Lynne Shankel
Assistant Professor of Music and Carole Caplan Lonner Professor of Musical Theatre Writing
Bio
Lynne Shankel is best known as a music supervisor, arranger, and orchestrator. She was the music supervisor/arranger/orchestrator for Allegiance starring Lea Salonga and George Takei and was the first woman to solely orchestrate a new musical on Broadway. Her diverse musical background has led her to write orchestrations and arrangements for everyone from Chita Rivera, the New York Pops, and Raul Esparza to Tony Award winner/Bon Jovi member David Bryan and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. She was the music director/arranger for the Broadway production of Cry-Baby, as well as the resident music supervisor for the Tony-award winning revival of Company, for which she conducted the Grammy-nominated cast album. She was music director/arranger for the Off-Broadway hit Altar Boyz, for which she received a Drama Desk nomination for orchestrations. Shankel received a second Drama Desk nomination for The Extraordinary Ordinary by Paul Loesel and Scott Burkell.
In 2012, Shankel received the Craig Noel Award for Outstanding Orchestrations in San Diego for her work on Allegiance. In 2014, she was orchestrator/arranger for the world premiere of Chasing the Song, music by David Bryan, book by Joe DiPietro, at La Jolla Playhouse. In 2017, she was the music supervisor/arranger/orchestrator for the world premiere of Life After in Toronto and for it’s U.S. premiere in 2019 at The Old Globe.
As a composer, Shankel collaborated with lyricist Jon Hartmere to provide new songs for Bare: The Musical in 2012. Her composition has also been featured in the original musical Maya which was commissioned by Teach For India. The show’s mission is to empower young girls in India and has been performed all over that country. In 2016, she wrote original music for The Old Globe’s production of Red Velvet. In 2017, Shankel released her critically acclaimed double album Bare Naked on Yellow Sound Label.
Current projects include Postcard American Town (music and lyrics by Shankel, book by Crystal Skillman), HoT, and Perpetual Sunshine and the Ghost Girls (music by Shankel, book, and lyrics by Sara Cooper), and Sold!, a collaboration with contemporary dance choreographer Ann Yee with music and lyrics by Shankel.
