For Composer Justin Levine, Working on The Outsiders Takes Him Back to Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

For composer Justin Levine, working on The Outsiders is a full circle moment in multiple ways. He's currently up for three Tony Awards: Best Book of a Musical alongside collaborator Adam Rapp, Best Original Score with Jamestown Revival, and Best Orchestrations with Matt Hinkley and Jamestown Revival.

"I am someone who's driven by what excites me, and what I've never done before, or something that I don't understand," Levine says. "I think in a way, I've always tried to follow that kind of gut impulse. So in the case of [The Outsiders], this was one of my favorite books growing up, and so it really just felt like such a pure return to my inner child in a lot of ways."

Levine has worked as a lyricist, music supervisor, orchestrator, and arranger on multiple Broadway shows over the years, including Moulin Rouge! (for which he received a 2020 Tony Award for Best Orchestrations). From his Broadway debut to receiving his second, third, and fourth Tony nominations this year, Levine said there were many people who helped him along the way.

"I can think of every job I've ever had, and the people who guided me through or who challenged me," Levine says. "A name that comes to mind is Michael Friedman. Michael wrote Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, which was my Broadway debut as a music director, and as an actor and as an orchestrator. I remember when we first started working on that, I thought he was so hard on me and he just had a million notes for me every single day. I just remember that point at which I realized how much he was making me the best version of myself, and then when I would do other shows, the way he would support me through that. And to be at the Jacobs Theatre again, which is where Bloody Bloody was, to be doing The Outsiders there is incredible."

And below, see Levine share a heartwarming moment with fellow Tony nominee Amber Iman, who credits Levine with giving her her first New York acting gig.

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The 77th Annual Tony Awards are set for June 16 at Lincoln Center's David H. Koch Theater. The evening will kick off with The Tony Awards: Act One, streaming for free on Pluto TV. Details are to be announced. The 77th Annual Tony Awards will follow beginning at 8 PM ET, broadcasting live on CBS (check local listings) and streaming live (for premium-level subscribers) via Paramount+. All Paramount+ subscribers will have on demand access to the broadcast beginning June 17. Stage and screen star Ariana DeBose will be back for the third consecutive year to host.

Visit Playbill.com/Tonys for more.