Conducting Along with
Alfred Newman and
Glen Roven, Blank was one of the youngest conductors in
Broadway history. He first conducted on Broadway at the age of 22, leading the orchestra as a replacement conductor for
Goodtime Charley and other shows. On the recommendation of
Donald Pippin, he was hired by
Michael Bennett and
Marvin Hamlisch as music director for the International Touring Co. productions of
A Chorus Line and ''
They're Playing Our Song.
and Colette''. In March 1999, Blank conducted the 20th anniversary production of
Sweeney Todd at the
Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, with
Kelsey Grammer and
Christine Baranski. In 2002, he was asked to conduct
Sweeney Todd for the
Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration, as well as a subsequent production for
Wolf Trap Opera. Blank is a regular guest conductor and orchestrator for
Friday Night is Music Night on
BBC Radio 2. He has been associated with the
Olivier Awards for 10 years as a musical supervisor and conductor. He has guest conducted for the
Opera de Toulon, including conducting their production of
Bernstein's
Wonderful Town. Blank was the musical director for
Katie Couric's
Hollywood Hits Broadway and her fund-raising tribute to
West Side Story. In February 2020, he conducted for
Jerry Herman's memorial at the
Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.
Arranging and orchestration Blank has arranged two songs for the
Boston Pops tribute to Jerry Herman, and two songs for
American Idol. He was the conductor and arranger of Jerry Herman's title song for the film ''
Barney's Great Adventure.'' Blank has created orchestrations for
Tommy Tune: White Tie and Tails,
Three Coins in the Fountain,
White Christmas and
Roman Holiday at
The Muny. He orchestrated and arranged
Let the Eagle Fly, a musical about labor organizer
Cesar Chavez. On the request from the composer
Charles Fox, Blank orchestrated the ballet
Zorro, performed by the
San Francisco Ballet. He was the orchestrator for
Barbara Cook’s Christmas
CD Count Your Blessings, as well as
Christine Andreas' CD
Piaf: No Regrets. Blank was also the orchestrator for Jerry Herman's concept recording
Miss Spectacular. In 2012, his orchestrations were performed during ''
Singin' in the Rain'' at the
Palace Theatre, London. In 2019, Blank orchestrated and conducted the music for
FX's
Fosse/Verdon for the composer
Alex Lacamoire. He was the arranger, orchestrator, and conductor for
Dolly Parton's 2020 film,
Christmas On The Square. == Awards and nominations ==