Pulitzer Prize winner Michael R. Jackson (A Strange Loop, White Girl in Danger) and the team of Ben Bonnema and Christopher Staskel (One Way) are the winners of the 16th annual Fred Ebb Award for aspiring musical theatre songwriters.
Named in honor of the late, Tony-winning lyricist (Chicago, Cabaret), the awards will be presented by six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald November 30 at 7 PM ET in a virtual ceremony, available to watch at FredEbbFoundation.org.
The Fred Ebb Foundation, in association with the Roundabout Theatre Company, presents the annual honor, which recognizes excellence in musical theatre songwriting for those who have not not yet achieved significant commercial success. The prize includes a $60,000 award plus a one-night showcase of the winner's work produced by the Foundation.
Past winners include John Bucchino (2005), Steve Lutvak and Robert L. Freedman (2006), Peter Mills (2007), Adam Gwon (2008), Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich (2009), Douglas J. Cohen (2010), Jeff Blumenkrantz (2011), Sam Willmott (2012), Michael Kooman and Christopher Dimond (2013), Chris Miller and Nathan Tysen (2014), Stacey Luftig and Phillip Palmer (2015), Thomas Mizer and Curtis Moore (2016), Shaina Taub (2017), Will Reynolds and Eric Price (2018), and Angela Sclafani and Benjamin Velez (2019).
The selection panel includes Foundation Trustee Mitchell S. Bernard; actors Janet Dacal, Natascia Diaz, and Celia Keenan-Bolger; and music director David Loud.
Each year, the Foundation also makes a donation to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
