Congratulations, Robert L. Freedman & Steven Lutvak!

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 6:04pm

The songwriting team of Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak have been named the 2006 recipients of the second annual Fred Ebb Award for Musical Theatre Songwriters. The first Ebb award was given last year to John Bucchino.

The Fred Ebb Award (in association with the Roundabout Theater Company) recognizes excellence in musical theatre songwriting by a lyricist, composer, or songwriting team that has not yet achieved significant commercial success. The award is meant to encourage and support aspiring songwriters to create new works for the musical theatre. The prize includes a $50,000 award, and will be presented at a reception at the American Airlines Theatre on November 28th.

Freedman (lyrics) and Lutvak (music and lyrics) have been on something of a roll this year – they also won the 2006 Kleban Award for lyric writing. Their musical, KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS, was presented in a staged reading at the Huntington Theatre in Boston last spring, starring Douglas Sills, and had a three-week workshop at the Sundance Institute's Theatre Lab in July, with Raul Esparza. Another musical by the team, CAMPAIGN OF THE CENTURY, won the 2006 California Musical Theatre Award and has been seen in recent staged readings in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, featuring Michael Rupert, John Rubinstein, Sally Mayes, Kaitlin Hopkins, Evan Pappas, KT Sullivan, Josh Radnor and Jean Louis Kelly.

On his own, Lutvak wrote the title song for the acclaimed documentary MAD HOT BALLROOM and “Shoulder to Shoulder”, the anthem of the 2006 Chicago Gay Games. With lyricist Mark Campbell, he also contributed "Exit Right" to SONGS FROM AN UNMADE BED, the 2005 musical at the New York Theater Workshop (once heard, this song is never forgotten).

Freedman wrote the musical GRAND DUCHY with composer John Bayless, and is an award-winning screenwriter with credits including the ABC miniseries LIFE WITH JUDY GARLAND: ME AND MY SHADOWS, and RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN'S CINDERELLA for the Wonderful World of Disney, both of which brought him nominations for the Writers Guild Award. Freedman also won the Writers Guild Award for his HBO film A DEADLY SECRET.

[justme2]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 7:39pm

Big fan of Lutvak, ever since a Rainbow Room (or was it Russian Tea?) show with Dee Hoty. Great guy, and good to hear of his award.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/27/06 at 8:45am

These guys deserve all the success they are getting--and much more!

[DecepitDesiree]

Posted: 10/28/06 at 1:51am

In case anyone wants to hear their songs, Steve Lutvak is performing Monday night, October 30th, at the West Bank, along with Nancy Anderson and some other guest stars, and they're going to be singing some Freedman & Lutvak songs from Kind Hearts and Coronets. The ones I've heard are AMAZING...