Will Aronson
William Landry Aronson | |
|---|---|
 Will Aronson on the red carpet of The Musical Awards, 3 June 2013 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 1981 New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Genres | Musical theater |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2008–present |
| Website | www |
William Landry Aronson (born 1981) is an American composer, writer for musical theater and Tony Award winner, whose work includes the scores for Pete the Cat, Mother, Me & the Monsters, and My Scary Girl. He also composed and co-wrote the book for the late 21st-century romance Maybe Happy Ending (2017), The Trouble with Doug, and Bungee Jump, cited by the NY Times in 2013 as Korea’s “most popular original musical,” and winner of Best Score at the Korean Musical Awards. Current projects include Hansel & Gretl & Heidi & Günter and Wind-Up Girl.
Aronson is the recipient of the Tony Award, Richard Rodgers Award, a Fulbright grant, the ASCAP Frederick Loewe Award, an EST/Sloan grant, and three Korean Musical Awards. In addition to his theatrical work, Aronson has composed and produced over 200 tracks for the ESL children's book/DVD series, English Egg.
Early Life
[edit]Growing up in Guilford, Connecticut, Aronson began his career with piano lessons when he was eight years old.[1] Additionally, he sang in the chorus at Elizabeth C. Adams Middle School.[2]
He attended Guilford High School, where he played trombone in the jazz band and pit orchestra. He credits his experience in the jazz band and its participation in the Essentially Ellington Competition as part of the inspiration behind Maybe Happy Ending. He graduated in 2000.[3][4]
Education
[edit]Aronson holds a B.A. in music from Harvard University. As an undergraduate, Aronson was the composer of Hasty Pudding Theatricals' 154th production, Snow Place Like Home,[5] and co-author/lyricist of its 155th production, It's a Wonderful Afterlife.[6]
After graduation from Harvard, Aronson studied Music Theory as a Fulbright Scholar at Universität der Künste in Berlin.[7]
Aronson holds an M.F.A. from the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. While studying at NYU, he received the ASCAP Frederick Loewe Scholarship[8] and a 2006 Baryshnikov Fellowship.[9] In 2007 he was named by the Dramatists Guild of America as one of "50 to Watch".
Work
[edit]Aronson wrote the score for a musical version of the Korean movie My Scary Girl (book and lyrics by Kyoung-ae Kang), which ran in Seoul, South Korea. The show won Best Original Musical (small theater category) at the 2009 Korea Musical Awards.[10] An English-language version of the show, with book co-written by Mark St. Germain and additional lyrics by William Finn, ran at Barrington Stage Company's Stage II, July 10–26, 2008.[11] The New York Musical Theater Festival (NYMF) presented the Korean version of My Scary Girl October 1–4, 2009. My Scary Girl was named the Outstanding New Musical at NYMF for 2009.[12]
A reading of Aronson's musical The Trouble with Doug, co-written with Daniel Maté, was directed by Victoria Clark at the NAMT theater festival in 2010.[13][14]
With William Finn as lyricist, Aronson has composed songs for Sybille Pearson’s play Next, Mary Testa’s Sleepless Variations, and Finn’s own Songs of Innocence and Experience.[15] Aronson was the musical arranger for the Finn-Lapine musical Little Miss Sunshine performed at La Jolla Playhouse in 2011.[16]
In 2011 Aronson composed the score for Mormons, Mothers and Monsters (book and lyrics by Sam Salmond), which ran at Barrington Stage Company's Stage II.[17]
In 2012, Aronson wrote the score for the Korean musical Bungee Jump (lyrics by Hue Park), based on the 2001 film Bungee Jumping of Their Own.[18] The production was successful[19] and won the award for best score at the 7th Musical Awards and the 18th Korea Musical Awards.[20]
Park and Aronson had a try-out production of their new musical, Maybe Happy Ending, at Wooran Foundation in September 2015.[21] The musical was premiered by DaeMyoung Culture Factory in December 2016.[21] Directed by Kim Dong-yeon, The show won six Korean Musical Awards, including Best Director, Best Music, Lyrics and Book.[22] The English-language version of Maybe Happy Ending was awarded the 2017 Richard Rodgers Award by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.[23] A new Korean production opened in 2018.[24] In 2020, Maybe Happy Ending had its American premiere at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta.[25] The show opened on Broadway at the Belasco Theatre in the fall of 2024 and received uniformly positive reviews. [26].[27][needs update]. In 2025, the show won 6 Tony awards.[28]
Accolades
[edit]| Award ceremony | Year | Category | Winner | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6th Yegreen Musical Award | 2017 | Musical of the Year | Maybe Happy Ending | Won | [29] |
| Music Award | Will Aronson | Won | |||
| Richard Rodgers Award by the American Academy of Arts and Letters | 2017 | Production Award | What I Learned from People[a] | Won | |
| 2nd Korea Musical Awards | 2018 | Musical of The Year (Small Theater) | Maybe Happy Ending | Won | [30] |
| Screenwriter/Lyricist | Will Aronson and Hue Park | Won | |||
| Composer | Will Aronson | Won | |||
| 8th E-Daily Culture Awards | 2021 | Grand Prize | Maybe Happy Ending | Won | [31] |
| New York Drama Critics' Circle Award | 2025 | Best Musical | Will Aronson and Hue Park | Won | [32] |
| Drama Desk Awards | 2025 | Outstanding Musical | Maybe Happy Ending | Won | [33] |
| Outstanding Music | Will Aronson and Hue Park | Won | |||
| Outstanding Lyrics | Won | ||||
| Outstanding Book of a Musical | Won | ||||
| Outstanding Orchestrations | Will Aronson | Nominated | |||
| Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Musical | Maybe Happy Ending | Won | [34] | |
| Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Musical | Maybe Happy Ending | Won | [35] | |
| Outstanding Book of a Musical | Will Aronson and Hue Park | Won | |||
| Outstanding Score | Won | ||||
| Outstanding Orchestrations | Will Aronson | Nominated | |||
| Tony Awards | Best Musical | Maybe Happy Ending | Won | [36] | |
| Best Book of a Musical | Will Aronson and Hue Park | Won | |||
| Best Original Score | Won | ||||
| Best Orchestrations | Will Aronson | Nominated |
Note
[edit]- ^ early English version of Maybe Happy Ending
References
[edit]- ^ Braden, Susan. "Guilford native nominated for four Tony Awards for co-creating 'Maybe Happy Ending'". CT Insider.
- ^ "GUILFORD KIDS SING THE DARNEDEST THINGS". Hartford Courant. October 26, 1995.
- ^ DaRosa, Andrew. "'Maybe Happy Ending,' Harvey Fierstein and Christian Siriano looks: CT's ties to Tony winners". Register Citizen.
- ^ Braden, Susan. "Guilford native nominated for four Tony Awards for co-creating 'Maybe Happy Ending'". CT Insider.
- ^ "The Harvard Crimson Online :: News". Archived from the original on November 9, 2002.
- ^ "河北省快3". Archived from the original on January 18, 2013.
- ^ "US.FULBRIGHTONLINE.ORG || Program Resources - U.S. Student Grantees". us.fulbrightonline.org. Archived from the original on May 21, 2011.
- ^ "ASCAP Foundation Awards". www.ascap.com. Archived from the original on January 11, 2008.
- ^ "NYU News". September 13, 2023.
- ^ "Home". koreamusicalawards.com.
- ^ "Playbill News: Barrington's Musical Theatre Lab Series to Feature Harris Burdick, Scary Girl and See Rock City". www.playbill.com. Archived from the original on April 4, 2008.
- ^ "nymf.org". www.nymf.org. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
- ^ https://www.variety.com/article/VR1118021404?refcatid=15&printerfriendly=true [dead link]
- ^ "Victoria Clark and Christopher Ashley to Direct NAMT Musicals - Playbill.com". www.playbill.com. Archived from the original on August 22, 2010.
- ^ "Barrington Stage--Summer 2008". www.curtainup.com. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
- ^ Isherwood, Charles (March 8, 2011). "Taking Dysfunction on a Road Trip, by van, to California". The New York Times.
- ^ "No, not that Mormon musical - Boston.com". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on May 29, 2011.
- ^ Kwon Mee-Yoo, "'Bungee Jump' tells of complex love story", Korea Times, July 29, 2012.
- ^ Patrick Healy, "Heartthrobs Rule the Korean Stage: K-Pop Stars Selling Stage Musicals in Korea", The New York Times, December 26, 2013.
- ^ Winners of The 7th ‘Musical Awards’, K-popculture (accessed 2016-08-26); "Musical ‘Bungee Jumping of Their Own’ to be Back", K-popculture (accessed 2016-08-26).
- ^ a b "싸니까 믿으니까 인터파크 티켓".
- ^ "제2회 한국뮤지컬어워즈 수상작(자) – 한국뮤지컬어워즈".
- ^ "Musical wins 2017 Richard Rodgers Award – American Academy of Arts and Letters". artsandletters.org. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
- ^ "싸니까 믿으니까 인터파크 티켓".
- ^ Brock, Wendell. "'Maybe Happy Ending' is making its American premiere at the Alliance Theatre". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. ISSN 1539-7459. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
- ^ {{Cite web|url=https://didtheylikeit.com/shows/maybe-happy-ending/
- ^ Evans, Greg (July 18, 2024). "'Maybe Happy Ending' Starring Darren Criss Delays Broadway Opening A Month Due To Scenic Design Supply Chain Issues". Deadline. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
- ^ "Tony Awards: Maybe Happy Ending wins first Tony for South Korea". BBC News. June 9, 2025. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
- ^ 예그린뮤지컬어워드 어쩌면 해피엔딩 4관왕 ["Yegreen Musical Award, maybe 4 times for happy ending".]. KBS News (in Korean). Retrieved June 19, 2022.
- ^ '어쩌면 해피엔딩' 제2회 한국뮤지컬어워즈 6관왕 [Maybe Happy Ending won 6 awards at the 2nd Korea Musical Awards".]. 서울문화투데이 (Seoul Culture Today) (in Korean). January 24, 2018. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
- ^ 뮤지컬 '어쩌면 해피엔딩'…이데일리문화대상에서 '영예의 대상' [Musical Maybe Happy Ending ... "The Grand Prize of Honor" at the E-Daily Culture Awards]. e대한경제 (eKorea economy) (in Korean). October 20, 2021. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
- ^ https://playbill.com/article/maybe-happy-ending-purpose-win-new-york-drama-critics-circle-awards-see-the-full-list-of-winners
- ^ Culwell-Block, Logan (April 30, 2025). "Boop! Leads 2025 Drama Desk Award Nominations With 11 Nods Including Outstanding Musical; Read the Full List Here". Retrieved May 1, 2025.
- ^ Culwell-Block, Logan (May 16, 2025). "Nicole Scherzinger Wins Distinguished Performance at 2025 Drama League Awards; Read the Full Winners List". Playbill. Retrieved May 17, 2025.
- ^ Culwell-Block, Logan (April 25, 2025). "Death Becomes Her Leads 2025 Outer Critics Circle Award Nominations; Read the Full List". Playbill. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
- ^ Culwell-Block, Logan (May 1, 2025). "2025 Tony Award Nominations: Buena Vista Social Club, Death Becomes Her, Maybe Happy Ending Lead the Pack". Playbill. Retrieved May 2, 2025.