James, Butler & More to Perform at ATW's Jonathan Larson Grants, 3/9

The American Theatre Wing announced today that the 2010 Jonathan Larson® Grants will be presented on Tuesday, March 9, 2010 at the American Airlines Theatre (227 W 42nd Street, 5th Floor) in New York City. This year, Peter Lerman, Daniel Maté, and songwriting team Michael Kooman (music) and Christopher Dimond (book & lyrics) were selected to receive the prestigious grants, totaling $10,000. The evening will include special performances of the recipients' work by Brian d'Arcy James, Kerry Butler and Brad Bass, John Eric Parker, and Ephraim Sykes from Memphis will perform a rarely heard Jonathan Larson song.

The grants, given annually to honor emerging composers, lyricists and book writers, help to continue Tony Award®-winning composer Jonathan Larson's dream of infusing musical theatre with a contemporary, joyful, urban vitality. This year's recipients were selected by an expert panel consisting of Robyn Goodman (Tony® Award-winning Producer, In the Heights), Tom Kitt (Tony® Award-winning Composer, Next to Normal), Kathleen Marshall (Tony® Award-winning Choreographer, The Pajama Game) and Stephen Schwartz (Tony® Award-winning Composer-lyricist, Wicked).

Dedicated to celebrating excellence and supporting theatre, the American Theatre Wing awards the Larson Grants to artists to recognize and showcase their work with no strings attached - except to put it to the best use possible to help further the artist's creative endeavors.

Past recipients of the Larson Grants include Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey (Next to Normal), Chad Beguelin & Matthew Sklar (The Wedding Singer), John Bucchino (A Catered Affair), Laurence O'Keefe (Bat Boy: The Musical) and Michael Korie (Grey Gardens).

As the home for America's largest free online archive of media focused on how theatre is made, in the words of the very people who make it, in the past month, ATW has released a slew of new content, including:

A new online episode of the television program "Working in the Theatre":

· The Play That Changed My Life with Tina Howe (Coastal Disturbances) and Diana Son (Stop Kiss), moderated by Howard Sherman.

o http://americantheatrewing.org/wit/detail/play_changed_my_life_12_09

Five new editions of the podcast "Downstage Center," have made their debut:

· Andre De Shields, two-time Tony nominated actor, writer and director

o http://americantheatrewing.org/downstagecenter/detail/andre_deshields

· Christine Lahti, seen recently in God of Carnage

o http://americantheatrewing.org/downstagecenter/detail/christine_lahti

· John Lee Beatty, Scenic Designer of A View From The Bridge & Time Stands Still

o http://americantheatrewing.org/downstagecenter/detail/john_lee_beatty

· Gregory Mosher, Director of A View From the Bridge

o http://americantheatrewing.org/downstagecenter/detail/gregory_mosher

· Howard Sherman, Executive Director of the American Theatre Wing, interviewed by guest host Richard Thomas

o http://americantheatrewing.org/downstagecenter/detail/howard_sherman

Two editions of the new backstage video podcast, "In The Wings":

· "Aerial Choreographer" featuring Paul Rubin of Wicked, Peter Pan and Curtains

o http://americantheatrewing.org/inthewings/detail/aerial_choreographer

· "Stage Automation Engineer" featuring Chuck Adomanis of The Lion King, Billy Elliott and West Side Story

o http://americantheatrewing.org/inthewings/detail/stage_automation_engineer

ATW also added to its collection:

· Conversations from the SDCF "Masters of the Stage" series, including programs with Andre Bishop and Vinnette Carroll

o http://americantheatrewing.org/sdcfmasters/

· Classic editions of The Broadway League's "This is Broadway" with Richard Kiley, Martin Charnin, Peter Yates, Constance Towers, Tom Courtenay and Liv Ullman

o http://americantheatrewing.org/thisisbroadway/

The American Theatre Wing (Theodore S. Chapin, Chairman, Board of Directors; Howard Sherman, Executive Director) is a not-for-profit organization best known as the creator of the Antoinette Perry "Tony" Awards®, which it presents annually with The Broadway League. In addition to "Downstage Center," "In The Wings," "Working in the Theatre," and a host of other online resources, The Wing sponsors many activities, all dedicated to recognizing excellence and supporting education in theatre. Visitors to americantheatrewing.org can listen to, watch or download from ATW's extensive media collection, and learn more about all of its programming for students, aspiring and working professionals, and audiences who want to learn more about the making of theatre. Follow ATW on www.Facebook.com/TheAmericanTheatreWing and Twitter.com/TheWing.