The Ziegfeld Club Extends Deadline for 2016 Billie Burke Ziegfeld Award

The Ziegfeld Club has announced that applications for the 2016 Billie Burke Ziegfeld Award, which will provide a grant of $10,000 and a year of professional mentorship to an emerging female composer or composer/lyricist, will now be accepted through September 9, 2016.

Candidates who compellingly demonstrate financial need, professional initiative, and outstanding artistic promise in musical theatre can apply for the award online at www.theziegfeldclubinc.com/award-submissions.

One award recipient and two honorable mentions will be chosen by a panel of theater professionals and honored in a ceremony at the New Amsterdam Theatre in November. The recipient of last year's inaugural award was Masi Asare, who received mentorship from Tony Award-winning composer Jeanine Tesori and Tony Award-winning producer Daryl Roth, in addition to the cash prize.

Actress Billie Burke originally founded The Ziegfeld Club in 1936, to honor her late husband, the musical theatre impresario and producer Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., and provide support for Ziegfeld Girls who had fallen on hard times. Ziegfeld prided himself on cultivating the careers of unknown performers, and today, The Ziegfeld Club aims to continue his legacy through supporting new work by women in musical theatre. The Ziegfeld Club also maintains archives of many unique items of American theatre, including original programs, sheet music, personal correspondence and costumes, as well as portraits of Ziegfeld Girls.

The Billie Burke Ziegfeld Award was inspired by the lack of female composers being produced on Broadway today, with women having represented only 14% of composers, 9% of lyricists, and 7% of music directors and conductors in the 2014-15 Broadway season.

For more information, visit www.theziegfeldclubinc.com.