- Sarah Travis
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Sarah Travis is a British orchestrator and musical supervisor for theatre and film. She received the Tony Award for Best Orchestrations and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations for the 2005 revival of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd.
Contents
Career
Travis attended City University and Guildhall School of Music and Drama.[1]
She has been the musical supervisor and/or orchestrator for many musicals, both in the West End and at regional British theatres. Some of the latter include Crazy for You and Me and My Girl (Aberystwyth); Annie (Belfast Lyric); Pal Joey (York). Additionally, she has composed music for several shows, such as Dick Whittington at the Barbican Centre, and seven other pantomimes for Chipping Norton.[1] She was the musical director and arranger for Privates on Parade at the West Yorkshire Playhouse and Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company (15 September 2008 to 11 October 2008).[2]
She was also the music supervisor for the Agatha Christie Marple series television movie Sleeping Murder (2006).
Watermill Theatre
Travis has had a long relationship with the Watermill Theatre, Newbury. Several of her productions there have gone on to West End runs. Her Watermill productions have included Piaf, a play by Pam Gems, for which Travis prepared musical arrangements for an "abbreviated version" in 2001.[3] She composed the original music for A Star Danced (2003)[4] and arranged a swing version of H.M.S. Pinafore, entitled Pinafore Swing, in 2004. One reviewer mentioned her "glorious arrangements".[5]
She was the musical supervisor and orchestrator of the revival of Sweeney Todd, which started at the Watermill Theatre in 2004 and transferred to both the West End (2004) and Broadway (2005).[6] Stephen Sondheim said of Travis' work on this production: "I think what she's done is absolutely brilliant.... The variety of sounds she's gotten out of the instruments and also the practical way in which they allow John [Doyle] to work with the performers onstage is extraordinary. But what got me most about the orchestrations is what they did for the play's atmosphere. These are wonderfully weird textures."[7]
Travis was the Musical Supervisor and orchestrator for the Watermill and London revival of Mack and Mabel (2005–2006).[8]
She is working with producer-director Craig Revel Horwood on several projects, in the theatre production company CRH Theatre Productions, including a jazz version of La Traviata and the current tour of Chess. Their revival of Sunset Boulevard opened in the West End at the Comedy Theatre, in December 2008, after first playing at the Watermill Theatre in July 2008.[9][10]
References
- ^ a b Biography sunsetlondon.com, accessed 25 July 2009
- ^ Listing, Privates on Parade, West Yorkshire Playhouse, accessed 25 July 2009
- ^ Timperley, John. "Review: Piaf", whatsonstage.com, 16 October 2001
- ^ Paddock, Terri. "Review":Watermill Debuts Star Musical as New Gigolo Travels," whatsonstage.com, 15 September 2003
- ^ Herman, Judi. "Review":Pinafore Swing", whatsonstage.com, 30 July 2004
- ^ Paddock, Terri. "Exclusive: Watermill Transfers Todd to Trafalgar," whatsonstage.com, 17 June 2004
- ^ Isherwood, Charles. "Cutting 'Sweeney Todd' to the Bone," The New York Times, 30 October 2005
- ^ "Mack & Mabel from Watermill to West End???", whatsonstage.com, 23 June 2005
- ^ Coveney, Michael. "Review:Sunset Boulevard", whatsonstage.com, 16 December 2008]
- ^ Staff. "Revel Horwood Lines up More Actor-Musician Revivals???" whatsonstage.com, 24 September 2008
External links
Tony Award for Best Orchestrations Danny Troob (1985) · Jonathan Tunick (1997) · William David Brohn (1998) · Ralph Burns / Doug Besterman (1999) · Don Sebesky (2000) · Doug Besterman (2001) · Doug Besterman / Ralph Burns (2002) · Billy Joel / Stuart Malina (2003) · Michael Starobin (2004) · Ted Sperling / Adam Guettel / Bruce Coughlin (2005) · Sarah Travis (2006) · Duncan Sheik (2007) · Alex Lacamoire / Bill Sherman (2008) · Martin Koch / Michael Starobin / Tom Kitt (2009) · Daryl Waters / David Bryan (2010)
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations (2001–2025) Doug Besterman (2001) · Doug Besterman/Ralph Burns (2002) · Harold Wheeler (2003) · William David Brohn (2004) · Bruce Coughlin/Adam Guettel/Ted Sperling (2005) · Sarah Travis (2006) · Mary Mitchell Campbell (2007) · Jason Carr (2008) · Martin Koch (2009) · Daryl Waters/David Bryan (2010) · Larry Hochman/Stephen Oremus (2011)
Complete list · (1984–2000) · (2001–2025) Current Members Previous Members Russell Churney • Issy van Randwyck • Lizzie Richardson • Marilyn Cutts • Glenda Smith • Denise Wharmby • Charlotte Nytzen • Sarah Travis • Liza PulmanCategories:- Living people
- British music arrangers
- British conductors (music)
- Drama Desk Award winners
- Tony Award winners
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