Ted Royal ewar'' (6 September 1904, Skedee, Oklahoma - 27 March (?) 1981) was an American

orchestrator Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

, conductor and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

for

Broadway theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, American and British English spelling differences), many of the List of ...

. He was most active in the 1940s and 1950s, being associated with the very successful original productions of

Lerner and Loewe Lerner and Loewe is the partnership between lyricist and librettist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe. Spanning three decades and nine musicals from 1942 to 1960 and again from 1970 to 1972, the pair are known for being behind the cr ...

's ''

Brigadoon ''Brigadoon'' is a musical with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and score by Frederick Loewe. The plot features two American tourists who stumble upon Brigadoon, a mysterious Scottish village that appears for only one day every 100 years; on ...

'' and '' Paint Your Wagon''. Together with

George Bassman George Bassman (February 7, 1914 – June 26, 1997) was an American composer and arranger. Biography Born in New York City to a Ukrainian- and Lithuanian-Jewish émigré couple, Bassman was later raised in Boston and began studying music at the ...

he orchestrated

Frank Loesser Frank Henry Loesser ( "lesser"; June 29, 1910 – July 28, 1969) was an American songwriter who wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway theatre, Broadway musicals ''Guys and Dolls (musical), Guys and Dolls'' and ''How to Succeed in Business ...

's ''

Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical theater, musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Run ...

''. The dean of musical orchestrators,

Robert Russell Bennett Robert Russell Bennett (June 15, 1894 – August 18, 1981) was an American composer and arranger, best known for his orchestration of many well-known Broadway and Hollywood musicals by other composers such as Irving Berlin, George Gershw ...

, remembered Royal as "one of Broadway's very special arrangers."

Big band days

Royal may have also been known in New York under the name of Ted Klinefelter. He majored in music at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

and completed further studies in Houston and New York, including a correspondence course in the mathematical musical progressions advanced by the influential theorist

Joseph Schillinger Joseph Moiseyevich Schillinger (; (other sources: ) – 23 March 1943) was a composer, music theorist, and music composition, composition teacher who originated the Schillinger System of Musical Composition. He was born in Kharkiv, Kharkov, in the ...

, who had also taught

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned jazz, popular music, popular and classical music. Among his best-known works are the songs "Swan ...

. After floating around as a sideman in various

minstrel A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. The term originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist enter ...

shows, Royal settled down as alto sax in the

Ted Weems Wilfred Theodore Wemyes (September 26, 1901 – May 6, 1963), known professionally as Ted Weems, was an American bandleader and musician. Weems's work in music was recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Biography Born in Pitcai ...

orchestra. He began writing big-band charts for Weems as well as

Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombone, trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-to ...

Paul Whiteman Paul Samuel Whiteman (March 28, 1890 – December 29, 1967) was an American Jazz bandleader, composer, orchestral director, and violinist. As the leader of one of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s and early 193 ...

and

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band to great commercial success from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947, but ...

. By 1935 Royal was hosting his own radio show in New York and fronted an orchestra which often played on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

. However, he may have run into unemployment and financial troubles in the economic downturn of 1937.

Broadway career

In 1938 he started arranging music for theater in Fort Worth, Texas. Returning to New York to work on '' Billy Rose's Aquacade'' for the

World's Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a perio ...

, he came to the attention of Max Dreyfus who ran the in-demand theater orchestration department at Chappell Music. In just two weeks his hard-working team could orchestrate the average musicomedy for the price of $6,000. Dreyfus signed Royal as a house orchestrator and in 1939 he moved into the same building with

, Don Walker and Hans Spialek. His legitimate Broadway start was assisting Spialek and Walker with the orchestration duties for the '' George White Scandals of 1939'', featuring Ella Logan,

Ann Miller Ann Miller (born Johnnie Lucille Collier; April 12, 1923 – January 22, 2004) was an American actress and dancer. She is best remembered for her work in the classical Hollywood cinema musical film, musicals of the 1940s and 1950s. Her early fi ...

and

The Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short-subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical, farce, and slapstick comedy. Six total ...

. Quickly followed high-profile collaborations with Russell Bennett on

Buddy DeSylva George Gard "Buddy" DeSylva (January 27, 1895 – July 11, 1950) was an American songwriter, film producer and record executive. He wrote or co-wrote many popular songs, and along with Johnny Mercer and Glenn Wallichs, he co-founded Capitol R ...

's '' DuBarry Was a Lady'' and

Mike Todd Michael Todd (born Avrom Hirsch Goldbogen; June 22, 1907 – March 22, 1958) was an American theater and film producer, celebrated for his 1956 ''Around the World in 80 Days (1956 film), Around the World in 80 Days'', which won an Academy ...

's '' Mexican Hayride.'' He was also a valued "hot jazz" and swing exponent for the team of orchestrators who worked on '' Annie Get Your Gun'' and

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

's breakthrough '' On the Town''. Steven Suskin has confirmed that Royal was responsible for arranging the show-stopping

Ethel Merman Ethel Merman (born Ethel Agnes Zimmermann; January 16, 1908 – February 15, 1984) was an American singer and actress. Known for her distinctive, powerful voice, and her leading roles in musical theatre, musical theater,Obituary ''Variety Obitua ...

anthem " There's No Business Like Show Business". By 1947 Royal went out on his own and struck it big with his sole credit for the atmospheric orchestrations heard in ''

''. Other principal orchestration credits were for Loesser's first show ''

Where's Charley? ''Where's Charley?'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by George Abbott. The story was based on the 1892 play '' Charley's Aunt'' by Brandon Thomas. The musical debuted on Broadway in 1948 and was revived on Broadway ...

'',

Harold Arlen Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film ' ...

's '' House of Flowers'', the cult classic '' Flahooley'' and '' Mr. Wonderful'', headlining

Sammy Davis Jr. Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, actor, comedian, dancer, and musician. At age two, Davis began his career in Vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the Will Mastin Trio, which t ...

With Charles L. Cooke he came up with the right 1920s sounds for

Sandy Wilson Alexander Galbraith "Sandy" Wilson (19 May 1924 – 27 August 2014) was an English composer and lyricist, best known for his musical '' The Boy Friend'' (1953). Biography Wilson was born in Sale, Cheshire, England, and was educated at Harrow ...

's '' The Boy Friend''. In 1952, he arranged the music for ''

New Faces of 1952 ''New Faces of 1952'', also known as ''Leonard Sillman's New Faces of 1952'', is a 1952 musical revue with songs and comedy skits, produced and conceived by Leonard Sillman. It was the fourth of Sillman's seven ''New Faces'' revues, each intended ...

'' on Broadway, starring

Eartha Kitt Eartha Mae Kitt (née Keith; January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer and actress. She was known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song "Santa Baby" ...

. His arrangements can be heard on the original cast recording album. He also did the orchestrations for the 1957 musical, Rumple.

Final credits

Personal problems, including the death of his only daughter on her honeymoon, started to impinge upon his career and there were fewer assignments in the 1960s. He accepted minor arranging chores from

Irwin Kostal Irwin Kostal (October 1, 1911 – November 23, 1994) was an American musical arranger of films and an orchestrator of Broadway musicals. Biography Born in Chicago, Illinois, Kostal attended Harrison Technical High School, but opted not to at ...

for forgettable television programs and did the scores for a pair of silent film compilations. During the late 1940s, Royal had taught composition and arranging at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

and in his retirement wrote a couple of unfinished textbooks on orchestration, which are in his papers at the Music & Performing Arts Section of the New York Public Library.Ted Royal Scores, Correspondence and Biographical Note
donated 1993 to the New York Public Library.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal, Ted American music arrangers American male composers 1904 births 1981 deaths 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians