Former Grammy Nominee Duncan Sheik Wins Tonys :: Music News :: Articles

The Duncan Sheik-composed rock opera Spring Awakening scored big at Sunday night’s Tony Awards, winning eight of its 11 nominations. Among them were Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Orchestration and Best Original Score – an award Sheik shared with lyricist Steven Sater.

It’s been more than a decade since Sheik was a Grammy nominee for “Barely Breathing,” a tune one must admit was more genuinely heartbreaking than most top 20 singles. So, it makes complete sense for him to write songs for a hormonally charged story about teen-age love and regret. Based on an 1891 Frank Wedekind play (and therefore, set in Germany), Spring Awakening premiered off-Broadway in May 2006 and opened on Broadway in December.

Sheik’s most recent album was 2006’s White Limousine on Zoe Records. Make sure to check out the feature on Spring Awakening in Paste’s August issue.

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