Chris Nightingale

[b]Christopher "Chris" Nightingale[/b] (b. March 1966) is a British orchestrator, music supervisor, conductor, composer, and keyboardist, prolific both in Broadway musical/theater and Hollywood film industries. He studied organ at [url=/label/4112733]Magdalene College[/url], serving as the musical director for the "[i][url=/artist/3918885]Footlights[/url][/i]" troupe during his [url=/label/280159]Cambridge[/url] tenure. After graduating in 1987, Chris Nightingale worked at the [url=/label/1160201]RSC[/url] for several years. Notable highlights of his stage career include [a=Claude-Michel Schönberg] and [a=Alain Boublil]'s musical [i][m=460628][/i] (1989–94), a modernized adaptation of [url=/artist/369053]Puccini[/url]'s [i]Madama Butterfly[/i] opera set during the Vietnam War era, and [a=Lionel Bart]'s "[i][url=/master/979780]Oliver![/url][/i]" 1994 revival at the [l=London Palladium]. Chris also worked on a 2001 musical by [a=Pet Shop Boys], [i][url=/master/30761]Closer to Heaven[/url][/i], at the [l=Arts Theatre], and [a=Andrew Lloyd Webber]/[a=A.R. Rahman]'s [i][m=1124772][/i] (2002). More recently, Nightingale worked on [i][url=/master/2233048]Matilda: The Musical[/url][/i], which earned him two nominations for the "Best Orchestration" (2013) at Tony Awards and the "Best Musical Theater Album" (2014) at [url=/label/409941]Grammys[/url], and [a=Jack Thorne]'s [i]Christmas Carol[/i] (2021) — winning the Tony Awards in the "Best Original Score" category (one of five awards, along with [url=/artist/1934097]Simon Baker[/url]'s "Best Sound Design," [a=Hugh Vanstone]'s "Best Lighting," and [url=/artist/7296895]Rob Howell[/url]'s 2× for "Best Scenic" and "Best Costume Design.")

Nightingale regularly collaborated with director [b][a=Matthew Warchus][/b]. Chris co-wrote [i][url=/master/1564666]The Lord Of The Rings[/url][/i] musical with [a=A.R. Rahman] and Finnish band [a=Värttinä], premiered in 2008 at [l=Theatre Royal, Drury Lane] in London, composed the soundtrack for his 2014 historical comedy-drama [i][url=/master/898258]Pride[/url][/i], and scored Matthew's [i]Future Conditional[/i] play at [l=The Old Vic] theater in 2015, among others. In addition to stage productions, Chris was a musical supervisor and arranger for [a=Cat Stevens]/[a=Yusuf Islam]'s [i]Moonshadow[/i] UK tour. Over the years, Chris contributed to a handful of Hollywood film productions: from coaching and conducting [a=Madonna], [a=Antonio Banderas], and [a=Jonathan Pryce] on the cast of [url=/artist/84838]Alan Parker[/url]'s 1996 rock-musical [i][url=/master/1191773]Evita[/url][/i] to serving on the music department of [a=Ryan Coogler]'s 2015 sports drama [i][url=/master/1146003]Creed[/url][/i] (the inaugural chapter in the eponymous spin-off series within [a=Sylvester Stallone]'s "[i][url=/artist/1068798]Rocky[/url][/i]" franchise), [url=/artist/9076738]Shane Black[/url]'s neo-noir action comedy [i][url=/master/1355899]The Nice Guys[/url][/i] (2016) with [a=Russell Crowe] and [a=Ryan Gosling], and several installments in [l=Marvel]'s superhero "cinematic Universe," like [i][m=1142418][/i] (2016) starring [a=Benedict Cumberbatch], and [url=/artist/4899273]Coogler[/url]'s [i][m=1417342][/i] (2018).