The Kleban Foundation is pleased to announce that the 21st Annual Kleban Prize for the most promising musical theatre lyricist has gone to Adam Gwon and the award for the most promising musical theatre librettist has gone to Michelle Elliott. The 2011 awards will be presented on June 27, 2011, in a private ceremony (by invitation only) at ASCAP.
The Kleban Foundation was established in 1988 under the will of Edward L. Kleban, best known as the Tony® and Pulitzer Prize winning lyricist of the musical A Chorus Line. The will made provision for two annual prizes, each in the amount of $100,000 payable over two years, to be given to the most promising lyricist and librettist in American Musical Theatre. The judges making the final determination this year were Stephen Flaherty, Michael Korie, and David Zippel.
"For two decades, The Kleban Prize has recognized and honored the American Musical Theatre's brightest developing talents," says Tony Award winner
Richard Maltby, Jr, President of the Kleban Foundation. "The Kleban Prize is unique in that it is bestowed not just for an artist's previous achievements, but for the promise of creativity to come. In
Ed Kleban's experience, young composers always seemed able to support themselves in the theatre, but promising lyricists and librettists often had to struggle. This Prize was Kleban's attempt to help promising writers when they needed support most -- when starting out. The Prize has recognized musical theatre artists who went on to create such notable productions as Avenue Q, Grey Gardens, The Wild Party, Parade, Shrek, The Last Five Years, The Little Mermaid, Assassins, The Wedding Singer and Legally Blonde."
Previous recipients of the annual Kleban Prize include
David Lindsay-Abaire (Shrek),
Jason Robert Brown (Parade, The Last Five Years),
John Bucchino (A Catered Affair, It's Only Life),
Gretchen Cryer (I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It On the Road, The Last Sweet Days of Isaac),
Michael Korie (Grey Gardens, Happiness),
Jeff Marx and
Robert Lopez (Avenue Q),
Michael John LaChiusa (See What I Want To See, The Wild Party),
Glenn Slater (The Little Mermaid) and
John Weidman (Pacific Overtures, Road Show, Assassins).
Adam Gwon (2011 Kleban Prize Winner, Most Promising Musical Theatre Lyricist) is a composer/lyricist based in New York City. His musical Ordinary Days enjoyed a sold-out run at Roundabout Underground, followed by productions in London's West End and at theaters across the U.S. His musical The Boy Detective Fails (book: Joe Meno) will premiere at
Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA this fall. Other upcoming projects include: Cloudlands (w/
Octavio Solis), Bernice Bobs Her Hair (with
Julia Jordan) and String (with Sarah Hammond). Honors include: 2008
Fred Ebb Award for excellence in musical theater songwriting, the ASCAP
Harold Adamson Award, the MAC
John Wallowitch Award, and a MAC award nomination for best song, as well as commissions from
Signature Theatre (Arlington),
South Coast Repertory,
Broadway Across America, and the EST/Sloan Project. Recordings: Ordinary Days (
Ghostlight Records). Fellowships: MacDowell Colony,
Dramatists Guild. Education: BFA, NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Adam is a member of ASCAP and the
Dramatists Guild.
www.adamgwon.com
Michelle Elliott (2011 Kleban Prize Winner, Most Promising Musical Theatre Librettist) is a bookwriter/lyricist based in New York City. Her musical Cloaked, written with collaborator
Danny Larsen (music/co-lyrics), was recently awarded a 2011
Jonathan Larson Grant. Cloaked received a workshop production at
CAP 21 in June 2010, and was part of The
Village Theatre's New Works Festival in August 2010. Elliott and Larsen's first musical together, The Yellow Wood, received the 2006
Richard Rodgers Development Award and the 2006
Daryl Roth Award, and was presented as part of the 2007 New York Musical Theatre Festival. The Yellow Wood was also part of the National Alliance of Musical Theatre Festival in October 2008. Elliott was the co-founder and Artistic Director of Frontier Theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she wrote, directed and produced six original musicals. Elliott is a proud member of ASCAP. She studied as a bookwriter/lyricist in NYU's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, and was a recipient of the Tisch Achievement Award. She also holds an M.A. in Directing and a B.A. in Performance. For more information, visit
www.ElliottLarsenMusicals.com.
Submission guidelines and an application for the 2012 Kleban Prize are available at the
New Dramatists website,
www.newdramatists.org.
The postmark deadline for the next competition is September 15, 2011.
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