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2012 New Musical Award winner: LOVING LEO

The 2012 Winner of the Weston Playhouse New Musical Award is LOVING LEO by Sara Cooper & Zach Redler.
LOVING LEO - Lena and David, a childless middle-aged couple, take in Lena's stepfather following the death of her mother.  As the three adults live together in a one-bedroom apartment, stepfather Leo becomes their surrogate child, causing them to reexamine their relationship and sense of family.  A timely, funny and poignant portrait with a fresh and tuneful score.

Description: This national award supports the creation of a 30-minute demo CD of a new, full-length musical or a substantial revision of an existing work; preference is given to emerging composing teams.

Details: The creators, a music director and 5 Equity/AFTRA actors travel to Weston, VT for 3 days of rehearsal and a free public concert followed by a NYC recording session with Kurt Deutsch of Sh-K-Boom and Ghostlight Records. All artists are paid on union agreements and all expenses (Vermont travel, housing and meals) are covered. The creators receive 100 copies of the resulting demo CD.

Selection: From nominations only by the Academy for New Musical Theatre, ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop, BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, Dramatists Guild Fellows Program, Lark Play Development Center, New Dramatists, New York Music Theatre Festival, NYU-Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, O'Neill National Music Theater Conference, Sundance Institute Theatre Program, and Theatre Building Chicago.

Recipients: 2011 Gordon Leary and Julia Meinwald, PREGNANCY PACT; 2010 Sean Barry & Jenny Giering, SAINT-EX; 2009 Aron Accurso & Jill Abramovitz, THE DOGS OF PRIPYAT; 2008 Liz Duffy Adams & John Hodian, THE LISTENER OF JUNK CITY; 2007 Kyoung-Ae Kang & Sean Keogh, BE LIKE JOE

Next Dates: 2012 Concert- Feb. 25 @ 7:30 at the Weston Playhouse.

Nominations for 2013 due November 2012; Awardees announced January 2013; Vermont residency including travel and NYC Recording Session February 2013