WATCH NOW! Zooming in on the Tony Nominees: Tom Kitt

The Tony Awards are like Christmas in June for theatre lovers, and that makes this year's nominees the reason for the season. 2017-18 was a year or variety, as audiences cheered on mean girls, tall women, and fair ladies alike. Our travel destinations ranged from Bet Hatikva to Bikini Bottom; Arendelle to the Antilles. We've contemplated redemption with Billy, pondered pipe dreams with Hickey, and reexamined the past with Harry- all from the the comfort of a seat on the aisle.

This year's Tony nominees transported us with the magic of theatre, and we're saluting their work by taking a closer look at their extraordinary accomplishments. Today we're studying up on Tom Kitt!

Quick Facts About Tom:

His Nomination: Best Orchestrations

Up Against: John Clancy (Mean Girls), AnnMarie Milazzo & Michael Starobin (Once On This Island), Jamshied Sharifi (The Band's Visit), Jonathan Tunick (Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel)

Did You Know?: Kitt is already a two-time Tony winner for his music and orchestrations of Next to Normal.

Photos by Walter McBride

Tom on his first Broadway show: "The first show I saw was Peter Pan with Sandy Duncan. My grandparents took me. First of all, the flying alone, when you're a child... the imagination... Just to be in a theater and see live performance feels so up-close to art, something that I'll just never forget and I think that moment certainly put me on a path."