "My Book," addressed the sin of sloth.
In 2003, Blumenkrantz was nominated for a Best Original Score Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for his work on Urban Cowboy
Urban Cowboy (musical)
Urban Cowboy is a musical with a book by Aaron Latham and Phillip Oesterman and a score composed of numbers by Broadway composer-lyricists Jeff Blumenkrantz and Jason Robert Brown and a variety of country music tunesmiths, including Clint Black and Charles Daniels.Based on the 1980 screenplay by...
, a nomination he shared with Jason Robert Brown
Jason Robert Brown
Jason Robert Brown is an American musical theater composer, lyricist, and playwright. Brown's music sensibility fuses pop-rock stylings with theatrical lyrics...
and twenty-eight others.
In 2005-2006, he created and hosted The Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast, a weekly podcast featuring the songs from his songbook, occasional additional episodes of which were released until at least February 2010. This project was succeeded in 2008 by the BMI Workshop Songbook Podcast, which Blumenkrantz hosted, showcasing the eponymous songbook, which features the work of members of the BMI Songwriters' Workshop
BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop
The BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop is a workshop in New York for musical theatre composers, lyricists and librettists.-History:The BMI Workshop was founded in 1961 by Lehman Engel and the performing rights organization BMI ....
.