John McDaniel

Conductor, pianist, composer, record producer, Grammy and two-time Emmy Award-winner, John McDaniel was seen leading the band daily on The Rosie O’Donnell Show for its entire six year run. He wrote the theme song and received five Emmy nominations for Outstanding Music Direction and Composition. On the show, he worked with such artists as Tony Bennett, Dick Van Dyke, Neil Diamond, Dolly Parton, Liza Minnelli, Barry Manilow, Chaka Kahn and Madonna.

His association with Rosie dates back to 1994 when he conducted the Broadway revival of Grease, in which Rosie played Rizzo. This production, for which McDaniel also created new vocal and dance arrangements, went on to become Broadway’s longest running revival. Stars throughout its run included Brooke Shields, Jon Secada, Sheena Easton, Chubby Checker and Jennifer Holliday.

Mr. McDaniel was the supervising Music Director of the recent Broadway revival of Annie Get Your Gun, starring Bernadette Peters (and subsequently Reba McEntire), which won the 1999 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical and for which he received his Grammy Award as producer for Best Musical Show Album. He also was the supervising Music Director for Boy George’s Taboo on Broadway in 2003. He conducted the smash hit Chicago on Broadway, the 1993 reunion of the original Broadway cast of Company in concert at Lincoln Center, the U.S. tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Starlight Express, off-Broadway’s Blame It On the Movies, as well as solo performances for such esteemed artists as Cab Calloway, Shirley MacLaine, George Burns, Frederica von Stade and Al Jarreau. Mr. McDaniel also arranged the show Patti LuPone on Broadway. He has accompanied Ms. LuPone as conductor for her appearances with the San Francisco Symphony, Charlotte Symphony and the Ann Arbor Symphony.  He has been a featured pops conductor for the Milwaukee Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony and the Utah Symphony orchestras as well as multiple return engagements for the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Indianapolis Symphony and his hometown St. Louis Symphony.

Additional arranging credits include Annie Get Your Gun, Taboo, the revival of Applause, directed by Gene Saks and choreographed by Ann Reinking, and Busker Alley, for which Mr. McDaniel also conducted the pre-Broadway tour, starring Tommy Tune with music by the Sherman Brothers. In 1989, he created arrangements for How Do You Keep the Music Playing?, a retrospective on the lyrics of Alan and Marilyn Bergman, performed at the Coast Playhouse in Hollywood. He also arranged music for the Tony Awards in 1997, 1998 and 2000. His most recent arranging and conducting credits for television specials include A Rosie Christmas for ABC, starring Celine Dion and Marc Anthony, and the Friar’s Roasts of Jerry Stiller, Rob Reiner, Hugh Hefner and Chevy Chase, all for Comedy Central.

In 2001, Mr. McDaniel produced and conducted a national television commercial in the wake of 9/11 to promote tourism in New York City starring Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Michele Lee and a host of other Broadway stars.

Mr. McDaniel served as Resident Music Director of the Long Beach Civic Light Opera for several seasons conducting such shows as Into the Woods (starring Leslie Uggams), Pal Joey (starring Elaine Stritch and Dixie Carter), Company (starring Carol Burnett), Queen of the Stardust Ballroom (starring Tyne Daly) and Chicago (starring Juliet Prowse and Bebe Neuwirth).

In 2003, Mr. McDaniel produced and conducted a new CD, The Maury Yeston Songbook, for PS Classics featuring Tony Award winners Betty Buckley, Sutton Foster and Christine Ebersole among many others. Mr. McDaniel has recorded three solo CD’s, John McDaniel at the Piano: Broadway, John McDaniel at the Piano: Christmas, and John McDaniel at the Piano: Compositions. His most recent release is: John McDaniel Live at Joe’s Pub. Other recording credits include the Broadway cast album for the revival of Annie Get Your Gun on Angel Records, the new Broadway cast recording of Grease on the RCA/Victor label, Patti LuPone Live! on RCA/Victor, as well as Davis Gaines’ release, Against the Tide, on LAP Records. He is the recipient of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for his music direction of Chicago, as well as multiple Drama Logue awards. Mr. McDaniel received the Board of Director’s Award from the Manhattan Association of Cabaret in 2000. In 2002, Mr. McDaniel was elected to The Television Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Board of Governors.

A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Mr. McDaniel first studied piano with his mother Jane, and earned a BFA degree in Drama from Carnegie Mellon.

For the latest news on John McDaniel, visit his official website, www.johnmcdaniel.com.