2026 Kleban Prize for Musical Theatre winners Eric Price and Phillip Christian Smith were honored at a private February 2 ceremony at ASCAP in NYC. Go inside the special event in the gallery below.

A starry list of theatre favorites were on hand to honor this year's winners, including Santino Fontana (Tootsie), Talia Suskauer (Wicked), Muriam Murithi (Titus Andronicus), Kirsten Childs (The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin), Richard Maltby, Jr. (Closer Than Ever), John Weidman (Assassins), Maury Yeston (Titanic), and Vaibu Mohan (Sati: Goddess Incarnate).

Lyricist Price and librettist Smith were named the honor's recipients earlier this year. Each will receive a $100,000 award paid over two years via The Kleban Foundation. The honor, named for late Chorus Line lyricist Edward Kleban, was established in 1988 via Kleban's will as a way of supporting early career theatre writers. This year's award is the 36th since its inception.

The private event, which featured both performances and remarks, will later be available for streaming via Playbill's YouTube Channel, beginning February 16 at noon ET.

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Photos: 36th Annual Kleban Prize for Musical Theatre Reception

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"The Kleban Prize for Musical Theatre is one of the theatre's most distinctive honors,” said Maltby, president of the Kleban Foundation, in an earlier statement. “Today, Ed Kleban's legacy may be more important than ever in supporting the creators of tomorrow's American musicals. Ed Kleban recognized that theatrical wordsmiths have the hardest time supporting themselves while honing their craft, and so the Kleban awards are specifically for librettists and lyricists. It is notable that the Kleban Prize is not given to a specific work, as other awards are, but instead, it is given for work yet to be written. With a uniquely generous endowment, the Kleban Prize identifies, celebrates and supports promising writing talent in the theatre, just when emerging writers—and established writers—need help the most. Kleban Prize winners are going to define the art form for years to come. The Kleban Foundation is proud to carry on Ed Kleban's enlightened legacy.”

Past winners include Shaina Taub, Lisa Kron, Robert L. Freedman, Steven Lutvak, David Lindsay-Abaire, Jason Robert Brown, John Bucchino, Gretchen Cryer, Michael Korie, Jeff Marx, Robert Lopez, Michael John LaChiusa, Glenn Slater, and John Weidman.

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