An orchestrated life

Mike Sciacca

Bruce Coughlin is making it on the Great White Way.

In fact, the part-time Huntington Beach resident is so taking Broadway

by storm that he has garnered his first Tony Award nomination for Best

Orchestrations for “Urinetown the Musical.”

“This is really exciting time for me,” said the 48-year-old, whose

career began as a composer writing instrumental music for the theater.

“It’s thrilling, and I know my folks are really thrilled about this.”

Coughlin’s parents, Bill and Joan, will be watching the Tony

festivities at a party thrown by friends in their Huntington Beach

neighborhood.

“They won’t be here with me on Sunday, but I know how they’ll be

rooting for me from Huntington Beach,” said Coughlin, who said his

interest in music was piqued by his mother.

“Urinetown” has received 10 Tony nominations, including one for Best

Musical.

The American Theatre Wing’s 56th annual Tony Awards will be telecast

Sunday night from Radio City Music Hall.

Coughlin has created the orchestrations for and has arranged many

shows, both on and off Broadway. They include the memorable, “Floyd

Collins,” for which he won a 1996 Obie Award and a 1996 Drama Desk

nomination for Best Orchestration.

Besides “Urinetown the Musical” he is also working on the Grammy

award-winning, “Annie Get your Gun.”

“It’s intense and on-demand type of work, but I’m having a wonderful

time with these shows,” said a busy Coughlin from his East Village home

in New York City.

Coughlin’s other Broadway shows include “The Wild Party,” “On the

Town,” “The Sound of Music,” for which he was a 1998 Drama Desk award

nominee for Best Orchestrations, “Triumph of Love,” “Once Upon A

Mattress,” “The King and I” and “Is There Life After High School?”

He also has 15 off-Broadway shows and three operas to his credit.

In addition, he has worked on CD recordings with such recognized

Broadway stars as Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, Mandy Patinkin, Kristin

Chenoweth, Darius deHaas and Julian Fleisher.

“My job is to take someone else’s music and give it color, texture and

musical shape,” said Coughlin, who went on to described the difference

between an arranger and orchestrator.

“Arranging has to do with the structure of the music and could involve

up to several different aspects,” he explained. “The orchestrator’s main

concern is with color and texture. In theory there is a difference

between these two roles but in reality, an orchestrator is almost always

an arranger as well.”

Coughlin’s work also has appeared on the big screen, as he was the

principal arranger for the Disney epic, “Fantasia 2000.”

An intense work schedule keeps Coughlin mainly on the East Coast.

Still, he gets back to Huntington Beach to visit his parents when he can.

He says he plans on returning to Surf City to see them sometime in

June.

“It will be good to see them,” he said. “Honestly, when I get to

Huntington, I love to hit the T-shirt shops.”

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports and features. He can be reached at (714)

965-7171 or by e-mail at o7 michael.sciacca@latimes.com.

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