Agoura Hills composer nominated for three Emmys

MUSIC TO HIS EARS-Composer Jeff Beal was surprised to learn of his three Emmy Award nominations. Beal has already brought home two of the golden lady statuettes. The Creative Arts Emmy Award winners will be announced on Aug. 19. One Emmy nomination is a crowning achievement for most artists, but composer Jeff Beal landed in a class by himself with three nominations for the Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

The Creative Arts Emmy Awards program will air on the E! Channel on Sat., Aug. 19. The Primetime Emmy Awards will be broadcast on NBC the following week, Sun., Aug. 27. Held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, both programs are part of the 58th annual Emmy Awards.

Beal, 42, is a contender for Outstanding Music Composition For a Series (HBO's "Rome"), Outstanding Music Composition For a Miniseries, Movie or Special (Hallmark's "The Water is Wide), and Outstanding Main Title Theme Music ("Rome").

According to Emmy rules, a composer can only be entered for nomination once per category, even if the composer scores several works.

Beal was in Italy visiting the "Rome" set when he checked out the Emmy nomination pages online.

"I found my name one time, and said (to my family), . . . 'look, I got another . . .then another,'" Beal said. "I was really thrilled."

Although Beal was overwhelmed to receive three nominations at once, out of only five music categories, he already has two Emmys showcased at his Old Agoura home.

Winning the winged woman statuette for the main title theme of the hit television show "Monk," Beal said, was an "especially cool moment" since his theme song was replaced after the first episode by a score by Randy Newman.

He also earned an Emmy award for a documentary on the 2002 Winter Olympics, "Peggy and Dorothy."

Beal recently completed work on TNT's "Nightmares and Dreamscapes," a special eightpart series adapted from author Stephen King's short stories.

He wrote eight separate compositions for the series, but his "tribal, orchestral" score in the premiere episode, "Battleground," transcended background music and became an integral plot-moving device that propelled the unfolding horror tale without dialogue from the actors. The show starred William Hurt. Beal's music augmented the

mounting horror of a coldhearted killer who murders a toy company CEO, and is then attacked by an army of toy soldiers.

"It had a fable, myth-like quality," Beal said of the first "Nightmares and Dreamscapes" music, which eerily underscored the psychological state of the protagonist, conveying the idea of exerting, then losing, control.

An eclectic composer, Beal infused the episode "The Fifth Quarter" with a gothic rock score, and jazz dominated the musical score for "Umney's Last Case," starring William H. Macy.

In addition to scoring the second season of "Rome," Beal is working on the new ABC television show "Ugly Betty."

Beal's public relations representative, Tom Kidd of Costa Communications, said Beal will score three feature films this year, including Academy Award-winning director Jessica Yu's documentary "Protagonist," and three features: "The Situation," about the Iraq war, "He Was a Quiet Man," and "Where God Left His Shoes."

Beal lives with his wife, Joan, an accomplished opera singer, and son, Henry, who also sings professionally.

Beal joked that he was honored to be nominated in three Emmy categories, but worried that he had three chances to hear his name called and three chances to face defeat.

"I have to leave it up to the Emmy gods," Beal said. "I will just have a good time no matter what."