Michael Dansicker and Joel B. New Win MAC's 2017 Dottie Burman & John Wallowitch Songwriting Awards

The Manhattan Association of Cabarets (MAC) has announced the 2017 winners of the Dottie Burman and John Wallowitch songwriting awards.

Each recipient receives $500 and a certificate, which will be presented at MAC's annual holiday party on December 4 at Elmo's in NYC.

The other Burman Award finalists were: Larry Kerchner, Ilene Reid & Michael Heitzman. The other Wallowtich Award finalists were: Alanya Bridge, Ryan Korell & Jonathan Keebler.

The Awards Committee - Karen Mack, Andrew David Sotomayor, Peter Trevino, Thomas Honeck - narrowed the field of 51 entries down to the three finalists for each Award. Multi-MAC Award winner and Tony nominee Sharon McNight was the Celebrity Judge who selected the winner from the three finalists for each Award.

The Dottie Burman Award winner is Michael Dansicker.

Wrote (and orchestrated) new dance music for the current Arena Stage production of The Pajama Game (Alan Paul, director). He did the same for the Shakespeare & Company production of Kiss Me, Kate, opening Seattle 5th Avenue Theatre in 2018. Over 20 Broadway productions including: Piaf (Arranger/MD);, Good (RSC); Les Liaisons Dangereuses (National); Singin' in the Rain (Dance Music/Film sequences/MD); Dance of the Vampires (Dance Music); The Broadway Tenors (Arr./MD); The Times They Are A-Changin' (Arr. & Orchestration) for Bob Dylan and Twyla Tharp; Little House on the Prairie (Dance/Incidental); The Glass Menagerie starring Jessica Tandy (Original Score). In Concert Dance, he has worked with ABT; The Joffrey; Jerome Robbins; Twyla Tharp; Geoffrey Holder; Kenny Ortega. Films include Piaf; Elf; Analyze That; Brain Donors; Meet the Parents. He created the book, music and lyrics for Twenty Fingers, Twenty Toes (WPA & York Theater) and composed a Boogie Woogie Opera -Swing Shift for MTC. He has been published by Hal Leonard Music (including 16 Bar Theater Audition - 6 volumes) and Audition Suite. He created The Studio Seven for Disneyworld and was music consultant for the launch of Disney Cruise Line. His songs are performed by Gay Mens Choruses of Boston, San Francisco, Knoxville, and Birmingham. Next: Music/Orchestration for Play Ball (Lyrics by Martin Charnin) for Cooperstown, NY and international tour.

The John Wallowitch Award winner is Joel B. New.

A composer, lyricist, bookwriter, producer, and performer, Joel is the proud recipient of an American Theatre Wing Jonathan Larson Grant for his music and lyrics. He has been praised as one of today's "most exciting contemporary musical theatre writers" whose songs are "abound with charm and a warm delicacy." (BroadwayWorld.com). His stage projects include BroadwayWorld.com; Mackenzie & The Missing Boy; Awakening (book: Jenny Stafford, music: J. Oconer Navarro); Standalone: A Song Cycle; Agatha in the Attic; RSVP; and the highly anticipated Monkey Trouble Unleashed! Joel's work has been seen and developed at Ars Nova, Lincoln Center, New York Theatre Barn, Prospect Theater Company, Musical Theatre Factory, Broadway au Carré in Paris, and the New York Musical Festival. He is also the creator and host of Something New, named one of the Top 20 Podcasts for Theatre Fans by BroadwayWorld.com. Joel's first solo EP Cabot Cove, a collection of "theatre pop" songs inspired by the classic TV series Murder, She Wrote, is available on Broadway Records. For more information, visit joelbnew.com.

For more information, visit www.macnyc.com.

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