Sam Willmott News

The Fred Ebb Foundation will present the seventeenth annual Fred Ebb Award for aspiring musical theatre songwriters to the team of Isabella Dawis & Tidtaya Sinutoke. The award, named in honor of the late award-winning lyricist Fred Ebb, will be presented on Monday January 3rd, 2022, at a by-invitation-only ceremony at Birdland Jazz Club

MAC is inviting all songwriters to submit their original songs for consideration for one of MAC's two songwriting awards: the Dottie Burman Award and the John Wallowitch Award. Submitters do not need to be MAC members. There is no submission fee. MAC encourages all songwriters to submit their work for consideration.

Each play will be streamed twice. Full festival passes including both weekends, and separate passes for each weekend are available. Limited individual play tickets will be available at a later date.  Learn more about how to purchase tickets here!

La Jolla Playhouse has announced a special engagement of Hasan Minhaj – Experiment Time, written and performed by Hasan Minhaj.

La Jolla Playhouse has announced its return to live, in-person theatre with several exciting upcoming projects. This summer, the Playhouse will offer two on-site events: the Without Walls (WOW) production of A Thousand Ways (Part 2): An Encounter, by 600 Highwaymen, and the 2021 DNA New Works Series.

This month the LCT Spotlight Series will turn its focus to Open Stages, Lincoln Center Theater’s education program and the virtual reimagining of its highly popular annual presentation, A CELEBRATION OF STUDENT SONGS. 

The Fred Ebb Foundation in association with the Roundabout Theatre Company announced today that applications for the seventeenth annual Fred Ebb Award for aspiring musical theatre songwriters are now available. Applications will be accepted from June 1 - June 30, 2021. The winner will be selected in November of 2021.

Kathy Evans, Founding Executive Director of Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, announced that applications are open for the 10th anniversary of hosting retreats for musical theatre writers. There will be nine consecutive weeklong residencies in the Hudson Valley between June 27 and August 29 for nine musical theatre writing teams.

The Johnny Mercer Foundation (JMF) and the American Music Theatre Project (AMTP) at Northwestern University are seeking the nation's most talented young songwriters and writing teams for the 16th annual Johnny Mercer Foundation Songwriters Project. The free weeklong songwriting workshop will take place virtually from June 20-26, 2021.

On Monday night, The Fred Ebb Foundation in association with the Roundabout Theatre Company presented the sixteenth annual Fred Ebb Award for aspiring musical theatre songwriters to the team of Ben Bonnema & Christopher Staskel, and Michael R. Jackson. 

The Fred Ebb Foundation in association with the Roundabout Theatre Company  will present the sixteenth annual Fred Ebb Award for aspiring musical theatre songwriters to the team of Ben Bonnema & Christopher Staskel, and Michael R. Jackson. The award will be presented by Audra McDonald on Monday November 30th at 7pm.

Colt Coeur is welcoming 3 additional artists (playwrights Bleu Beckford Burrell, Adrienne Dawes, and Noelle Viñas) to its Residency Program, with 4 of last year's Residents (directors Tara Elliott, J. Mehr Kaur, and Portia Krieger, and playwright Emma Goidel) opting to extend their Residency through 2021 (due to the unique impact of the Covid-19 pandemic).

Audible has announced  its latest Emerging Playwrights Fund class.

The Manhattan Association of Cabarets (MAC) is inviting all songwriters to submit their original songs for consideration for one of MAC's two songwriting awards: the Dottie Berman Award and the John Wallowitch Award. Submitters do not need to be MAC members.

New York Theatre Barn will host a free live stream of its New Works Series on Wednesday, April 29th, 2020 at 7PM EDT, featuring excerpts from the new musicals Sam's Room and Small Town Story. The 30-minute presentation will also feature the creators of the two new musicals, and an opening performance from Chad Burris (Mean Girls, Frozen).

The Bret Adams and Paul Reisch Foundation has announced the recipients of their special COVID-19 response grants for playwrights, composers, lyricists and librettists who have had a full professional production cancelled, closed, or indefinitely postponed due to the COVID-19 closures.

Wake Up, Daisy! - an original story and marionette production produced by City Parks Foundation - will be making its debut at the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre in Central Park. This original take on Sleeping Beauty is set on New York City's Upper West Side and is perfect for today's modern age, teaching the lessons of friendship, courage and female empowerment. Ideal for families with young children, this show kicks off the new spring season with puppetry and original music beginning March 24 and running through September 20, 2020. The production is recommended for families with children ages 3 - 8. 

Goodspeed announced that Bhangin' It will round out the trio of titles planned for 'The Worklight Series' 2020 season. Bhangin' It is a bold and upbeat musical by recent Kleban Prize winners Mike Lew, Rehana Lew Mirza (2020) and Sam Willmott (2015). This new musical is set in the high stakes world of intercollegiate competitive Bhangra: a traditional Punjabi folk dance morphed into a good ol' American dance-off. When Mary, a biracial student, is booted off her team for not being 'Indian enough,' she and her roommate assemble their own new team. But can Mary whip this ragtag group into shape for Nationals? Brash and joyous, Bhangin' It celebrates the traditions we inherit from yesterday and those we create for tomorrow.

La Jolla Playhouse has announced the final two productions for its 2020/2021 season: the world premieres of to the yellow house, by Kimber Lee (tokyo fish story), directed by former Playhouse Associate Artistic Director Neel Keller (School for Wives, Light Up the Sky), running July 14 - August 9; and Guilty Pleasure, by Paul Rudnick (Jeffrey; screenplays for Sister Act, In & Out), directed by Christopher Ashley (Come From Away, Diana), the Rich Family Artistic Director of La Jolla Playhouse. Produced in association with Diversionary Theatre, Guilty Pleasure will run November 8 - December 6.