Nassau-Born Composer Jeanine Tesori Wins Awards With New Musical

PORT WASHINGTON, NY — A composer born and raised in Port Washington has written a new musical, and it's getting positive reviews and has already won several awards.

Jeanine Tesori, 61, is one of the most honored female theater composers ever: She has composed five Broadway musicals and received five Tony Award nominations.

The Port Washington School District alumna's newest work, "Kimberly Akimbo" officially opened on Broadway in November, after winning Best Musical from the Drama Desk Awards, Lucille Lortel Awards, and Outer Critics Circle Awards during a run at Linda Gross Theater.

The New York Times called "Kimberly Akimbo" the "season's most moving new musical," and The Washington Post called it "delightful."

The story is of a 1980s-era New Jersey teenager who has a rare aging disorder which makes her look 70 at 15 years old.

Tesori told NPR the story deals with the concepts of aging, mortality, the teenage experience and "grabbing...joy where you can."

Tesori also wrote "Shrek The Musical," "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and Violet."

She grew up in Port Washington with a nurse mother and doctor father, and graduated from Paul D. Schreiber High School. She headed to Barnard to study medicine, but ultimately decided to pursue music.

She told NPR that when she saw her first musicals, she said it felt like "theater was waiting" for her.

"I just wanted to understand what had happened to me that day in that theater that I had watched these people tell this story, and it felt like the world had stopped, and I wanted to be part of that."