Michael R. Jackson Signed by Kobalt to a Global Publishing Deal

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Michael R. Jackson has been signed by Kobalt to a global publishing deal, Variety reports.

Kobalt will handle Jackson's publishing administration, creative services, and sync for both catalog and future works.

"Michael R. Jackson's musical, A Strange Loop, knocked me off my seat when I saw it last summer," said Sue Drew, general manager, creative at Kobalt. "The eloquence of his storytelling and his unforgettable melodies signal a giant in musical theater. It is our honor and privilege to represent his publishing. He is an American treasure."

Jackson said, "I am beyond thrilled to partner with Kobalt on my music publishing. For me, music is a dream that began when my father made my brother and I start taking piano lessons as kids in Detroit, Michigan, the birthplace of Motown. It was then and there that I began to learn that music was a tradition and not a trend and an inextricable part of my being as an artist. I look forward to sharing my contribution to that tradition as far and as wide as I can with Kobalt."

Read the original story on Variety.

Michael R. Jackson holds a BFA and MFA in playwriting and musical theatre writing from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts. As a songwriter, he has seen his work performed everywhere from Joe's Pub to NAMT. He wrote book, music, and lyrics for the musical A Strange Loop, winner of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in Drama, the 2020 Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Drama, and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical. He also wrote book, music and lyrics for the upcoming White Girl in Danger; and lyrics and book for the musical adaptation of the 2007 horror film Teeth with composer and co-bookwriter Anna K. Jacobs. Awards and associations include: a New Professional Theatre Festival Award, a Jonathan Larson Grant, a Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award, an ASCAP Foundation Harold Adamson Award, a Whiting Award, the Helen Merrill Award for Playwriting, a Dramatist Guild Fellowship and he is an alum of Page 73's Interstate Writers Group. He has commissions from Grove Entertainment & Barbara Whitman Productions and LCT3 and is newly-elected member of the Dramatists Guild Council.