Theater News

32nd Annual Kleban Prize Winners Announced

Two $100,000 awards have been granted to a pair of promising musical theater artists.

César Alvarez and Isabella Dawis are the recipients of the 2022 Kleban Prize for Musical Theatre.
César Alvarez and Isabella Dawis are the recipients of the 2022 Kleban Prize for Musical Theatre.
(© Sarah Morreim / Sammy Tunis)

The Kleban Foundation has announced the winners of the 32nd annual Kleban Prize for Musical Theatre. César Alvarez has been awarded the prize for most promising musical-theater lyricist, while Isabella Dawis has been the prize for promising musical-theater librettist, each receiving $100,000 to support their creative careers.

The 2022 prizes will be presented in a virtual ceremony streaming online at Broadway On Demand starting Monday, February 21, at 7pm, and available on demand through February 28. The event is free and open to the public and will feature musical performances from this year's recipients. Tony Award winners and Kleban board members Richard Maltby Jr. and Maury Yeston will host the ceremony.

This year's judging panel included 2018 Kleban Prize-winning lyricist Sarah Hammond (Pete the Cat); Obie Award-winning composer, lyricist, and music director Or Matias (Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812); and actor Manu Narayan (Company).

The Kleban Foundation was established in 1988 under the will of Edward L. Kleban, best known as the Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning lyricist of the musical A Chorus Line. Past winners include Lisa Kron (Fun Home), Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak (A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder), David Lindsay-Abaire (Kimberly Akimbo), Jason Robert Brown (The Last Five Years), among many others.