In 1985, Nurock composed a jazz musical combining many of his prior interests. Mowgli, based on Kipling's Jungle Books, was written in collaboration with legendary director Tom O'Horgan and lyricist C.J. Ellis. The score blends jazz harmonies, scat singing, animal sounds, lyrical Broadway melodies and world-music elements. Mowgli was produced by the American Music-Theater Festival in Philadelphia and the Judith Anderson Theater in New York.
In the ‘70’s-80’s, Nurock composed dance scores in collaboration with choreographers Roland Petit, Anna Halprin, Daniel Nagrin, Louis Falco, Kathryn Posin, and Judith Marcuse. He composed numerous "incidental" scores to B'way and off-B'way plays by Joyce Carol Oates, Arthur Laurents and others, in first productions at NY Shakespeare Festival, Yale Repertory Theater, Circle-in-the-Square, Ensemble Studio Theater, &c.
In the ‘70’s & ‘80’s, Nurock’s pop arrangements accompanied Bette Midler, James Taylor, Judy Collins and a Woody Allen film. He orchestrated or conducted the Broadway productions of Hair, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Salvation, Shelter, Madwoman of Central Park West, and Three Musketeers. His orchestrations for the musical Working by Studs Terkel and Stephen Schwartz were recently re-issued on CD by Fynsworth Alley [FA 302 062 1142]. Also re-issued: the original cast album of Salvation, arr/cond by Nurock, on Angel [ZDM 72435 6517028]. Nurock orch’d the Kennedy Center production of Nat & Cannonball Adderley’s Shout Up A Morning and conducted the video production of the original cast of Purlie, with Melba Moore, Robert Guillaume and Linda Hopkins.
In 1988, Nurock left theater and dance to dedicate himself exclusively to jazz and concert music.
