# Ted Royal > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ted_Royal > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ted_Royal.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Royal > Source revision: 1346682019 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) American orchestrator, conductor and composer **Ted Royal [Dewar]** (6 September 1904, [Skedee, Oklahoma](/source/Skedee%2C_Oklahoma) - 27 March (?) 1981) was an American [orchestrator](/source/Orchestrator), [conductor](/source/Conducting) and [composer](/source/Composer) for [Broadway theatre](/source/Broadway_theatre). He was most active in the 1940s and 1950s, being associated with the very successful original productions of [Lerner and Loewe](/source/Lerner_and_Loewe)'s *[Brigadoon](/source/Brigadoon_(musical))* and *[Paint Your Wagon](/source/Paint_Your_Wagon_(musical))*. Together with [George Bassman](/source/George_Bassman) he orchestrated [Frank Loesser](/source/Frank_Loesser)'s *[Guys and Dolls](/source/Guys_and_Dolls_(musical))*.[1] The dean of musical orchestrators, [Robert Russell Bennett](/source/Robert_Russell_Bennett), remembered Royal as "one of Broadway's very special arrangers."[2] ## Big band days Royal may have also been known in New York under the name of Ted Klinefelter. He majored in music at the [University of Kansas](/source/University_of_Kansas) and completed further studies in Houston and New York, including a correspondence course in the [mathematical musical progressions](/source/Schillinger_system) advanced by the influential theorist [Joseph Schillinger](/source/Joseph_Schillinger), who had also taught [George Gershwin](/source/George_Gershwin). After floating around as a sideman in various [minstrel](/source/Minstrel) shows, Royal settled down as alto sax in the [Ted Weems](/source/Ted_Weems) orchestra. He began writing big-band charts for Weems as well as [Tommy Dorsey](/source/Tommy_Dorsey), [Paul Whiteman](/source/Paul_Whiteman) and [Harry James](/source/Harry_James). By 1935 Royal was hosting his own radio show in New York and fronted an orchestra which often played on [Long Island](/source/Long_Island). However, he may have run into unemployment and financial troubles in the economic downturn of 1937.[3] ## Broadway career In 1938 he started arranging music for theater in Fort Worth, Texas. Returning to New York to work on *[Billy Rose's Aquacade](/source/Billy_Rose's_Aquacade)* for the [World's Fair](/source/1939_New_York_World's_Fair), he came to the attention of [Max Dreyfus](/source/Max_Dreyfus) who ran the in-demand theater orchestration department at [Chappell Music](/source/Chappell_Music). In just two weeks his hard-working team could orchestrate the average musicomedy for the price of $6,000.[4] Dreyfus signed Royal as a house orchestrator and in 1939 he moved into the same building with [Robert Russell Bennett](/source/Robert_Russell_Bennett), [Don Walker](/source/Don_Walker_(orchestrator)) and [Hans Spialek](/source/Hans_Spialek). His legitimate Broadway start was assisting Spialek and Walker with the orchestration duties for the *[George White Scandals of 1939](/source/George_White's_Scandals#1939)*, featuring [Ella Logan](/source/Ella_Logan), [Ann Miller](/source/Ann_Miller) and [The Three Stooges](/source/The_Three_Stooges). Quickly followed high-profile collaborations with Russell Bennett on [Buddy DeSylva](/source/Buddy_DeSylva)'s *[DuBarry Was a Lady](/source/DuBarry_Was_a_Lady)* and [Mike Todd](/source/Mike_Todd)'s *[Mexican Hayride](/source/Mexican_Hayride).* He was also a valued "hot jazz" and [swing](/source/Swing_music) exponent for the team of orchestrators who worked on *[Annie Get Your Gun](/source/Annie_Get_Your_Gun_(musical))* and [Leonard Bernstein](/source/Leonard_Bernstein)'s breakthrough *[On the Town](/source/On_the_Town_(musical))*. Steven Suskin has confirmed that Royal was responsible for arranging the show-stopping [Ethel Merman](/source/Ethel_Merman) anthem "[There's No Business Like Show Business](/source/There's_No_Business_Like_Show_Business)".[5] By 1947 Royal went out on his own and struck it big with his sole credit for the atmospheric orchestrations heard in *[Brigadoon](/source/Brigadoon_(musical))*. Other principal orchestration credits were for Loesser's first show *[Where's Charley?](/source/Where's_Charley%3F)*, [Harold Arlen](/source/Harold_Arlen)'s *[House of Flowers](/source/House_of_Flowers_(musical))*, the cult classic *[Flahooley](/source/Flahooley)* and *[Mr. Wonderful](/source/Mr._Wonderful_(musical))*, headlining [Sammy Davis Jr.](/source/Sammy_Davis_Jr.) With [Charles L. Cooke](/source/Charles_L._Cooke) he came up with the right 1920s sounds for [Sandy Wilson](/source/Sandy_Wilson)'s *[The Boy Friend](/source/The_Boy_Friend_(musical))*.[6] In 1952, he arranged the music for *[New Faces of 1952](/source/New_Faces_of_1952)* on Broadway, starring [Eartha Kitt](/source/Eartha_Kitt). His arrangements can be heard on [the original cast recording album](/source/New_Faces_of_1952#Soundtrack). He also did the orchestrations for the 1957 musical, [Rumple](/source/Rumple_(musical)). ## Final credits Personal problems, including the death of his only daughter on her honeymoon, started to impinge upon his career and there were fewer assignments in the 1960s.[7] He accepted minor arranging chores from [Irwin Kostal](/source/Irwin_Kostal) for forgettable television programs and did the scores for a pair of silent film compilations.[8] During the late 1940s, Royal had taught composition and arranging at the [Juilliard School](/source/Juilliard_School) and in his retirement wrote a couple of unfinished textbooks on orchestration, which are in his papers at the Music & Performing Arts Section of the New York Public Library.[9] ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Bio entry in *The Oxford Companion to American Theater,* 2004. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Robert Russell Bennett (ed. George Joseph Ferencz), *The Broadway Sound*, University of Rochester Press, 1998, p. 181. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** "Business Records, Bankruptcy Proceedings", *The New York Times*, 11 November 1937, p. 46. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** "The Boys That Make the Noise", Music section, *[Time](/source/Time_(magazine))*, 5 July 1943. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Steven Suskin, *The Sound of Broadway Music*, Oxford University Press, New York, 2009, p. 81 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [Internet Broadway Data Base](http://www.ibdb.com) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Suskin, p. 83. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** [Internet Movie Data Base](https://www.imdb.com) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** [Ted Royal Scores, Correspondence and Biographical Note](https://web.archive.org/web/20070712203958/http://www.nypl.org/research/lpa/mus/pdf/MUSROYAL.pdf), donated 1993 to the New York Public Library. ## External links - [Ted Royal](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0747258/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier)) Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF FAST WorldCat National United States Italy Israel Artists MusicBrainz Discography of American Historical Recordings Other SNAC Yale LUX --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ted Royal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Royal) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Royal?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.