The 2019 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album went to cast recording for The Band's Visit. The award was presented at the Grammys' Premiere Ceremony February 10 prior to CBS' primetime broadcast of the 61st annual event.
Sharing the win for The Band's Visit were the album's principal vocalists—Etai Benson, Adam Kantor, Katrina Lenk, and Ari'el Stachel—as well as producer Dean Sharenow and composer David Yazbek; Sharenow and Yazbek took the stage to accept the trophy.
The Band's Visit opened at Broadway's Ethel Barrymore Theatre in November 2017, releasing its cast recording via Ghostlight Records digitally the following month before a February 2018 physical release.
The musical earned ten Tony Awards last year, including Best Musical, Best Score for Yazbek, wins for performers Lenk and Stachel (as well as Tony Shalhoub), and orchestrator Jamshied Sharifi.As previously announced, the musical will play its final Broadway performance April 7. A national tour will launch in June.
Additional theatre favorites to take home Grammys February 10 were composing duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who won Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the movie musical The Greatest Showman. They shared the win with star Hugh Jackman and compilation producers Greg Wells and fellow Dear Evan Hansen Tony winner Alex Lacamoire.
Pasek and Paul were also nominated in Best Song Written for Visual Media for The Greatest Showman's "This Is Me," as were fellow musical theatre duo Ropert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez for Coco's Oscar-winning "Remember Me." The category ultimately went to Lady Gaga for A Star Is Born's breakout hit "Shallow."
