Lisa Kron and Daniel Zaitchik Will Receive 2017 Kleban Prizes

According to the New York Times, the Kleban Foundation has just announced that the 27th annual Kleban Prize for the most promising musical theatre lyricist has been awarded to Daniel Zaitchik and the 27th annual Kleban Prize for the most promising musical theatre librettist has been awarded to Tony winner Lisa Kron (Fun Home).

Since its inception, Kleban Prize winners have been selected by judging panels comprised of the theatre's most respected artists and administrators.

The Kleban Foundation was established in 1988 under the will of Edward L. Kleban, best known as the Tonyand Pulitzer Prize winning lyricist of the musical A Chorus Line. Kleban's will made provisions for two annual prizes, which in recent years have totaled $100,000 each, payable over two years, to be given to the most promising lyricist and librettist in American Musical Theatre. For 26 years, The Kleban Prize, which has recognized and honored some of the American musical theatre's brightest developing talents, is unique in that it is bestowed not just for an artist's previous achievements, but for the promise of creativity to come.

Over the past 26 years, the annual Kleban Prize for Musical Theatre has awarded approximately $5,000,000 to 62 artists who collectively have garnered four Tony Awards (with nearly 30 Tony nominations), 59 Emmy Awards, three Grammy Awards, 10 Drama Desk Awards, nine Outer Critic Circle Awards, four Obie Awards, two Olivier Awards, and two Pulitzer Prizes. The list of previous Kleban Prize winners includes Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak (A Gentleman's Guide To Love and Murder),David Lindsay-Abaire (Shrek), Jason Robert Brown (Parade, The Last Five Years), John Bucchino (A Catered Affair, It's Only Life), Gretchen Cryer (I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It On the Road, The Last Sweet Days of Isaac), Michael Korie (Grey Gardens, Happiness), Jeff Marx and Robert Lopez (Avenue Q), Michael John LaChiusa (Giant, See What I Wanna See, The Wild Party), Glenn Slater (The Little Mermaid) and John Weidman (Pacific Overtures,Road Show, Assassins).