Harold Wheeler, Broadway Orchestrator Behind The Wiz and Dreamgirls, Dies at 82

Harold Wheeler, the celebrated Broadway orchestrator, arranger and music director whose work shaped productions including The Wiz, Dreamgirls, Hairspray and Ain't Too Proud, has died. The news was confirmed by Broadway producer Lamar Richardson. He was 82.

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Wheeler began his career working for Burt Bacharach in the 1960s, becoming the first Black music director of a major white pop act during the era of music industry desegregation. His Broadway debut came in 1968 as music director and dance arranger for Promises, Promises, launching a stage career that spanned more than five decades.

Wheeler amassed an extensive list of Broadway credits, serving as orchestrator, arranger and music director on productions including Coco, Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Tap Dance Kid, The Life, Side Show, Swing!, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Lennon and The Full Monty, which is being revived this spring. He earned seven Tony Award nominations for Best Orchestrations, including for his acclaimed work on The Wiz and Dreamgirls.

In 2019, Wheeler received the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. On Broadway.com’s Live at Five, Wheeler recalled the moment he found out he was being honored. "I got a phone call a Sunday, a week before the official announcement came out," Wheeler told Broadway.com Editor-in-Chief Paul Wontorek. "I picked it up and it was the chairman of the American Theatre Wing saying I'm receiving the award and then there was silence on my end. They put Kenny Leon on, who is also on the committee and a friend, and I still haven't uttered a word. Kenny would not play a joke on me, so that's how I knew it was real. It's such an honor because I don't do this for any awards, I do it because I love it. To be recognized means the world to me."

Beyond Broadway, Wheeler enjoyed a distinguished career as a conductor, arranger and composer. He served as music director for the first 17 seasons of ABC's Dancing with the Stars, led the orchestra for the 76th Academy Awards and returned as arranger for the 79th ceremony. His collaborators included Nina Simone, Bruce Springsteen, Tony Orlando and Bernard Purdie, and he composed the score for more than 1,200 episodes of the daytime drama All My Children.

Wheeler is survived by his wife, actor Hattie Winston, their daughters, Marian and Samantha and his grandchildren.