Tom Kitt (musician)
Thomas Robert "Tom" Kitt (born 1974) is an American composer, conductor, orchestrator and musician. For his score for the musical Next to Normal, he shared the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama with Brian Yorkey. He also won the Tony Award and 2008 Outer Critics Circle Award, and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for American Idiot and Everyday Rapture.
Early Life
Kitt attended Byram Hills High School in Armonk, New York, where he participated in various theatrical productions. He graduated in 1992. He then attended Columbia College, New York City, graduating with a degree in economics in 1996. During his time at Columbia, Kitt was also a member of the Columbia Kingsmen.
Career
Broadway success and Next to Normal
Kitt began working on Broadway in 2002, when he served as music director and conductor for Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical. In 2006, he composed the music for High Fidelity, based on the Nick Hornby novel of the same name.
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 Theater Workshop as a team.Next to Normal was well-received by critics. Kitt won the 2008 Outer Critics Circle Award, Outstanding New Score, 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. Yorkey and Kitt shared the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama with Brian Yorkey 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."
