The awards ceremony, held at a luncheon on Aug. 7, honored lyricist Adam Mathias and composer Brad Alexander for their musical See Rock City with a commemorative plaque and cash award contributing to further the development of their project. Jerry Bock, the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer for Broadway's Fiddler on the Roof, Fiorello!, She Loves Me and The Apple Tree, personally selected See Rock City for the award.
Mathias and Alexander's musical, developed in the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, is described as "a collection of short musicals set at tourist destinations across the country, from Rock City, Georgia to Niagara Falls, stopping off at Coney Island, Route 66 and the Alamo. Each landmark introduces a new set of characters struggling to connect, to move past their fears and expectations in order to fully engage with each other… Every story stands alone, yet builds on its counterparts to create a complete evening of musical theatre."
Mathias wrote the New York International Fringe Festival hit, The Passion of George W. Bush, as well as Desdemona Lives and A Long Conversation. In addition to BMI's Jerry Bock Award, Mathias is the recipient of the Jerry Harrington Musical Theatre Award, which recognizes outstanding achievement in the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop.
Alexander, whose work has also been featured in the New York International Fringe Festival, composed Just So Stories and Lilly's Big Day for Theatreworks USA.
The non-profit BMI Foundation is dedicated to providing necessary financial resources to music writers, through scholarships, awards, commissions and grants. The BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop is a program of the BMI foundation, whose notable alumni and members include Maury Yeston (Titanic, Grand Hotel, Nine), Alan Menken (Little Shop of Horrors, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid), Jeff Marx and Robert Lopez (Avenue Q), Edward Kleban (A Chorus Line), Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (Ragtime, Once on This Island, Dessa Rose), Gerard Alessandrini (Forbidden Broadway) and Michael John LaChiusa (Hello Again, Marie Christine, The Wild Party).
