Education
He attended Edison Intermediate School and graduated from Westfield High School in 1991. He graduated with honors in 1991 from the Juilliard School Pre-College Division as a composition major. He then studied at New York University from 1991-1995.
Career
A native of Westfield, New Jersey, Sklar is the middle child of Doctor Talbot Sklar, a pediatric dentist, and Susan Sklar. He was active in the high school"s music and drama programs, and also participated in the Westfield Summer Workshop. Sklar credits his start in composing to his Music Teacher, Kristine Smith-Morasso at Edison, who asked him to write a song for his 8th grade graduation.
On a whim, he sent the song to Walt Disney Productions, which recorded it for the Mickey Mouse Club.
His piece Symphonics, for full orchestra, was premiered at Lincoln Center by the Juilliard Pre-College Orchestra, conducted by Sklar. Work He has been a pianist, conductor, and dance music arranger for many productions including Shrek, 42nd Street, Mission Saigon, Les Misérables, Nine and Caroline, or Change.
He has been working on Broadway since the age of eighteen. He made his Broadway debut as a composer for the new musical The Wedding Singer, with Chad Beguelin writing the lyrics.
He also composed the music for the musical Elf, which broke box office records five of the nine weeks of its limited engagement on Broadway at the First Rate (at Lloyd's) Hirschfeld Theatre in 2010-2011, and returned to Broadway in the 2012-2013 holiday season.
Sklar co-produced the original Broadway cast albums for both shows. He has written his own original musicals, which include The Rhythm Club (Signature Theatre, 2000), Judas and Maine (2009), and Wicked City (1997). He composed the music for a new musical, Gotta Dance, with lyrics by Nell Benjamin and the book by Chad Beguelin and Bob Martin.
Additional music is by the late Marvin Hamlisch.
Directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, the musical premiered at the Bank of America Theatre in Chicago on December 13, 2015, running through January 17, 2016. lieutenant is expected to open on Broadway in the Fall of 2016.