Adam Gwon Honored with Second Stage Theatre's Donna Perret Rosen Award

Continuing its commitment to nurturing and producing the next generation of musical theatre artists, Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director) has awarded its first annual Donna Perret Rosen Award for excellence in musical theatre to composer/lyricist Adam Gwon. The $10,000 award was established at the off-Broadway company's 2011 gala to honor Second Stage Theatre trustee Donna Perret Rosen in recognition of her long-standing commitment to young artists and new works. The award was chosen by Tony Award winners James Lapine, Susan Stroman, and Jack Viertel.

Composer/lyricist Adam Gwon'S musical Ordinary Days made its New York premiere at Roundabout Theatre Company in 2009, followed by productions in London's West End and around the globe. The musical was recorded by Ghostlight Records. His other musicals include The Boy Detective Fails, Cloudlands, and Bernice Bobs Her Hair.

In addition to the Donna Perret Rosen Award, Adam is the recipient of the Kleban, Ebb, and Loewe awards for excellence in musical theater writing, the ASCAP Harold Adamson Award, and the MAC John Wallowitch Award, as well as commissions from Playwrights Horizons, Signature Theatre (Arlington), South Coast Repertory, Broadway Across America, and the EST/Sloan Project. His songs have been heard in concert at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Joe's Pub, and Ars Nova. Adam has been a fellow at the MacDowell Colony and the Dramatists Guild, is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, and is a member of ASCAP and the Dramatists Guild.

Second Stage Theatre Trustee DONNA PERRET ROSEN is a life-long advocate for music and art and has been on the Board of Second Stage Theatre since 2003. For 23 years, Donna was the director of New Orleans' legendary Galerie Simonne Stern. In addition to Second Stage Theatre, Donna is a Trustee of the Whitney Museum of American Art, Vice-Chairman of the American Friends of the British Museum, Vice-President of the Venetian Heritage Society, and on the Advisory Committee to New Orleans Museum of Art. Ms. Perret Rosen was honored at Second Stage Theatre's 2011 gala, which raised over $1 million dollars for the not-for-profit company.

Founded in 1979 under the leadership of Artistic Director Carole Rothman, Second Stage Theatre produces a diverse range of premieres and new interpretations of America's best Contemporary Theatre, including Tiny Alice and Peter and Jerry by Edward Albee; The Good Times Are Killing Me by Lynda Barry; The Little Dog Laughed by Douglas Carter Beane; Little Murders by Jules Feiffer; The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin; A Soldier's Play by Charles Fuller; Afterbirth: Kathy & Mo's Greatest Hits by Mo Gaffney and Kathy Najimy; Becky Shaw by Gina Gionfriddo; Painting Churches and Coastal Disturbances by Tina Howe; Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants and On the Stem by Ricky Jay; Next to Normal by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey; Living Out by Lisa Loomer; This Is Our Youth and The Waverly Gallery by Kenneth Lonergan; Some Men by Terrence McNally; By the Way, Meet Vera Stark by Lynn Nottage; eurydice by Sarah Ruhl; Everyday Rapture by Dick Scanlan and Sherie Rene Scott; Let Me Down Easy by Anna Deavere Smith; Saturday Night by Stephen Sondheim; Crowns by ReGina Taylor; Uncommon Women and Others by Wendy Wasserstein; Spoils of War by Michael Weller; Before It Hits Home, Jar the Floor and Birdie Blue by Cheryl L. West; Jitney by August Wilson; Lemon Sky, Serenading Louie and Sympathetic Magic by Lanford Wilson; and Metamorphoses and The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci by Mary Zimmerman.

The company's more than 130 citations include the 2010 Pulitzer prize for Next to Normal, the 2009 Tony Awards for Best Score, Best Orchestrations, and Best Actress in a Musical (Alice Ripley) for Next to Normal, the 2007 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play (Julie White, The Little Dog Laughed), 2005 Tony Awards for Best Book of a Musical (Rachel Sheinkin, ...Spelling Bee) and Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Dan Fogler, ...Spelling Bee), 2002 Tony Award for Best Director of a Play (Mary Zimmerman for Metamorphoses), the 2002 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work, 27 Obie Awards, six Outer Critics Circle Awards, two Clarence Derwent Awards, 12 Drama Desk Awards, nine Theatre World Awards, 14 Lucille Lortel Awards, the NY Drama Critics Circle Award and 15 AUDELCO Awards.

In 1999, Second Stage Theatre opened The Tony Kiser Theatre, its state-of-the-art, 296-seat theatre, designed by renowned Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. In 2002, Second Stage launched the "Second Stage Theatre Uptown" series to showcase the work of up and coming artists at the McGinn/Cazale Theatre. The Theatre supports artists through several programs that include residencies, fellowships and commissions, and engages students and community members through education and outreach programs.

Photo Credit: Peter James Zielinski