The 2025 recipients of the Kleban Prize for Musical Theatre have been announced. Madeline Myers was named the most promising musical theater librettist, while Benjamin Velez was recognized as the most promising musical theater lyricist. The prizes are presented by the Kleban Foundation. Myers and Velez will be feted at a private ceremony on Feb. 3 hosted by Tony Award winners and Kleban board members Richard Maltby, Jr. and Maury Yeston.
The Kleban Prize is named for Tony Award-winning composer and lyricist Edward L. Kleban, who is known for penning the lyrics for 1975’s “A Chorus Line” and the music and lyrics for 2001’s “A Class Act.” His namesake foundation was founded in 1988 under provisions in his will to award annual prizes for emerging musical theater scribes. The awards were first given in 1991; recipients receive a cash prize, which in recent years has totaled $100,000 each.
“The Kleban Prize for Musical Theatre is one of the theater’s most distinctive honors,” Maltby said in a statement. “Today, Ed Kleban's legacy may be more important than ever in supporting the creators of tomorrow's American musicals. Ed Kleban recognized that theatrical wordsmiths have the hardest time supporting themselves while honing their craft, and so the Kleban awards are specifically for librettists and lyricists. It is notable that the Kleban Prize is not given to a specific work, as other awards are, but instead, it is given for work yet to be written.”
Myers wrote the musical “Double Helix,” which had its world premiere at Bay Street Theater in 2023. Myers’ other musicals include “Flatbush Avenue,” a 2021 commission of the University of North Caroline-Greensboro, and “The Devil’s Advocate,” which played a world premiere bow in 2018 in Copenhagen. Myers is a 2024, 2023 and 2022 Kleban Prize finalist for lyric writing. In 2022, Myers was named to the “Women to Watch on Broadway” list of the Broadway Women’s Fund. Myers served a music assistant on the Broadway production of “Hamilton.”
Velez is slated to make his Broadway debut in April as the co-librettist and co-lyricist of “Real Women Have Curves.” Velez served as composer and lyricist for the Public Theater’s 2023 Public Works adaptation of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” Additionally, Velez composed the music and co-wrote the lyrics for “Kiss My Aztec,” which features a book by John Leguizamo and has played at La Jolla Playhouse, Berkeley Repertory Theater and Hartford Stage.
“With a uniquely generous endowment, the Kleban Prize identifies, celebrates and supports promising writing talent in the theatre, just when emerging writers — and established writers — need help the most,” Maltby continued. “Kleban Prize winners are going to define the art form for years to come.”
The 2025 award recipients were selected by a panel of judges including choreographer Raja Feather Kelly, Tony-winning costume designer Clint Ramos and Tony-nominated producer Rachel Sussman.
