(Front row, L-R): Michael Bush, BMI’s Jean Banks, Jane Smulyan, Randy Klein, Kristin Maloney, Adam Matthias, Rick Freyer, Raymond Bokhour, Phoebe Kreutz, David Spencer, Robert Yarnall, Sara Wordsworth, Andrew Sherman; (Back Row)Jack Lechner, Andy Monroe, Robert Maggio, Diane Daltner, Nancy Golladay, Pat Cook, Doug Katsaros, Frank Evans, Dan Irsael, Ben H Winters, Robert Sislen, Chris Boal

The evening began with composer Brad Alexander and book writer/lyricist Adam Mathias’s See Rock City & Other Destinations, winner of the 2008 Richard Rodgers Award and 2007 BMI Foundation Jerry Bock Award. Anthony Rapp (Rent) and Jill Abramovitz (Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me) performed two songs from the show, followed by Jenifer Foote, currently in the Broadway revival of a Chorus Line, who performed the title song from BMI Foundation Harrington Award-winning writer Stephen Sislen and Ben H. Winters’ Room 16.

Pat Cook presents retirement award to Advanced Class moderator Richard Engquist.

The showcase continued with selections from The Dirty Hippie Jam Band Project, with a performances from Sandie Rosa and Bret Carr; Pleasantville, an adaptation from the film of the same title; The Kid, based on the book by Village Voice columnist Dan Savage; The Thing About Joe, with a performance of “Some Girls” by Kevin B. McGlynn; Shall We Dance, featuring an ensemble performance of “He Needs Me”; Drive, created by composer/lyricist Andy Monroe; China Doll Overdrive, with a performance from Workshop composer Adam Overett and Mick Bleyer; My Blue Heaven, created by composer Andy Karl and lyricist Diane Daltner; National Geographic, spawned from author Chris Boal and Grammy Award-winning composer Andrew Sherman; and The Suicide, with a performance of “Hold the Pity Pudding.”

Anthony Rapp performs “See Rock City”.

Pat Cook, artistic coordinator of the Workshop, presented an award to Richard Engquist on his retirement as the moderator of the Advanced Workshop. Engquist has been moderating the Second Year and Advanced classes for 25 years.

The finale of the showcase featured Anthony Rapp, star of the original cast of Rent, singing the title song from the BMI Foundation Jerry Bock Award-winning musical See Rock City.

Writers previously showcased include Best Musical Tony winners Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx (Avenue Q); Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning Edward Kleban (A Chorus Line); triple Tony Award winner Maury Yeston, (Nine, Titanic, Grand Hotel); eight-time Oscar-winner and nine-time Grammy-winner Alan Menken (The Little Mermaid, Little Shop of Horrors); Drama Desk winner Carol Hall (Best Little Whorehouse in Texas); Tony Award recipients Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (Ragtime, Seussical); Tony and Grammy winners Judd Woldin and Robert Brittan (Raisin); Tony nominees Michael Korie and Scott Frankel (Grey Gardens; and Tony nominee Jeff Blumenkrantz (Urban Cowboy).

The event will be directed by the Manhattan Theatre Club's Michael Bush; producers are Workshop Artistic Coordinator Patrick Cook and Workshop Special Events Coordinator Frank Evans. BMI will host a reception immediately following the performance.

Deemed "the Harvard of musical theatre" by The New York Times, the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop was founded in 1961 by BMI and the late Lehman Engel, dean of American musical theatre, to create a setting where new writers could learn their craft. It is the birthplace of such classic musicals as A Chorus Line, Nine, Little Shop of Horrors, Beauty and the Beast, and current Broadway favorite Avenue Q. The Workshop was recently honored with a special 2006 Drama Desk Award for "nurturing, developing and promoting new talent for the musical theater," and also received the 2005 Drama League Award for Excellence in Musical Theatre.

The showcase will feature new works and writers including Calvin Berger, a hip update of Cyrano by Barry Wyner, winner of the BMI Foundation's 2005 Jerry Bock Award for Excellence in Musical Theatre. The story is about 12th grader Calvin Berger, who grapples with his insecurity about the size of his nose. Lacking the courage to ask out the girl of his dreams, he instead communicates his feelings to her through the handsome new kid in school, which only makes him want her more. The new musical will have a full production at Gloucester (Maine) Stage this summer.

The Third Miracle by Jeff Hughes and Scott Ethier, is based on the film of the same name and examines the spiritual awakening of a priest who is beginning to doubt his faith when he is sent to investigate a "miracle" in the borough of Queens. The Tragic and Horrible Life of the Singing Nun, by Andy Monroe and Blair Fell, is a paean to Jeanine Deckers, the Belgian nun known as Soeur Sourire, who became a chart-topping one-hit wonder with the song "Dominique" in 1963, and how her singing career - and her life - devolved into a nightmare of addiction, depression, betrayal by the church, and a tragic end in 1985.

Rhonda, Queen of the Amazon, by Peter Morris and Mat Eisenstein, is a musical comedy about a New York City "princess" who finds herself selling cosmetics door-to-door in the jungles of South America. Wanda's World, by Beth Falcone, the BMI Foundation's 2006 Harrington Award winner, and Eric Weinberger (Class Mothers) is a "tween" musical set in a contemporary high school setting. 2005 Harrington Award winners Jill Abramovitz and Aron Accurso are writers of The Dogs of Pripyat, based on the play by Leah Napolin. The musical is set in a town less than two miles from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Tony-nominated actor/composer/lyricist Jeff Blumenkrantz (Urban Cowboy) will perform "Toll" from his recently published "Jeff Blumenkrantz Song Book."

The showcase will also feature two songs from Iznogoud - The Musical, based on the French comic books by Goscinny and Tabary, written by Marc Schubring and Phoebe Kreutz. Carried Away, based on the play The Curious Savage, is a new musical comedy with book, music and lyrics by Jim Coleran. The Fisher King, by Steve Routman and Joy Son, is based on the film of the same name.

Dysfunctional Fables has lyrics by Sean Hartley (2004 Drama Desk nominee for Cupid and Psyche) and Sam Davis. Queen Esther is from 2006 Drama Desk nominees Joshua Salzman and Ryan Cunningham, the writing team of I Love You Because.... How to Murder Your Wife is an adaptation of the film by Alisa Klein and Stephen Sislan, composer of Slut! The Musical, which played earlier this season Off-Broadway. Children's Hospital is by Larson Award-winning lyricist Alison Loeb and composer Bob McDowell.

Workshop personnel and writers who participated in the "Smoker" gather before the showcase. Pictured are (back row, l-r) Phoebe Kreutz, Patrick Cook, Dan Furman, Marc Schubring, Webb Wilcoxen, Matt Vinson, David Sisco, Andy Monroe, Advanced Class moderator Richard Engquist, Jim Colleran, Aron Accurso and BMI's Jean Banks; (middle Row) Librettist Workshop moderator Nancy Golladay, Tom Gualtieri, Second Year co-moderator David Spencer, David Arthur and Jill Abramovitz; and (kneeling), Frank Evans and Barry Wyner. Photo by Eric Miller

Produced by Workshop committee members Frank Evans, who serves as Public Relations Coordinator, and Patrick Cook, who is Artistic Coordinator, the event is an informal social gathering modeled after entertainments from BMI composer and former Workshop moderator Maury Yeston's undergraduate days at Cambridge.

Showing off their certificates at the Harrington Awards reception are Librettist Workshop winner Adam B. Matthias, First Year Workshop winner Phoebe Kreutz, Second Year Workshop winner Jill Abramovitz, Advanced Workshop winner Sean Hartley and Workshop Artistic Coordinator Patrick Cook. Photo by Gary Gershoff

Established by Harrington's longtime friend and colleague, BMI executive Evelyn Buckstein, the awards are given each year in Harrington's honor to celebrate the late attorney's lifelong love of musical theater. Over the past six years, these awards have given early recognition to some of the most talented and promising young musical theatre composers and librettists working in the field today, including the Tony Award-winning writers of Avenue Q, Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, who received the first Harrington Awards in 2000.

The BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop was established in 1961 by the late Lehman Engel, dean of American musical theater, to create a setting where new writers could learn their craft. Consisting of approximately 200 members, the Workshop is a highly competitive and selective teaching environment designed to provide hands-on opportunities for theater composers and lyricists. An innovative program at its inception, the Workshop continues to flourish and is considered to be the foremost training ground for new writing voices. In addition to Marx and Lopez, other successful Workshop alumni include Edward Kleban ("A Chorus Line"), Maury Yeston ("Nine"), Alan Menken ("Beauty and the Beast"), Susan Birkenhead ("Jelly's Last Jam") and Gerard Allesandrini ("Forbidden Broadway").

The BMI Foundation, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation founded in 1985 to support the creation, performance, and study of music through awards, scholarships, commissions and grants. Tax-deductible donations to the Foundation come primarily from songwriters, composers and publishers, BMI employees and members of the public with a special interest in music. Because both the Foundation staff and the distinguished members of the Advisory Panel serve without compensation, over 97% of all donations and income are used for charitable grants.]]> 2005-06-21T18:00:00+00:00