Meehan's libretti include Annie, The Producers, Hairspray and more. The evening's performance is directed by Tony winning director-lyricist-librettist Richard Maltby. The award will be presented by Alice Hammerstein Mathias, daughter of Oscar Hammerstein II.
The starry concert celebration honoring the legendary librettist will be held at The Racquet & Tennis Club (370 Park Avenue, between 52nd and 53rd Streets) and is scheduled to feature Robert Cuccioli (Jekyll and Hyde), Tony winner Jim Dale (Barnum, Candide), Felicia Finley (The Wedding Singer), Josh Grisetti (Enter Laughing, The Musical), Matthew Gumley (Elf), Tony winner Shuler Hensley (Oklahoma!, Young Frankenstein), Tony winner George S. Irving (Irene; Enter Laughing, The Musical), Tony winner Beth Leavel (The Drowsy Chaperone, Elf), Tony nominee Andrea McArdle (Annie), Robert McClure (Avenue Q, Limelight), Tony winner Mark O'Donnell (co-librettist of Hairspray and Cry-Baby), Tony nominee Brad Oscar (The Producers), Jill Paice (Curtains), Tony nominee Lee Roy Reams (42nd Street, The Producers), Conrad John Schuck (Annie), Tony nominee Christopher Sieber (Shrek, Spamalot), Don Stephenson (Rock of Ages, The Producers), six-time Emmy nominee George Wendt (Elf, Hairspray), Tony winner Maury Yeston (Nine, Titanic) and Rosie's Theater Kids.
David Krane (The Road to Qatar) is the music director.
Meehan won the 2003 Tony for co-writing the book for Hairspray, the 2001 Tony for co-writing the book of The Producers, and the 1977 Tony for the book of Annie, which was his first Broadway show. He has also written the books for Young Frankenstein, I Remember Mama (currently included in York's 2010 Musicals in Mufti series), Ain't Broadway Grand, Annie Warbucks, Bombay Dreams, Cry-Baby and Elf (opening on Broadway in November). He is an Emmy-winning television writer and a collaborator on screenplays, including Mel Brooks' Spaceballs, To Be or Not to Be and The Producers. He is a member of the Council of the Dramatists Guild.
For more information, visit www.yorktheatre.org or call (212) 935-5824 ext. 15. *
The Oscar Hammerstein Award was created by York's founder, Janet Hayes Walker, and is named in honor of the legendary lyricist who helped shape the American musical theatre through his collaborations with a number of different composers and writers. The Oscar Hammerstein Award Gala is the major fundraising event of the York Theatre Company, and is presented with the endorsement of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization and the Hammerstein Family. Past recipients include Stephen Sondheim, Betty Comden & Adolph Green, Harold Prince, Cy Coleman, Charles Strouse, Arthur Laurents, Jerry Herman, Stephen Schwartz, Peter Stone, David Merrick, John Kander & Fred Ebb, Terrence McNally, Cameron Mackintosh, Carol Channing, Tony Walton, Joseph Stein, George S. Irving and Jerry Bock & Sheldon Harnick.
