Larry Grossman (composer)

Larry Grossman (born September 3, 1938) is an American composer for theatre, television, film, concerts, and cabaret.

For persons of a similar name, see Larry Grossman (disambiguation).

Life and career

Grossman, a native of Chicago, graduated from Northwestern University School Communication in 1960.[1]

He started working in New York City as a vocal coach and accompanist. One of his songs was used in the revue No Shoestrings (1962). He began working with lyricist Hal Hackady in 1968, and their first piece together was the title song for the play Play It Again, Sam. Their collaboration led to Grossman's Broadway debut in 1970 where he went on to write the scores for four Broadway musicals Minnie's Boys.[2] and Goodtime Charley [3] and in collaboration with theatre legend Harold Prince, A Doll's Life and Grind for which he received Tony nominations.

In 1975, Grossman composed Snoopy: The Musical with lyricist Hal Hackady which has been performed in six languages worldwide with the first London production receiving an Olivier award nomination.

He composed the musical Paper Moon in 1993. Based on the novel Addie Pray and the 1973 film, it premiered at the Paper Mill Playhouse. A revised version was then presented at the Goodspeed Opera House, Walnut Street Theatre, and Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC.[4][5] Paper Moon then had two successful tours in Japan.

In 2008, Off-Broadway's York Theatre Company produced a retrospective of his Broadway work, remounting Minnie's Boys, Grind, Goodtime Charley, and "Compose Yourself," new revue of his music.[6][7]

In 2010, Grossman composed A Christmas Memory with lyrics by Carol Hall and the book by Duane Poole, based on the Truman Capote short story. The show was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical and has been performed nationally.[8]

Grossman's most recent show is Scrooge in Love! which was presented in 2015 by 42nd Street Moon.[9] The first production received four San Francisco Bay Area Critics Circle awards including Best Score. It was honored with a new production in 2016.

Film work includes the song score for The Walt Disney Company's Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World, The Great Mouse Detective and The Princess Diaries 2 and MGM's That's Dancing!.[10][11] Dramatic film scores include Kurt Vonnegut's Displaced Person and the remake of Hitchcock's Suspicion, both for American Playhouse.

Grossman co-wrote the Michael Jackson song "Gone Too Soon" with Buz Kohan for Jackson's multi-platinum album Dangerous which sold 32 million copies worldwide. They also co-wrote the Christmas classic "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy" for David Bowie and Bing Crosby, performed on Crosby's Christmas Special.[12]

Grossman's Emmy Award-winning television work includes nearly 100 musical specials, concerts and cabaret for artists including Julie Andrews, Shirley MacLaine Liza Minnelli & Goldie Hawn, Andy Williams, Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme, Joel Grey, Glen Campbell, Sandy Duncan and Ann-Margret.

He has written music for four Academy Awards telecasts, three Emmy telecasts, two Tony telecasts The Songwriters Hall of Fame and Liberty Weekend produced by David Wolper.

Grossman served as music consultant and composer for The Muppet Show (three seasons), Make Way For Noddy (five years), Christmas in Washington (32 years) and A Capitol Fourth (12 years).[13][14][15]

For his work in television, Grossman has been awarded six Emmy's, with a total of 17 nominations, as well as a Peabody Award for his contributions to The Muppet Show.

Currently, Grossman is serving as music supervisor and composer for Julie's Greenroom, the Netflix original children's series starring Julie Andrews and The Muppets. He is also serving as a co-producer on The World According to Snoopy the re-imagined production of Snoopy: The Musical.[16]

Theatre productions

References
  1. Waa-Mu Salutes Eight Great Alums waamu.northwestern.edu, retrieved August 19, 2010
  2. Suskin, Steven. Show Tunes: The Songs, Shows and Careers of Broadway's Major Composers, Oxford University Press US, 2010 (Ed. 4), ISBN 0-19-531407-7, p. 341
  3. Suskin, Steven. The Sound of Broadway Music: A Book of Orchestrators and Orchestrations, p.350, New York: Oxford University Press, 2009
  4. Klein, Alvin."'Paper Moon' Changes Its Outlook as a Musical'The New York Times, September 26, 1993
  5. "New Paper Moon Rises Over Philadelphia" Archived 2012-10-17 at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, September 29, 1996
  6. "Larry Grossman gets a New York retrospective of his show tunes". 27 East. 2008-07-07. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  7. Gans, Andrew (May 30, 2008). "Minnie's Boys, with Myers, Walton and Zagnit, Begins York Run May 30". Playbill. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  8. "A Christmas Memory - A New Musical". A Christmas Memory - A New Musical. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  9. Desk, BWW News. "SCROOGE IN LOVE!, Starring Jason Graae, to Return to 42nd Street Moon for the Holidays". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  10. "Answers - The Most Trusted Place for Answering Life's Questions". Answers.com.
  11. "THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE – Henry Mancini". MOVIE MUSIC UK. 2016-07-14. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  12. Farhi, Paul (20 December 2006). "Bing and Bowie: An Odd Story of Holiday Harmony" – via washingtonpost.com.
  13. "Larry Grossman Reaches for the Moon Again | Playbill". Playbill. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  14. "Christmas in Washington 1988 (1988) - Full Credits - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  15. Staff, Hollywood.com (2015-02-03). "A Capitol Fourth | Full Cast and Credits | 2004". Hollywood.com. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  16. "Snoopy!!! Musical Will Get Re-Imagined | Playbill". Playbill. Retrieved 2017-04-30.
  17. Loveridge, Lizzie."Snoopy the Musical Review" curtainup.com, February 17, 2003
  18. "'Paper Moon' production listing" abouttheartists.com, retrieved August 19, 2010
  19. "Tom Jones - 2001 New York Tickets, Reviews, News, Info, Photos, Videos". broadwayworld.com.
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