Michael R. Jackson has been named the winner of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his musical A Strange Loop.
The semi-autobiographical piece is the 10th musical to receive the distinction, following Hamilton, Next to Normal, Rent, Sunday in the Park With George, A Chorus Line, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Fiorello!, South Pacific, and Of Thee I Sing.
READ: Michael R. Jackson Breaks Down His A Strange Loop Score
Directed by Stephen Brackett with choreography by Raja Feather Kelly, A Strange Loop played an acclaimed, extended run at Playwrights May 24–July 7, 2019. In addition to the Pulitzer, the musical was named the Best Musical of the 2019–2020 season by the New York Drama Critics Circle and was nominated for the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical (winning two Lucille Lortel Awards for actors Larry Owens and John-Andrew Morrison). The production also recently earned six Drama Desk Award nominations.
Following its world premiere Off-Broadway, A Strange Loop is scheduled to play at D.C.’s Woolly Mammoth theatre in the fall. The original cast album from Yellow Sound Label is now available on Amazon and iTunes.
Two finalists were announced in the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Drama category: Will Arbery's Heroes of the Fourth Turning (which also premiered at Playwrights Horizons) and Soft Power (another semi-autobiographical musical) by playwright David Henry Hwang and composer Jeanine Tesori. Additional 2020 recipients include composer Anthony Davis and librettist Richard Wesley for their opera The Central Park Five, about five young men of color wrongfully convicted of rape in 1989
The announcement ceremony was originally scheduled for April 20 before being moved to May 4 in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Winners and finalists were determined via virtual deliberations on Zoom. The awards luncheon, typically held in May, has also been pushed to the fall.The Pulitzer Prize, honoring Journalism, Letters, and Music in addition to Drama, comes with a $15,000 cash award. Last year's recipients included Jackie Sibblies Drury for her play Fairview.
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Oh Mary!
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