Composer Michael Thurber Was Once a Janitor; Now He Has 2 Shows Running Simultaneously

It's been a thoroughly rewarding season on Broadway and off for award-winning composer and orchestrator Michael Thurber.

On Broadway, the internationally renowned bass player made his Main Stem debut as an orchestrator, co-writing the orchestrations for the new Bobby Darin biomusical Just in Time, which continues at the Circle in the Square Theatre starring Merrily We Roll Along Tony winner Jonathan Groff. For his first Broadway outing, Thurber and co-orchestrator Andrew Resnick received a 2025 Tony Award nomination for Best Orchestrations; the duo also picked up 2025 Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for their work on the Broadway musical.

Off-Broadway, Thurber wrote the music, lyrics, and orchestrations for the acclaimed new musical Goddess, which is playing an extended engagement through June 15 at the Public Theater. Featuring a book by Saheem Ali鈥攚ith additional book material by James Ijames and direction by Ali鈥攖he original musical is about the Goddess of Music, who comes to Earth to live among humans and find love. Amber Iman and Austin Scott co-star. (An EP of music from Thurber's score, titled Moto Moto Presents Nights in Mobasa, was released in April. Listen .)

Thurber, who made his international debut with his score for Antony and Cleopatra, has composed scores for numerous other Public Theater productions, including the 2021 Shakespeare in the Park adaptation of Merry Wives; and Romeo Y Julieta, a radio play starring Lupita Nyong'o. He has also developed several original musicals with New York Stage & Film, The Eugene O鈥橬eill Theater Center, Joe鈥檚 Pub, The Kimmel Center, Williamstown Theater Festival, and SPACE at Ryder Farm.

Thurber currently tours internationally in a duo with Avery Fisher Grant-winning violinist Tessa Lark. He is also an adjunct faculty member at NYU鈥檚 Clive Davis Institute.

In the interview below for the 半岛体育 series How Did I Get Here鈥攕potlighting not only actors, but directors, designers, musicians, and others who work on and off the stage to create the magic that is live theatre鈥擳hurber reveals how he co-created the Just in Time orchestrations, the 20-year dream he realized this season, and how an injury changed the course of his career.

Where did you train/study?
Michael Thurber: Juilliard for college, Interlochen Arts Academy for high school, which was incredibly formative for me.

Was there a teacher who was particularly impactful/helpful? What made this instructor stand out?
The person who taught me how to play the bass and first told me I had the potential to be a professional was Cindy Schnabel, my public middle-school orchestra teacher. Her belief in me鈥攁nd later, as an adult, her friendship and guidance鈥攊s the reason why I am where I am today. After that, I would say my dear friend Jon Batiste was the best teacher I ever had for learning how to improv and dig into the language of jazz.

Can you detail the duties of an orchestrator before and after a production opens?
Everyone has a different concept/approach, but for me, orchestrating is about "painting" color and depth and emotion into a score. The orchestrations are what really lift the songs into the world of show. They can tell the audience so much鈥攚here they are geographically, what time period they are in, when to laugh, when to cry鈥攖hey bring depth and emotional dimension. Some of this work begins as soon as the composer "releases" songs to the orchestrator to start working on, but for me, the real magic happens once you鈥檙e in tech and you can really see and fully understand the way each song functions in the storytelling of the show. That鈥檚 where I start to get more detailed with how I shape the scope and size of each section and what emotional undertones need to be emphasized in the music.

Christine Cornish, Jonathan Groff, and Julia Grondi in *Just In Time* Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman

What were the challenges of writing the orchestrations for Just in Time? Did you want to stay faithful to the original orchestrations written for Bobby Darin, or did you try to veer away from those?
Andrew [Resnick] and I tried to walk that very line, actually. We tried to honor the original Darin recordings and pay homage to the golden era of big band composers while also making sure the show felt contemporary and "of today." This was a big challenge. The biggest inspiration in achieving this balance was hearing [Jonathan] Groff鈥檚 take on the songs. His voice is so beautiful and warm, and he knows how to carve out every emotional beat in the lyrics; he鈥檚 a master. So we just tried to build a sonic landscape around him that made sense and worked with his voice. The book is also so beautifully crafted and has so much modern, self-aware humor, so we tried to find moments to reference certain synth sounds and drum grooves that feel like 2025.

Since you wrote the orchestrations with Andrew, can you explain how you worked together?
Andrew and I have been close friends for years, so it was a dream to finally do a Broadway show together. Our work together was pretty seamless from the jump because Andrew did such a phenomenal job arranging the music. He did a beautiful job setting up the structure and feel for each song, so we were able to just dive in. Sometimes we would work remotely in different places in the country, and sometimes we would meet up in person, but we would basically divide up the songs for each of us to start on. Then, once we had made our first passes, we would send them to each other and just say, "No ego, the best idea wins. Change whatever you want!" We鈥檇 just go back and forth on every tune for months until we felt like it was all the absolute best we could do.

Austin Scott and Amber Iman in *Goddess* at the Public Theater Joan Marcus

It's a busy season for you with the Off-Broadway premiere of Goddess. What does it mean to you to finally have the show up and running? What are your hopes for the production?
This has definitely been the busiest season of my career so far. I鈥檓 so grateful. Goddess is definitely my baby鈥擨鈥檝e been writing the show with Saheem Ali for 15 years. And it鈥檚 a big lift; I did the music, lyrics and orchestrations, so it was definitely a lot to juggle all at once. I haven鈥檛 slept much since January, but it鈥檚 been beyond worth it. Having my own show at The Public Theater has been a dream of mine since I moved to NYC 20 years ago, so every day feels surreal and exciting. We have high hopes for the future of the show, but I believe in taking things one step at a time. For now, I鈥檓 just beyond thankful that the industry has given me these opportunities this season, and I鈥檓 doing everything I can to give the theatre my absolute best work.

Tell me about a time you almost gave up but didn鈥檛.
When I was at Juilliard, I developed a bad shoulder injury and couldn鈥檛 play at all for a few years. I had to move back in with my parents in the Midwest and leave all of my friends and all of my dreams in NYC. It was a very difficult time. I was depressed and attending a local community college in my hometown. I was sure that my career was over, and I had basically given up. But after a few years, I was determined to get back on the horse. So I began studying composition and arranging on my own. I fell in love with it, and that actually became my artistic calling. Now my whole career is built around composing and orchestrating. So it ended up being one of the best things that has ever happened to me. It's a beautiful alchemy.

What is the most memorable day job you ever had?
My first job out of Juilliard was as the janitor at the DSW shoe store in Union Square. I loved that job so much because no one bothered me, and I could listen to my headphones and study music while I cleaned. The hours were pretty crazy, 5 AM-noon, but it allowed me to go to rehearsals all day and play gigs at night while I was hustling to get my career off the ground.

What advice would you give your younger self or anyone starting out?
For me, there are three important things to focus on if you want to have a life in this industry: 1) Never stop getting better. Focus on the work first and foremost, and push yourself to be one of the best. Always remain a humble student of the craft, and work as hard as you can at it every single day with discipline and seriousness. 2) Be kind to people. 3) Don鈥檛 give up. Ever.

What do you wish you knew starting out that you know now?
It鈥檚 great to have goals, but don鈥檛 get hung up on the timeline of when and how you will achieve those goals. When I was young, I did all the things that you hear of famous people doing, like writing a "future bio" of all the achievements you want to accomplish one day, or writing a big check with a date in the future that you want to cash it on. There鈥檚 nothing wrong with doing this kind of stuff if it makes you feel good, but don鈥檛 get stuck on when and how these things are supposed to happen to you. Because you can鈥檛 control that鈥t all. Just work hard every single day, and stay focused on the things that feel meaningful to you. Don鈥檛 stress about how it looks and the speed at which it鈥檚 happening. Work, work, work. If you do that for enough years, one day you look up and you鈥檙e living that future bio every day.