The KCACTF Musical Theatre Award
photo by Susan Shaffer
The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival brings the Musical Theatre Award to faculty and college and university students. The composer, lyricist, librettist, and producing institution of the award-recipient musical will receive the
following:
- $500 for music
- $500 for lyrics
- $500 for book
- O’Neill Music Theatre Conference Fellowship. The creative team will have the opportunity to be in residence at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut, as official observers. During a two-week fellowship at the Conference (Late June into early July), the team will have the opportunity to write, participate in master classes, observe new music theatre works by noted artists in development and to have professional development seminars with the Conference artistic staff. The Fellowship provides travel, room, board, and tuition for the residency.
- Dramatists Guild Award. The Dramatists Guild Award provides the creative team with active membership in the Guild.
Rules and Regulations
1. The musical must be entered in the KCACTF Michael Kanin Playwriting Awards Program.
2. The musical must be original and copyrighted.
3. The writing team (composer, lyricist, librettist) may be faculty and/or students; the students must fulfill the eligibility requirements as set forth in rule 5 for the Michael Kanin Playwriting Awards Program.
4. The play must be produced by a college or university or, at minimum, publicly presented in a “rehearsed” or “staged reading” format following a significant development process. The play must comply with the guidelines for scripts entered in the KCACTF Michael Kanin Playwriting Program.
5. A panel of artists from the field, selected by KCACTF, will make the final determination as to the award recipients. All collaborators agree to send the following entry materials by December 1:
- A completed manuscript of the book, lyrics, and the score of the music;
- A professional-quality recording of the score either in CD, via web-link , or MP3 recordings (or variants.)
- A professional-quality recording of the score.
For other questions, refer to Rules and Procedures for the Michael Kanin Playwriting Awards Program.
following:
- $500 for music
- $500 for lyrics
- $500 for book
- O’Neill Music Theatre Conference Fellowship. The creative team will have the opportunity to be in residence at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut, as official observers. During a two-week fellowship at the Conference (Late June into early July), the team will have the opportunity to write, participate in master classes, observe new music theatre works by noted artists in development and to have professional development seminars with the Conference artistic staff. The Fellowship provides travel, room, board, and tuition for the residency.
- Dramatists Guild Award. The Dramatists Guild Award provides the creative team with active membership in the Guild.
Rules and Regulations
1. The musical must be entered in the KCACTF Michael Kanin Playwriting Awards Program.
2. The musical must be original and copyrighted.
3. The writing team (composer, lyricist, librettist) may be faculty and/or students; the students must fulfill the eligibility requirements as set forth in rule 5 for the Michael Kanin Playwriting Awards Program.
4. The play must be produced by a college or university or, at minimum, publicly presented in a “rehearsed” or “staged reading” format following a significant development process. The play must comply with the guidelines for scripts entered in the KCACTF Michael Kanin Playwriting Program.
5. A panel of artists from the field, selected by KCACTF, will make the final determination as to the award recipients. All collaborators agree to send the following entry materials by December 1:
- A completed manuscript of the book, lyrics, and the score of the music;
- A professional-quality recording of the score either in CD, via web-link , or MP3 recordings (or variants.)
- A professional-quality recording of the score.
For other questions, refer to Rules and Procedures for the Michael Kanin Playwriting Awards Program.
Previous Award Recipients
2013 The Dark I Know by John Watts (music) and Alex Eisen (book and lyrics), SUNY New Paltz.
2012 The Circus in Winter by Ben Clark (music and lyrics) and the students of the Virginia B. Ball Center for Creative Inquiry, Ball State University
2011 Listen To Me Score by Timothy Guillot, Catholic University of America
Salamander Leviathan Book by Krista Knight, University of California-San Diego
2010 Sleepy Hollow Music by Tom Edward Clark, Book and Lyrics by Jim Christian, Weber State University
2009 Standardized Testing - The Musical!!!, Music and Lyrics by Sam Willmott, New York University
2008 Dani Girl Book and lyrics by Christopher Dimond, music by Michael Kooman, Carnegie-Mellon University
2007 Hopeless Spinning, Margaret Iha and Michael Gallant, Illinois State University
2005 To Memphis (with the intention of returning), book, music and lyrics by Peter Lerman, Columbia University
2004 Good Morning Athens! A Rock Musical , book, music and lyrics by Sean Keogh, University of Wyoming
2002 Straight Man, Music and Lyrics by Gabriel Kahane, Book by Thomas Beatty, Brown University
2001 Emma book, music and lyrics by Stephen Karam, Brown University
2000 The Picture of Dorian Gray - A New Musical Play Book, Music and Lyrics by James Skousen, Crofton Hills College, Yucaipa
1999 Homestead Book, Music and Lyrics by Timothy J. Nevits, Wright State University, Dayton
1993 All That He Was, Larry Johnson and Cindy O'Connor, California State University, Fullerton
1990 High Calibre, Pat Daugherty, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston
1988 Bottoms Up: Musicommedia, Ensemble-written, University of California, Los Angeles
1987 Texassity, Jennifer Buck, Libba Carver, H. Mark Cullimore, Rob Holley, Kaye McDougall, and Paula Rabb, Angelo State University, San Angelo
Executive Calibre, Sean Dillon and Bruce Engelfried, University of LaVerne
1986 Gynt, Sam Rossi and Flash Allen, University of Southern Maine
1985 Steakhouse, H. Mark, Cullimore, Angelo State University
Bruinhaha, company-written, University of California, Los Angeles
1984 Georgie Down and the Lord of the Lightbooth, Tony D. Mueller and Jack Gallup, Mankato State University
1982 The Peach Blossom Fan, James Harris (book and lyrics) and Rodney Thomaston (music), University of Alabama
2012 The Circus in Winter by Ben Clark (music and lyrics) and the students of the Virginia B. Ball Center for Creative Inquiry, Ball State University
2011 Listen To Me Score by Timothy Guillot, Catholic University of America
Salamander Leviathan Book by Krista Knight, University of California-San Diego
2010 Sleepy Hollow Music by Tom Edward Clark, Book and Lyrics by Jim Christian, Weber State University
2009 Standardized Testing - The Musical!!!, Music and Lyrics by Sam Willmott, New York University
2008 Dani Girl Book and lyrics by Christopher Dimond, music by Michael Kooman, Carnegie-Mellon University
2007 Hopeless Spinning, Margaret Iha and Michael Gallant, Illinois State University
2005 To Memphis (with the intention of returning), book, music and lyrics by Peter Lerman, Columbia University
2004 Good Morning Athens! A Rock Musical , book, music and lyrics by Sean Keogh, University of Wyoming
2002 Straight Man, Music and Lyrics by Gabriel Kahane, Book by Thomas Beatty, Brown University
2001 Emma book, music and lyrics by Stephen Karam, Brown University
2000 The Picture of Dorian Gray - A New Musical Play Book, Music and Lyrics by James Skousen, Crofton Hills College, Yucaipa
1999 Homestead Book, Music and Lyrics by Timothy J. Nevits, Wright State University, Dayton
1993 All That He Was, Larry Johnson and Cindy O'Connor, California State University, Fullerton
1990 High Calibre, Pat Daugherty, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston
1988 Bottoms Up: Musicommedia, Ensemble-written, University of California, Los Angeles
1987 Texassity, Jennifer Buck, Libba Carver, H. Mark Cullimore, Rob Holley, Kaye McDougall, and Paula Rabb, Angelo State University, San Angelo
Executive Calibre, Sean Dillon and Bruce Engelfried, University of LaVerne
1986 Gynt, Sam Rossi and Flash Allen, University of Southern Maine
1985 Steakhouse, H. Mark, Cullimore, Angelo State University
Bruinhaha, company-written, University of California, Los Angeles
1984 Georgie Down and the Lord of the Lightbooth, Tony D. Mueller and Jack Gallup, Mankato State University
1982 The Peach Blossom Fan, James Harris (book and lyrics) and Rodney Thomaston (music), University of Alabama