Amas Musical Theatre Launches 6th Annual Eric H. Weinberger Award for Emerging Lyricists

Amas Musical Theatre has announced the sixth year of The Eric H. Weinberger Award for Emerging Librettists, a juried cash and production grant to be given annually to support the early work and career of a deserving musical theatre librettist. The Award commemorates the life and work of playwright/librettist Eric H. Weinberger (1950-2017), who was a Drama Desk Award nominee for Best Book of a Musical (Wanda’s World), and the playwright/librettist of Class Mothers ’68, that earned Pricilla Lopez a Drama Desk Award nomination.

The winner will receive $2,000 to help pay cost-of-living expenses. The winning musical will receive development assistance in the 2024 New Works Development Program of Amas Musical Theatre, which is administering the Award. The development assistance culminates in the work being rehearsed and performed by New York theatre professionals in an Amas Lab production. Amas was the development home for several of Mr. Weinberger’s musicals and produced the World Premiere of Wanda’s World and the New York Premiere of Tea for Three.

“With the many setbacks in the theatre industry over the past three years, we are grateful to be afforded this opportunity to continue making theatre and creating an impact in our community, shares Donna Trinkoff, Amas Artistic Producer. “We are excited to begin work with our 2023 winners Annie Dillon and Samantha Caps on their piece Show Me Eternity and welcome a new wave of inspiring voices to our musical theatre family.”

Submissions will open on September 18, 2023, and will close December 1, 2023. All submissions must be sent through an online application that can be found at Eric H. Weinberger Award For Emerging Librettists. Only one submission per playwright/librettist will be accepted. The winner of the award will be announced in March/April 2024.For further information, please visit www.amasmusical.org