Finalists Announced for American Harmony Prize

Finalists have been announced for the 2008 American Harmony Prize, a playwriting award sponsored by Stamford, Connecticut’s Curtain Call, Inc., to spotlight new musicals that explore our country’s many ethnic, religious and gender identifications. The second annual American Harmony Prize will showcase a new musical that dramatizes an aspect of the experience of Jewish Americans. “We received terrific submissions this year,” states award coordinator, William Squier. “The level of craft that went into writing the four finalist is uniformly high. And yet, they could be more different. I’m glad I don’t have to decide who wins!” The finalists are:

EVA’S SONG – Book by Angelo Parra, Based on the family stories of Anita Keal. “Eva’s Song” is a one-woman show that weaves lively Yiddish and Russian folk songs from the turn of the century into the poignant true story of two Russian Jews who meet and marry upon arriving in America, only to have their love tested by a handsome, impassioned, young radical. The musical has been performed at the New Yiddish Rep.

LOVE, NY – Book & Lyrics by Michael Ruby, Music & Lyrics by Robert Rokicki. “Love, NY” is an original, Off-Broadway-sized, romantic comedy with a infectious pop-rock score that charts the ups and downs of twenty-something singles living and searching for love in New York City. The musical has been seen at the BMI / Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop and the Golden Fleece Square One Series.

SUMMER OF MY GERMAN SOLDIER – Book & Lyrics by David Brush, Music by Jim Farley. “Summer of My German Soldier” focuses on a twelve-year-old Jewish girl in small town Arkansas who harbors an escaped German POW during World War II with the help of the family’s African-American housekeeper. The “book” musical, based on the young adult novel by Bette Greene, was a finalist for Theatre Building Chicago’s Stages festival and seen in producton at Ohio’s Encore Theater Company.

TAKE ME AMERICA - Book & Lyrics by Bill Nabel, Music by Bob Christianson. “Take Me America” is an earnest ensemble musical, adapted from the documentary film “Well-Founded Fear,” that follows a cross-section of refugees through the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service’s asylum process. The musical has been performed in the Theatre Building Chicago’s Stages festival, the York Theater’s Developmental Reading Series, Penn State’s NU.Musical Theatre Festival, Hells’s Kitchen Musicals and the 2007 Midtown International Theatre Festival.

Each of the finalist will be evaluated on the artistic strengths of its book, music and lyrics, the professional quality of its piano / vocal score and its likely appeal to Fairfield County audiences. The winner will be announced in mid-December and performed as a concert reading in Curtain Call’s Musical Mondays series in February, 2009.

Curtain Call is the non-profit theatre company in residence at The Sterling Farms Theatre Complex, 1349 Newfield Avenue, Stamford, CT, providing year-round live productions of musicals, comedies, dramas, original works and free outdoor summer Shakespeare as well as providing a full curriculum of performing arts based workshops for ages 5 through adult. Voted BEST LOCAL THEATRE GROUP 2005, 2006, 2007 & 2008 by the readers of Fairfield County Weekly.

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