John Bucchino Wins First Annual Fred Ebb Award

By: Nov. 29, 2005
LIZA MINNELLI
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Presented by The Fred Ebb Foundation and The Roundabout Theatre Company, the first annual Fred Ebb Award was given to cabaret favorite and rising musical theatre composer John Bucchino on November 29th at The American Airlines Theatre Penthouse Lounge.

The Fred Ebb Award, which bears the name of the great lyricist and librettist (Cabaret, Chicago, Zorba, Kiss of the Spider Woman) who passed away last year, recognizes "excellence in musical theatre songwriting by a lyricist, composer, or songwriting team that has not yet achieved significant commercial success."  The award comes with a $50,000 prize.

While composer/lyricist Bucchino, who is perhaps best-known for his cabaret standard "Grateful," has not yet had a major hit show, he has been a respected and popular songwriter for years.  Musicals for which he has written songs include The Artist at 40, Urban Myths, and Lavender Girl; the latter is a one-act piece that was compiled by Hal Prince for the musical 3hree, which was produced in Philadelphia and L.A.  Bucchino recently developed a musical revue called It's Only Life with director Daisy Prince, and is collaborating with Harvey Fierstein on the new musical A Catered Affair.  Bucchino, whose songs have been interpreted by artists such as Patti LuPone, Michael Feinstein and Liza Minnelli, also wrote songs for the film Joseph: King of Dreams; his albums include and Grateful, The Songs Of John Bucchino, Solitude Lessons and On Richard Rodgers' Piano.

Director Scott Ellis, lyricist-composer Sheldon Harnick , playwright-producer Tim Pinckney, producer Arthur Whitelaw and Foundation Trustee Mitchell S. Bernard comprised the panel of judges who looked over 390 applications from national and international composers and lyricists.  Submissions were accepted from May 1 through June 30, 2005.

For applications and guidelines for The Fred Ebb Award, visit www.FredEbbFoundation.org.

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