Scott Riesett doesn’t get starstruck often, considering he works regularly with the likes of Bette Midler, Harry Connick Jr. and Mariah Carey.
However, he had a few sparkles in his eyes Feb. 4 at the 2024 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.
While he was hoping his third Grammy nomination might finally be the charm, he was content to enjoy the sights and sounds and work on making a few Hollywood business connections.
When the awards part of his three-day L.A. weekend arrived, he said he was a bit stunned “when they called our name” and his team won the music industry’s most prestigious honor for Best Musical Theater Album.
“I was shocked, but obviously thrilled,” said Riesett of winning at the 66th annual event of the Recording Academy of the United States. “I honestly thought someone else would win this year. It’s nice to finally get a ‘W’ though.”
The 1989 graduate of Calvert Hall College High School in Towson reached the pinnacle of the music business as one of the producers of an album for the Broadway production of “Some Like it Hot.”
It was a defining achievement for the former Church of the Nativity parishioner who started his career in New York just hoping to write a few successful advertising jingles.
Riesett’s music career had a humble beginning when he played the drums in the Calvert Hall marching band and he worked the soundboard with local teenage bands in the late 1980s. He dabbled in music production as an undergraduate at James Madison University and worked during semester breaks at a Baltimore advertising agency.
Of course, for someone from a hometown often referred to as “Smalltimore,” there was a Baltimore connection to his first big break while he was working in a “jingle house” in New York City.
Riesett met and worked with composer and lyricist Marc Shaiman when Shaiman needed studio space while working on a project in New York. Riesett later reconnected and was hired by Shaiman when the composer was putting together “Hairspray,” which was adapted from Baltimore native John Waters’ campy original movie production. Waters coincidentally attended high school for a couple years at Calvert Hall with Riesett’s father, Don, a noted Baltimore advertising executive.
Since then, Riesett has worked with some of the best entertainment professionals in the world. He’s currently working on a revival of The Who’s theatrical production of “Tommy” and on a Britney Spears project.
He said being a music producer is “basically, shepherding a project from the beginning to the end.” He’s involved in everything from finding a record label, figuring out the creative direction, recording the music, making sure recording time is optimized and figuring out the budget for the project. He also has a hand in the creative oversight and what platforms to use if there is an album involved – streaming, CD or vinyl.
Sometimes he’s working on two to three projects at a time and it could be in film, television or theater in addition to recording.
“I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t have a passion for it,” he said. “You know what they say, ‘If you love what you do, it’s not work.’”
During his nearly 30 years in the music industry, he has worked with an A-list of artists and actors. The list includes Jennifer Hudson, Ariana Grande, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Emily Blunt, John Mayer, Martin Short, Kristin Chenoweth, Bernadette Peters, Liza Minnelli, Anjelica Huston and Nathan Lane.
He said the stars aren’t as tough to work with as they are often portrayed.
Riesett said he particularly loves working with Connick, who he describes as “down-to-earth,” and he said Midler was an “absolute blast” with whom to collaborate.
In addition to “Some Like it Hot,” Broadway theater productions he has helped spearhead include “Almost Famous,” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “Ain’t Too Proud” and “Flying Over Sunset.”
He’s also had television and film production credits for “Schmigadoon!,” “Mary Poppins Returns,” “Grease Live,” “Hocus Pocus 2,” “Smash,” “Up Here,” and “Hawkeye.”
Several of those productions were nominated for Emmys or Grammys. His two earlier Grammy nominations were for “Ain’t too Proud” and “Schmigadoon!”
Riesett lives in Maplewood, N.J., with wife Mary, a 1988 graduate of now-closed Institute of Notre Dame, and daughter Olivia, 19, and son Zachary, 16. The Riesetts are parishioners of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Boonton, N.J., and both children attend Catholic schools.
Others included with the Grammy victory were principal vocalists Christian Borle, J. Harrison Ghee, Adrianna Hicks and Natasha Yvette Williams; producers Mary-Mitchell Campbell, Bryan Carter, Charlie Rosen and Shaiman (also composer and lyricist from original Broadway cast); and lyricist Scott Wittman.
Riesett, who has a business degree from James Madison and a master’s in music marketing from the University of Miami, said he was glad to have such a great educational foundation from Calvert Hall. He followed in the footsteps of his father, grandfather and several uncles at the school operated by the Christian Brothers. His brother Pete, an accomplished photographer, is also a Calvert Hall alum.
The Grammy news was shared with current Calvert Hall students for inspiration the morning after the ceremony.
“It is an incredible accomplishment and I made sure I announced this achievement to the band students the next morning, just letting them know what a band alumni had accomplished,” said Brian Ecton, chairman of the fine arts department at Calvert Hall. “It can be very motivational to our current students seeing what other ‘Hallmen’ musicians have been able to achieve both in and outside of music. I do try to share as many of those success stories and achievements to both students and parents.
“At Calvert Hall, we use music as the vehicle to develop great young men who value hard work, self-discipline, teamwork and respect for others and oneself.”
Riesett certainly fits the bill.
“It’s a nice little acknowledgement of all the hard work,” he said of his Grammy.
Email Gerry Jackson at gjackson@CatholicReview.org
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