Harold Wheeler
Encyclopedia
Harold Wheeler is an orchestrator, composer, conductor, arranger, record producer, and music director. He has received numerous Tony Award
and Drama Desk Award
nominations for orchestration, and won the 2003 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations
for Hairspray
.
, becoming only the second African-American conductor in the Academy's history. He also was a music arranger on the 79th Academy Awards
. Wheeler was one of two conductors (the others being fellow composers John Williams
and Paul Shaffer
) during the closing ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympics
.
He is currently the musical director on the ABC
Network show, Dancing with the Stars
. He has had this position for all of the show's seasons.
He is married to television, Broadway, and movie performer Hattie Winston
.
In 2008, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the NAACP Theatre Awards
.
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Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
and Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
nominations for orchestration, and won the 2003 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations
The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations is presented by the Drama Desk, a committee of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors...
for Hairspray
Hairspray (musical)
Hairspray is a musical with music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman and a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues...
.
Biography
Wheeler was named Music Conductor for the 76th Academy Awards76th Academy Awards
The 76th Academy Awards ceremony honored the best films of 2003 and was broadcast from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California on ABC beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST/8:30 p.m. EST, February 29, 2004 . The show was produced by Joe Roth and was hosted for the eighth time by comedian Billy Crystal.The...
, becoming only the second African-American conductor in the Academy's history. He also was a music arranger on the 79th Academy Awards
79th Academy Awards
The 79th Academy Awards ceremony , honored the best films of 2006 and took place on February 25, 2007 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on ABC. Ellen DeGeneres hosted the ceremony for the first time. The producer was Laura Ziskin. The announcers were Don LaFontaine and Gina Tuttle.The nominees were...
. Wheeler was one of two conductors (the others being fellow composers John Williams
John Williams
John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...
and Paul Shaffer
Paul Shaffer
Paul Allen Wood Shaffer, CM is a Canadian musician, actor, voice actor, author, comedian, and composer who has been David Letterman's sidekick since 1982.-Early years:...
) during the closing ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympics
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....
.
He is currently the musical director on the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
Network show, Dancing with the Stars
Dancing with the Stars (US TV series)
Dancing with the Stars is a reality show airing on ABC in the United States, and CTV in Canada in 2011. The show is the American version of the British BBC television series Strictly Come Dancing...
. He has had this position for all of the show's seasons.
He is married to television, Broadway, and movie performer Hattie Winston
Hattie Winston
Hattie Mae Winston is an American television, film and Broadway actress best known for her role as Margaret on Becker and as a prominent cast member of the PBS children's series The Electric Company.-Early career:...
.
In 2008, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the NAACP Theatre Awards
NAACP Theatre Awards
The NAACP Theatre Awards is an award presented annually by the Beverly Hills-Hollywood branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in theatre....
.
Partial discography
- Nina Simone "Here Comes The Sun" (1971) - Arranger, Conductor & Producer
- GrindGrind (musical)Grind is a musical with a book by Fay Kanin, music by Larry Grossman, and lyrics by Ellen Fitzhugh. Grind is a portrait of a largely African-American burlesque house in Chicago in the Thirties.The reviews were mixed at best...
(1975) - Additional orchestrations
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