School of Theatre Music Director Nominated for Kevin Kline Award

February 26, 2008

Dan Riddle, music director in the Penn State School of Theatre’s musical theatre program, has been nominated for the Kevin Kline Award for Outstanding Musical Direction for Les Misérables, which he music directed at St. Louis’ Muny in 2007. The Third Annual Kevin Kline Awards recognize outstanding achievement in professional theatre in the Greater St. Louis area and are named in honor of St. Louis’ own Tony and Academy Award winner Kevin Kline.

The production, presented in the nation's oldest and largest outdoor theatre, featured an onstage ensemble of 89, as well as 40 musicians in the orchestra pit. “I felt like I was conducting Mahler’s 8th Symphony,” said Riddle. “The mammoth size of this production well suited the epic nature of the piece. What sets Les Mis apart from the other ‘mega-musicals’ is the masterful story, as well as the sublime craft of the creative team in bringing that story to the stage.”

Riddle is in his third year at Penn State. Educated at The Julliard School, he has appeared as concerto soloist with the orchestras of Dallas, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Monte Carlo and Cairo, Egypt, among others. On Broadway he has conducted Les Misérables, Titanic, A Class Act, Oklahoma, Into the Woods, Mamma Mia, Bombay Dreams and The Light in the Piazza. This fall he will direct a national tour of Les Misérables that will play at Wolftrap, Kansas City Starlight Theatre and the Fox Theatre in Atlanta.

Contact: Flora W. Marynak, fwm1@psu.edu