Every day is opening night.

American Theatre Wing’s 2012 Jonathan Larson Grant to be presented to writers of “Southern Comfort”

Press Contact:
O&M Co.
Rick Miramontez / Andy Snyder / Jon Dimond
rick@oandmco.com / andy@oandmco.com / jon@oandmco.com
(212) 695-7400


FOR RELEASE ON FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

AMERICAN THEATRE WING’S
2012 JONATHAN LARSON® GRANT
WILL BE PRESENTED TO
WRITING TEAM BEHIND
“SOUTHERN COMFORT”

PRESENTATION TO BE HELD TUESDAY, MARCH 29

New York, NY – The American Theatre Wing announced today that the recipients of the 2012 Jonathan Larson® Grant are Julianne Wick Davis (Composer) and Dan Collins (Book, Lyrics) for their work on Southern Comfort.  The prestigious grant, totaling $10,000, will be presented on Tuesday, March 27 at a private event in New York City.  The event will feature special performances from Southern Comfort

The grants, given annually to honor emerging composers, lyricists and book writers, help to continue Tony Award®-winning composer Jonathan Larson’s dream of infusing musical theatre with a contemporary, joyful, urban vitality.  This year’s recipients were selected by Mark Hollmann (Urinetown) and Robert Lopez (The Book of Mormon).

Dedicated to celebrating excellence and supporting theatre, the American Theatre Wing awards the Larson Grants to artists to recognize and showcase their work with no strings attached – except to put it to the best use possible to help further the artist's creative endeavors.

Past recipients of the Larson Grants include Tom Kitt & Brian Yorkey (Next to Normal), Chad Beguelin & Matthew Sklar (The Wedding Singer), John Bucchino (A Catered Affair), Laurence O’Keefe (Bat Boy: The Musical), and Michael Korie (Grey Gardens).

The American Theatre Wing (Theodore S. Chapin, Chairman, Board of Directors; Heather Hitchens, Executive Director) is a not-for-profit organization best known as the creator of the Antoinette Perry “Tony” Awards®, which it presents annually with The Broadway League. In addition to “Downstage Center,” “Working in the Theatre” and a host of other online resources, The Wing sponsors many activities, all dedicated to recognizing excellence and supporting education in theatre.  Visitors to americantheatrewing.org can listen to, watch or download from ATW’s extensive media collection, and learn more about all of its programming for students, aspiring and working professionals, and audiences who want to learn more about the making of theatre.  Follow ATW on Facebook.com/TheAmericanTheatreWing and Twitter.com/TheWing.


Biographies

Julianne Wick Davis is a composer/lyricist, and wrote music for Southern Comfort with Dan Collins (book & lyrics), based on the Sundance award-winning documentary of the same name.  Southern Comfort received a developmental reading at Playwrights Horizons in 2010, and a workshop production at Cap21 in 2011, which was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award. WOOD (music) with Dan Collins (book & lyrics) was chosen as part of the 2008 New York Musical Theatre Festival Next Link Series.  Julianne also wrote both music and lyrics for When We Met with Dan Collins (book), which received developmental readings at the Tri-Arts Playhouse and Williams College Summer Theatre Lab.  Other work with Dan Collins includes Our Lady Of The Viaduct and Time To Kill for York Theatre's 4@15 series.  Julianne's work has been featured in the Broadway’s Future @ Lincoln Center, and also at Joe's Pub and Merkin Hall. She is a recent graduate from NYU's Tisch Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, is a proud ASCAP member, and was named a Dramatist Guild Fellow for 2011-2012.

Dan Collins wrote the book and lyrics for the musical Southern Comfort, which received a reading at Playwrights Horizons, a workshop production at CAP 21 (both directed by Thomas Caruso), and was nominated for a 2011 GLAAD Media Award and selected as one of The Advocate Magazine's 10 best shows of 2011. Other works with Julianne Wick Davis include: Wood (NYMF, starring Tony© Award-winner Cady Huffman); Our Lady Of The Viaduct and Time To Kill (The York Theatre Company); and When We Met, co-conceived with performers Sally Wilfert and Michael Winther. Other recent projects include Book for Our Country with composer/lyricist Tony Asaro (produced at NYMF and Planet Connections Theater Festivity where it was honored with awards for “Best Book” and “Best Musical”) and lyrics for Professor Von Awesome’s Traveling Caravan Of Cautionary Warnings and Johnny 15, both with composer Nick Sula and “The Serious Theater Collective”. Dan's work has been published in Plays and Playwrights 2010 (NYTE Small Press) and he was selected along with Julianne Wick Davis as a 2011/2012 Dramatist Guild Fellow. Dan holds an M.F.A. in Musical Theater Writing at Tisch School of the Arts, NYU and a B.F.A. in Playwriting from The Theater School of DePaul University.

www.oandmco.com
www.twitter/oandmco

#####