15th Annual Kleban Award Winners Announced

The Kleban Foundation has announced the winners of the 15th annual Kleban Awards, presented to the most promising lyricists and librettists working in the American musical theater.

David Javerbaum has won the award for most promising lyricist. His work includes lyrics for the upcoming Broadway adaptation of the John Waters film Cry-Baby and the lyrics and book for Suburb, which ran Off-Broadway at the York Theatre Company in 2001. A contributor to The Harvard Lampoon and two of Harvard’s Hasty Pudding musicals, his credits as a writer for television include The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Late Show with David Letterman. He is also a contributor to the satirical news source The Onion.

Cheryl L. Davis and Ken Stone have tied for the award for most promising librettist. Davis’s plays include The Color of Justice, about the desegregation of the U.S. school system; Cover Girls, an adaptation of the Bishop T.D. Jakes novel; and the musical Barnstormer (written with composer Douglas J. Cohen), recipient of one of the 2005 Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation Awards. Stone has written the musicals Overland, Trask & Fenn, King of the Cowboys, and the upcoming American Tales in collaboration with composer Jan Powell. His other shows include The Legend of Tom Dooley, Cashel Byron’s Profession, and Everyday Heroes.

The Kleban Foundation was established in 1988 according to the will of Edward L. Kleban, best known as the lyricist of A Chorus Line. The foundation annually presents two awards of $100,000 — payable over two years — to the most promising lyricist and librettist working in American musical theater. This year’s panel of judges included Julia Jordan, Michael John LaChiusa, and Jeffrey Sweet.

Submission guidelines and an application for the 2005-2006 Kleban Awards are available at the New Dramatists website, www.newdramatists.org. All entries must be postmarked no later than September 15.