Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, as previously reported, will be honored by the American Songbook Association at its fifth annual gala October 6.
The duo will receive a special award presented by five-time Tony winning director-choreographer Susan Stroman, with whom they are working on their newest show, Little Dancer.
Held at 7:30 PM, Ahrens and Flaherty: On the Wheels of a Dream will take place at New York’s Merkin Hall at the Kaufman Music Center. The evening will feature performances by Lillias White, Kate Baldwin, Nikki Renée Daniels, Elizabeth Stanley, Alton Fitzgerald White, Hannah Elless, Robert Anthony Jones, Derek Klena, Ann Kittredge, Janine LaManna, Kecia Lewis, A.J. Shively, Nathan Salstone, and Lili Thomas. Daniel Green will serve as musical director.
Also that night, Tony winner Jamie deRoy will receive the Bill Sensenbrenner Dream Maker Award for her dedication to supporting the performing arts. This award is given annually to a leader in the art and business communities who exhibits a passion for investing in the cultural capital of our youth.
Ahrens and Flaherty, one of the most influential theatrical songwriting teams of their generation, have written Ragtime, Once On This Island, Seussical, My Favorite Year, A Man of No Importance, Dessa Rose, Lucky Stiff, The Glorious Ones, Rock, Knoxville, and the score of Twentieth Century Fox’s animated feature film, Anastasia, which they later adapted into a Broadway musical. In 2014 they received the Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement, and in 2015 they were inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame.
The nonprofit American Songbook Association Inc. seeks to preserve, promote, and advance the legacy of American popular music, the Great American Songbook (classic and new), and the unique art form of cabaret.
