26 Facts About Doug Besterman

Douglas Besterman was born on February 3,1965 and is an American orchestrator, musical arranger and music producer.

Doug Besterman is the recipient of three Tony Awards out of six total nominations and two Drama Desk Awards out of six total nominations, and was a 2009 Grammy Award nominee.

Doug Besterman found work in New York City in 1986 as a rehearsal pianist.

Doug Besterman then began an extensive career in film with Lincoln, subsequently orchestrating Disney's Pocahontas in 1995.

Doug Besterman made his Broadway debut with Damn Yankees, for which he was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations.

Doug Besterman was nominated for the latter in 1997, with Big: the Musical.

Doug Besterman won his first Tony Award for Best Orchestrations in 1999, for orchestrating Fosse with Ralph Burns.

Doug Besterman was nominated for the Tony Award for The Music Man in 2000, for which he received his third Drama Desk Award nomination.

Doug Besterman won his second Tony Award and his first Drama Desk Award for the Broadway and West End productions of The Producers.

Burns had died in November 2001 and Doug Besterman accepted the awards.

In 2001, Doug Besterman orchestrated Rodgers and Hammerstein's score in the TV movie South Pacific.

Doug Besterman arranged music for the 2003 film Piglet's Big Movie.

In 2004, Doug Besterman orchestrated music for the original productions of Dracula, the Musical at the La Jolla Playhouse and Broadway's Belasco Theatre.

Doug Besterman provided orchestrations and arrangements for the 2005 West End production of Guys and Dolls.

Also in 2005, Doug Besterman reunited with The Producers composer Mel Brooks for the film version of the same name.

Doug Besterman again worked with Brooks on his 2007 musical adaptation of Young Frankenstein, for which he was nominated for his sixth Drama Desk Award and first Grammy Award.

Doug Besterman worked with writer Debra Fordham and composers Jeff Marx and Robert Lopez for a musical episode of Scrubs, titled "My Musical", which aired in 2007.

In 2008, Doug Besterman orchestrated songs for the Houston, Texas, premiere of The Gershwins' An American In Paris, a musical adaptation of the 1951 film of the same name.

In concerts, Doug Besterman has orchestrated performances for Mel Brooks and Chita Rivera at the Kennedy Center Honors, Beyonce Knowles' 2002 benefit concert, and the "Stephen Sondheim 75th Birthday Celebration" with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Doug Besterman wrote orchestrations to the La Jolla Playhouse's 2010 production of Limelight: The Story of Charlie Chaplin.

Doug Besterman orchestrated songs for a musical adaptation, titled Elf the Musical, of the 2003 film Elf, which played at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on Broadway in winter 2010.

Doug Besterman was the orchestrator for Rob Ashford's 2011 Broadway revival of Frank Loesser's How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, starring Daniel Radcliffe, for which he has been nominated for his fifth Tony Award for Best Orchestrations.

Doug Besterman provided orchestrations for the London, Broadway, and Hamburg productions of the musical Sister Act.

Doug Besterman provided orchestrations for the 2011 film remake of Winnie the Pooh, with music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, with contributions by The Sherman Brothers.

Doug Besterman orchestrated, with Michael Starobin, the Roundabout Theatre Company's musical The People in the Picture, concerning a grandmother recalling her life in the Yiddish theater and the Holocaust.

Doug Besterman will provide orchestrations for the upcoming MCC Theater revival of the 1988 musical Carrie.