Interview: Composer Lior Rosner on NBC’s ‘Will and Grace’ and Sony Music’s ‘Sugar Plum on the Run’
Composer Lior Rosner has contributed music to projects such as Tom Cruise’s Valkyrie, X-Men: Days of Future Past and the last three seasons of NBC’s Will and Grace. His other most recent project is Sony Classical’s new Sugar Plum fairy tale, Sugar Plum on the Run, featuring narration by Jeremy Irons. Rosner got inspiration for the project by the Christmas season and Tchaikovsky’s well-loved miniature, which he felt could be developed into a longer work. He subsequently added a narrative which tells a story about the adventures of a young fairy. We spoke exclusively with Lior more about the final season of Will and Grace and Sugar Plum on the Run below.
You score Will and Grace alongside Scott Icenogle. What sort of instrumentation do you all find yourselves using?
For the show bumpers piano and percussion. For specialty cues it depends on the show’s need.
How involved is the Will and Grace showrunner with the scoring process? It’s mostly the show creators who decide on which cues to use.
There have been a few different composers since Season 1 of Will and Grace. Did you speak with any of them when beginning this relaunch? No it’s only been Jonathan Wolf who did the original run of the show and I had not been in touch with him.
You worked on X-Men: Apocalypse a few years ago. Can you talk about that experience and how you became involved?
That was fun; I used to work with my friend, John Ottman who is both an editor and a composer. I was writing additional music on some of his scores for a few years and that was a great professional experience.
Jeremy Irons is narrating your latest project Sugar Plum on the Run. His voicing of Scar from The Lion King is pretty legendary. Did his role in that have any influence on you picking him for Sugar Plum on the Run? If not, what made you think of him for this project?
Yes, absolutely. I always loved his performance in The Lion King and also other performances as a narrator like his recording of Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale.
Sugar Plum on the Run is story about the Sugar Plum Fairy from The Nutcracker. Why did you pick the Sugar Plum to focus on in particular? Would you do another installment focusing on any of the other characters?
When I used to listen to the Nutcracker, I always wished that there were more development to that stunning piece of music. Also I think it’s one of the most recognizable pieces of music associated with the holiday season. After moving to the United States you became fascinated with the idea of the Christmas season, hence what inspired this project. Was there other holiday specials or stories, besides The Nutcracker, that were particularly enchanting to you? Mostly the Christmas songs that became a part of the American songbook. I would say that Frank Sinatra’s Christmas albums are some of my favorites.
You graduated from Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. What did you take away from that experience that you applied to Sugar Plum on the Run?
Just in general, the skills I learned as a classical musician is guiding me with all of the musical challenges that I’m faced with. There are basic principals that you learn early on that apply to most of what I’m doing professionally.
Sugar Plum on the Run is available here