Matthew Sklar

Matthew Sklar (October 7, 1973) is a Broadway composer. He was nominated for the 2006 Tony Award for Best Original Score for the musical The Wedding Singer for which he wrote the music and Chad Beguelin wrote the lyrics. He also composed the music for the Broadway musical hit Elf which broke box office records five of the nine weeks of its limited engagement at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre in 2010-2011. Matthew co-produced the original Broadway cast albums for both shows.

Sklar is a native of Westfield, New Jersey.^[1] He attended Edison Intermediate School and graduated from Westfield High School in 1991. He was active in the high school's music and drama programs, and also participated in the Westfield Summer Workshop.

He made his Broadway debut as a composer for the new musical The Wedding Singer. He has been a pianist, conductor, and dance music arranger for many productions including Shrek, 42nd Street, Miss Saigon, Les Misérables, Nine and Caroline, or Change. He has been working on Broadway since the age of eighteen.

He graduated with honors in 1991 from the Juilliard School Pre-College Division as a composition major. His piece Symphonics, for full orchestra, was premiered at Lincoln Center by the Juilliard Pre-College Orchestra, conducted by Sklar. He then studied at New York University from 1991-1995.

He has written his own original musicals, which include The Rhythm Club, Judas and Me, and Wicked City.

Matthew credits his start in composing to his Music Teacher, Kristine Smith-Morasso at Edison, who asked him to write a song for his 8th grade graduation. On a whim, he sent the song to Walt Disney Productions, which recorded it for the Mickey Mouse Club.

Broadway Credits

As composer:

• Elf Original Music
• Shrek Dance Arrangements
• The Wedding Singer Original Music - TONY NOMINEE

Other Credits:

• Caroline, or Change Associate Conductor
• Nine Rehearsal Pianist, Associate Conductor
• Oklahoma!, (2002 Revival) Rehearsal Pianist
• 42nd Street (2001 Revival) Associate Conductor
• Putting It Together Assistant Conductor
• Annie Get Your Gun (1999 Revival) Rehearsal Pianist
• On the Town (1998 Revival) Rehearsal Pianist
• Titanic Associate Conductor
• Miss Saigon Assistant Conductor, Replacement
• Les Misérables Associate Conductor, Replacement

Awards

• the ASCAP Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award
• the Gilman Gonzalez-Falla Musical Theater Award
• the Jonathon Larson Performing Arts Foundation Award.

Nominations

• 2006 Tony Award, Best Original Score, The Wedding Singer Nominee
• 2006 Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Music

References

1. ^ Durbach, Elaine. From bar mitzva boy to Wedding Singer: A composer gets his big Broadway break, New Jersey Jewish News, July 6, 2006. Accessed March 29, 2008.

External links

• Matthew Sklar at the Internet Broadway Database
• Matthew Sklar at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Sklar, Matthew
Alternative names
Short description	Broadway composer
Date of birth	October 7, 1973
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death