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 JONATHAN LARSON PERFORMING ARTS FOUNDATION
February 14, 2008 JONATHAN LARSON PERFORMING ARTS FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES RECIPIENTS OF TWELFTH ANNUAL AWARDS The Board of Trustees of the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation are pleased to announce the Foundation's 2008 awards: Gaby Alter, Susan DiLallo, Joel New, Jason Rhyne, Jeff Thomson and Jordan Mann are each recipients of an individual artist award, as well as an unrestricted cash gift ranging from $5,000 to $10,000. City Theatre in Pittsburgh is the recipient of an organization award in support of a musical theatre project in development, An Infinite Ache by previous individual winners Brendan Milburn and Valerie Vigoda. The awards were presented at a luncheon at the 21 Club on Thursday, February 14, 2008. The event included performances of songs written by 2007 award recipients Matt Gould, Melissa Li and Abe Rybeck, Robert Maddock, J. Oconer Navarro, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and Mike Pettry. Performers at the presentation included Raul Esparza, Norm Lewis, Michael McElroy, Megan McGinnis, Anthony Rapp, Ann Sanders, Amy Spanger, and Mary Testa. This year's recipients were selected from over 200 applicants. Applications were judged with the assistance of a panel comprised of distinguished theatre professionals Joe Calarco, Michael John LaChiusa, David Loud, and Stephen Schwartz. The awards were determined on the basis of merit and need, with particular attention to a unique voice and a dedication to the performing arts profession. Composer/Lyricist GABY ALTER is a graduate of NYU's Musical Theatre Writing Program. His scores have won the 2004 New York Fringe Festival Songwriting Award and the 1998 San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics' Circle Award: His pop/rock musical 29 is being produced this year at the Spirit of Broadway Theatre in Connecticut. He is currently working on BAND GEEKS, about a high school marching band, REALITY!, a musical comedy set on a reality TV show, and songs for a video game, a documentary, and the PBS Pre-School Kid's Block television series. Librettist SUSAN DILALLO is a Kleban Award winner who wrote book/lyrics for the Richard Rodgers Award winning ONCE UPON A TIME IN NEW JERSEY, as well as book for IRON CURTAIN, PINOCCHIO, a Family Musical About Adoption, HEAR OUR SONG and Outer Critics Circle nominee THAT'S LIFE, and both book and lyrics for the Clear Channel/Mattel production of BARBIE LIVE! IN FAIRYTOPIA. Currently Susan is working on the libretto for the Broadway-bound A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN. Composer/Lyricist JOEL NEW is also a bookwriter, arranger, dramaturge, vocal coach, and performer based in New York. He earned his MFA in Musical Theatre Writing from NYU, where he was a Tisch Scholar. Current projects include. STAND CLEAR, a song cycle, and AWAKENING, based on Kate Chopin's novella and written with J. Oconer Navarro and directed by Jen Bender. AWAKENING has been further developed by Margo Lion, Ltd. and recently had a reading starring Julia Murney and Mary Testa. Joel's songs have been performed across the country, most notably in the revue, SOMETHING NEW. Composer/Lyricist JASON RHYNE is a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts and studied musical theatre at Ithaca College. His production credits include the noir one-act THE MACGUFFIN, presented at the 2006 New York Musical Theatre Festival; an adaptation of the children's novel LITTLEJIM, produced at Arizona's Mesa Arts Center, and a trio of original musicals with the North Carolina-based Momentum Theatre Group. Other projects include IN THE ABSENCE OF RALPH and the song cycle PAUL BYRD (both with librettist Jeffiey Simno). Jason is a former member of the BMI Workshop, and is currently at work on the Las Vegas-themed musical HIGH LIFE. Composer/Lyricist team JEFF THOMSON and JORDAN MANN were 2006-2007 Dramatists Guild Fellows. They co-wrote the 2005 Disney/ ASCAP selection THE NEW KID and participated in the first ever Perry Mansfield-Composer Stage Project with Craig Carnelia. Their songs have been featured in the cabaret FACING THE FACTS at the Laurie Beechman Theatre and they are currently adapting the film PUMP UP THE VOLUME as a musical stage property. Their song "When The Words Won't Come" was published in the Fall 2007 issue of "The Dramatist". CITY THEATRE has been described as Pittsburgh's most adventurous theatre, whose mission is to provide an artistic home for the development and production of contemporary plays that engage a diverse audience. Since artistic director Tracy Brigden's first season (2001-D2), City Theatre has commissioned and produced plays by Adam Rapp (Gompers), Christopher Durang (Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge) and Squonk Opera (Bum), and produced world premieres by Jeffiey Hatcher (Mercy of a Storm), Michele Lowe (String of Pearls), and Leslie Ayvazian (Lovely Day). Currently, City Theatre is branching out into the realm of new musical development and is thrilled to be collaborating with Brendan Milburn and Valerie Vigoda on An Infinite Ache, the project for which they are receiving this award. The Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation was created in 1996 to provide financial assistance and encouragement to emerging composers, lyricists and bookwriters, and to nonprofit theatres with a commitment to the development of new musical theatre works written in part or full by past individual Larson grant recipients. The Foundation is one of the few places that individual creative artists in the performing arts can go to apply for direct financial support. All inquiries regarding grant applications may be addressed to the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation, P.O Box 20062, London Terrace Station, New York, NY 10011 or online at www.jlpaf.org.
JONATHAN LARSON PERFORMING ARTS FOUNDATION CELEBRATES TENTH ANNIVERSARY AND PRESENTS ANNUAL AWARDS The Board of Trustees of the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation has announced that this year six individual awards and one organization award were presented at their Tenth Anniversary Awards Luncheon at the 21 Club: Andrew Gerle and Eddie Sugarman, Lance Horne, Joe Iconis, Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk, Alison Loeb, Brendan Milburn and Valerie Vigoda are each recipients of an individual artist award, as well as an unrestricted cash gift ranging from $2,500 to $15,000. The New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater received an organization award in support of PASSING STRANGE, a musical theatre project in development by Mark Stewart and his collaborator Heidi Rodewald. Since their inception in 1996, the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation has presented awards to 58 individuals and 21 organizations.
The awards were presented at a benefit luncheon at the 21 Club by some of the former award recipients, including Chad Beguelin and Matt Sklar (THE WEDDING SINGER), Larry O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin (LEGALLY BLONDE), Peter Foley and Paul Scott Goodman. Daphne Rubin-Vega, currently appearing in THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA at Lincoln Center, emceed the event, which included performances of songs selected from the work of prior year recipients Neil Bartram, Steven Lutvak, Nathan Christensen and Scott Murphy, Michael Cooper and Hyeyoung Kim, and Glenn Slater and Scott Murphy. Performers at the presentation included Ms. Rubin-Vega, Natascia Diaz, Manoel Felciano, Bill Gross, Marla Mindelle, as well as Neil Bartram and Steve Lutvak performing their own material. This year's recipients were selected from a record group of over 230 applicants. Applications were judged with the assistance of a panel of distinguished theatre professionals, which included Joe Calarco, Stephen Schwartz, Barry Singer and Tim Weil. The awards were selected on the basis of merit and need, with particular attention to talent, a unique voice and a dedication to the performing arts profession. Composer/lyricist team Andrew Gerle and Eddie Sugarman wrote the musical MEET JOHN DOE, which was presented in the first New York Musical Theatre Festival and in last fall's NAMT festival, and will have a developmental production in April. Andrew won three Richard Rodgers awards for his musical THE TUTOR (with Maryrose Wood). Eddie wrote the book and lyrics for KING OF THE PLAYGROUND (with Bruce Keisling). Lance Horne is a composer/lyricist who is also a versatile performer, appearing alone and with his band, Lance Horne and the One Night Stands in several venues in New York City, including Joe's Pub and The Cutting Room. Lance wrote the opening songs for the BC/EFA Gypsy of the Year in 204 and 2005, and was one of the composers for the New York Theatre Workshop production last year of SONGS FROM AN UNMADE BED. Joe Iconis recently earned his MFA from NYU’s Tisch Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. His garage-band rock musical, THE BLACK SUITS, is currently being developed at MCC, and he is working on two other projects including PLASTIC1 (with Reza Jacobs and Robert Maddock) and NELSON ROCKS (with Reza Jacobs.
The composer/lyricist team of Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk is currently working on a musical adaptation of the HENRY AND MUDGE for TheatreworksUSA, which will premiere off-Broadway next season. Other recent shows include THE UNAUTHORIZED AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SAMANTHA BROWN (2005 NAMT Songwriters Showcase) and THE WOMAN UPSTAIRS, which was presented in the 2004 New York Musical Theatre Festival. Kate is a graduate of Barnard College and Brian studied at Harvard and NYU.
NEW YORK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL/THE PUBLIC THEATER is one of the nation's foremost theatrical producers of Shakespeare and new work. Each year, they produce a full season of new plays and classics, as well as multi-disciplinary performances in six spaces, including Joe's Pub and Shakespeare at the Delacorte in Central Park. Their award is for development of a new multidisciplinary music-theatre piece base on the music and storytelling of singer/songwriter/cabaret philosopher Stew (Mark Stewart) and his long-time collaborator Heidi Rodewald. After the first workshop at The Public, PASSING STRANGE was further developed at the Sundance Theatre Lab in 2004. Subsequent development at The Public is in preparation for a full production in the 2006-07 season.
The Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation was created in 1996 to provide financial assistance and encouragement to emerging composers, lyricists and bookwriters, and to nonprofit theatres with a commitment to the development of new musical theatre artists. The Foundation is one of the few places that individual creative artists in the performing arts can turn to for direct financial support. Organizations receive project grants in support of the develop of a new musical theatre project; individual awards are presented with no restrictions, except to be put to the best use possible to help further the artist’s creative endeavors. Nancy Kassak Diekmann serves as Executive Director of the Foundation, which currently awards grants on an annual basis
JONATHAN LARSON PERFORMING ARTS FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES APPLICATION DEADLINE Grant applications are now available from the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation, with an September 8th deadline. The goal of the Foundation is to provide encouragement and financial assistance to composers, lyricists, librettists and other creative artists as well as non-profit producing companies. Nancy Kassak Diekmann serves as Executive Director of the Foundation. In February of this year, the Foundation presented a total of $55,000 in awards, to individual artists and theatre companies selected from over 150 applications. The current focus of the Foundation is on artists working in the musical theatre field, and small to medium-sizing producing companies that are developing musical theatre artists and projects. Grant awards are based on merit and need, with particular attention to vision, commitment and dedication to an ongoing career in the performing arts. Average grant awards range from $2,500 to $10,000. Applications will be accepted from both organizations and individuals and may be for either project or general support. Proposals are reviewed by the Foundation staff, Board of Trustees and experts in the field. Award recipients are announced at the Foundation’s annual awards luncheon in February. All inquiries regarding grant applications for the coming year may be addressed to the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation, Inc., P.O. Box 672, Prince Street Station, New York, NY 10012. ANNOUNCES RECIPIENTS OF FIFTH ANNIVERSARY AWARDS The Board of Trustees of the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation have announced that this year $50,000 in awards will be presented to eight individuals and two organizations: John Bucchino,Mindi Dickstein, Daniel Messe, Laurence O’Keefe, Robert Reale, Willie Reale, Scott Richards and Amanda Yesnowitz are the recipients of the individual artist awards, which carry with them an award as well as an unrestricted cash gift ranging from $2,500 to $12,500. The Children’s Theater Company and Theatreworks/USA are the recipients of the organization awards of $5,000 each. The awards were presented at a luncheon in the Gershwin Room at the Rihga Royal Hotel on Thursday, February 8, 2001. Performances at the luncheon were selected from the work of prior year recipients Chad Beguelin and Matt Sklar, Beth Blatt and Jenny Giering, Scott Burkell and Paul Loesel, David Kirshenbaum and David Simpatico. Performers scheduled to take part in the presentation included Tim Gleason, Jeremy Kushnier, Lauren Kennedy, LaChanze, Cindy Marchionda and Idina Menzel. This year’s recipients were selected from over 150 applicants. Applications were judged with the assistance of a panel of distinguished theatre professionals, which included Mary Rodgers Guettel, Joe Mantello, Stephen Schwartz and Barry Singer. The awards were selected on the basis of merit and need, with particular attention to vision, a unique voice and a dedication to the performing arts profession. John Bucchino’s songs have been recorded and performed by Judy Collins, Barbara Cook, Michael Feinstein, Yo-Yo Ma, Liza Minnelli, The Boston Pops, Los Angeles Philharmonic and many other venues including Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl and the White House. He received the 1997 Johnny Mercer Songwriter Award, the 1998 ASCAP Foundation New Horizons Award and the Gilman & Gonzalez-Failla Commendation Award. He has written songs for the musicals THE ARTIST AT 40, URBAN MYTHS and LAVENDER GIRL, which is part of an evening of short musicals called 3HREE, compiled by Harold Prince, which will be produced at the Ahmanson this spring. The team of Mindi Dickstein and Daniel Messe are currently writing a new musical commissioned by Playwrights Horizons. Their THE MYSTERY OF KING TUT has been produced by Theatreworks/USA, and THE MAGIC COOKIE will be presented as apart of 8x10, an evening of short musicals, in a staged reading at New York Theatre workshop in May. Mind and Dan have been writing musicals together since they met in NYU’s Musical Theater Writing Program. Mindi is currently writing lyrics for the Broadway-bound musical LITTLE WOMEN. Laurence O’Keefe is a graduate of Harvard, where he wrote for the Hasty Pudding Theatricals. As a member of the Actors’ Gang in Los Angeles, he wrote music and lyrics for several musicals including BAT BOY, the story of the half-human/half-bat cave-dwelling freak, which will open off-Broadway this spring. His short musical Mice is also part of 3HREE, and he is currently composing the score for Brian Flemming’s “MacArthur Park”, about the assassination of Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Robert and Willie Reale have written a musical called ONCE AROUND THE CITY, which will be presented at Second Stage Theatre this spring. Their A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD will be presented at the Minneapolis Children’s Theater autumn after next. Willie founded the 52nd Street Project, an organization which brings inner-city children together with professional theatre artists. He has written television scripts for ABC, PBS, HBO and Nickelodeon. Scott Richards scored the Kennedy Center’s production of THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE and the world premiere of Lee Blessing’s COBB at Yale Repertory Theatre. With David Schechter and Kirsten Childs, he wrote SUNDIATA! THE LION KING OF MALI, which is currently touring the country for Theatreworks/USA. He is hard at work on CHARLIE CROSSES THE NATION and THE PERFECT BLONDE. He is a graduate of the NYU Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program where he is now a member of the faculty. Amanda Yesnowitz’ cabaret songs have been performed around NYC at The Firebird Café, Upstairs as Rose’s Turn, and at several regional venues. She is currently working on an original piece called BY THE NUMBERS. She is a member of ASCAP and a graduate of the NYU Musical Theatre Writing program. Theatreworks/USA, (Barbara Pasternack, Artistic Director) is committed to producing the highest quality theatre for young audiences, and commissioning talented young composers and lyricists to develop their work. Many of the artists who have received awards from the Foundation began their careers at Theatreworks/USA, and the award they received this yea is for general support, in recognition of their commitment to the support and development of musical theatre artists. The Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis is dedicated to providing the first theatre experiences for children in their community, to nurturing a new generation of theatre audiences with dynamic performances and sophisticated work. They received a grant in support of the development of THE SNOW QUEEN by playwright/composer Ruth MacKenzie. The Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation was created in 1996 to honor Jonathan’s memory by providing financial assistance and encouragement to composers, lyricists, librettists and other creative artists as well as nonprofit producing companies with a commitment to the development of musical theatre artists. Nancy Kassak Diekmann serves as Executive Director of the Foundation, which currently awards grants on an annual basis. |
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