Richard Rodgers Awards for Musical Theatre
The Richard Rodgers Award is an annual award presented by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and was created and endowed by Richard Rodgers in 1978 for the development of new works in musical theatre. These awards provide financial support for full productions, studio productions, and staged readings of new and developing works of musical theatre, and to nurture early-career composers, lyricists and playwrights by enabling their musicals to be produced by nonprofit theatres in New York City. The winners are selected by a jury of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The Richard Rodgers Awards are the Academy's only awards for which applications are accepted.
Former award recipients include Maury Yeston, for Nine; Jonathan Larson, for Rent; Julie Taymor and Elliot Goldenthal, for Juan Darien; Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, for Lucky Stiff; Jeanine Tesori and Brian Crawley, for Violet; Scott Frankel, Michael Korie, and Doug Wright, for Grey Gardens; and Dave Malloy for Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812.
2019's jury included David Lang, chairman, Mindi Dickstein, Amanda Green, Richard Maltby, Jr., and John Weidman.
The most recent recipients are Bhangin’ It by Mike Lew, Rehana Lew Mirza, and Sam Willmott and The Lucky Ones by Abigail and Shaun Bengson and Sarah Gancher. Each musical received a Studio Production Award in 2019.
Recipients
| Year | Recipient | Authors | Type | Ref. |
| 1980 | Nine | Mario Fratti Maury Yeston | — | |
| 1981 | Child of the Sun | Damien Leake | Production Award | |
| 1982 | Portrait of Jennie | Enid Futterman Howard Marren Dennis Rosa | — | |
| 1983 | — | — | — | — |
| 1984 | Brownstone | Andrew Cadiff Peter Larson Josh Rubens | — | |
| 1984 | Papushko | Andrew Teirstein | — | |
| 1985 | — | — | — | — |
| 1986 | Break, Agnes, Eulogy for Mr. Hamm, and Lucky Nurse | Michael John LaChiusa | — | |
| 1986 | Juba | Wendy Lamb Russell Walden | — | |
| 1987 | Henry and Ellen | Michael John LaChiusa | — | |
| 1987 | Lucky Stiff | Lynn Ahrens Stephen Flaherty | — | |
| 1987 | No Way to Treat a Lady | Douglas J. Cohen | — | |
| 1988 | Lucky Stiff | Lynn Ahrens Stephen Flaherty | — | |
| 1988 | Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York | Michael Devon Todd Graff | — | |
| 1988 | Superbia | Jonathan Larson | — | |
| 1989 | Elliot Goldenthal Julie Taymor | — | — | |
| 1990 | Down the Stream | Michael Goldenberg | — | |
| 1990 | Swamp Gas and Shallow Feelings | Randy Buck Shirlee Strother Jack E. Williams | — | |
| 1990 | Whatnot | Howard Crabtree Dick Gallagher Mark Waldrop | — | |
| 1991 | The Times | Joe Keenan Brad Ross | — | |
| 1991 | Opal | Robert N. Lindsey | — | |
| 1992 | The Molly Maguires | Sid Cherry William Strempek | — | |
| 1992 | Avenue X | John Jiler Ray Leslee | — | |
| 1993 | Allos Makar | Scott Frankel Michael Korie Valeria Vasilevsky | — | |
| 1993 | They Shoot Horses, Don't They? | Nagle Jackson Robert Sprayberry | — | |
| 1993 | Avenue X | John Jiler Ray Leslee | — | |
| 1993 | Christina Alberta's Father | Polly Pen | — | |
| 1994 | The Sweet Revenge of Louisa Mae | Mark Campbell Burton Cohen Stephen Hoffman | — | |
| 1994 | The Gig | Douglas Cohen | — | |
| 1994 | Doll | Scott Frankel Michael Korie | — | |
| 1994 | Rent | Jonathan Larson | — | |
| 1995 | Splendora | Mark Campbell Stephen Hoffman Peter Webb | — | |
| 1996 | Bobos | James McBride Ed Shockley | — | |
| 1996 | The Hidden Sky | Kate Chisholm Peter Foley | — | |
| 1996 | The Princess and the Black-Eyed Pea | Andy Chukerman Karole Foreman | — | |
| 1997 | Barrio Babies | Fernando Rivas Luis Santeiro | — | |
| 1997 | The Ballad of Little Jo | Mike Reid Sarah Schlesinger | — | |
| 1998 | Little Women | Alison Hubbard Allan Knee Kim Oler | — | |
| 1998 | Summer | Erik Haagensen Paul Schwartz | — | |
| 1999 | Keythe Farley Brian Flemming Laurence O'Keefe | — | ||
| 1999 | Blood on the Dining Room Floor | Jonathan Sheffer | — | |
| 1999 | Dream True: My Life with Vernon Dexter | Ricky Ian Gordon Tina Landau | — | |
| 1999 | The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin | Kirsten Childs | — | |
| 1999 | The Singing | Lenora Champagne Daniel Levy | — | |
| 2000 | Keythe Farley Brian Flemming Laurence O'Keefe | — | ||
| 2000 | Suberb | Robert S. Cohen David Javerbaum | — | |
| 2000 | The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin | Kirsten Childs | — | |
| 2001 | Heading East | Leon Ko Robert Lee | Reading Award | |
| 2001 | The Spitfire Grill | Fred Alley James Valcq | Production Award | |
| 2002 | The Fabulist | David Spencer Stephen Witkin | Reading Award | |
| 2002 | The Tutor | Andrew Gerle Maryrose Wood | Reading Award | |
| 2003 | Once Upon a Time in New Jersey | Susan DiLallo Stephen A. Weiner | — | |
| 2003 | The Devil in the Flesh | Jeffrey Lunden Arthur Perlman | — | |
| 2003 | The Tutor | Andrew Gerle Maryrose Wood | — | |
| 2004 | To Paint the Earth | Daniel Frederick Levin Jonathan Portera | Reading Award | |
| 2004 | Unlock'd | Sam Carner Derek Gregor | Reading Award | |
| 2004 | The Tutor | Andrew Gerle Maryrose Wood | Production Award | |
| 2005 | Dust & Dreams: Celebrating Sandburg | David Hudson Paul Libman | Reading Award | |
| 2005 | Broadcast | Nathan Christensen Scott Murphy | Reading Award | |
| 2005 | Red | Brian Lowdermilk Marcus Stevens | Reading Award | |
| 2006 | The Yellow Wood | Michelle Elliott Danny Larsen | Reading Award | |
| 2006 | True Fans | Chris Miller Bill Rosenfield Nathan Tysen | Reading Award | |
| 2006 | Grey Gardens | Scott Frankel Michael Korie Doug Wright | Production Award | |
| 2007 | Calvin Berger | Barry Wyner | Reading Award | |
| 2007 | Main-Travelled Roads | Dave Hudson Paul Libman | Reading Award | |
| 2008 | Alive at Ten | Kirsten A. Guenther Ryan Scott Oliver | Reading Award | |
| 2008 | Kingdom | Aaron Jafferis Ian Williams | Reading Award | |
| 2008 | See Rock City & Other Destinations | Brad Alexander Adam Mathias | Reading Award | |
| 2009 | Cheer Wars | Karlan Judd Gordon Leary | Reading Award | |
| 2009 | Rosa Parks | Scott Ethier Jeff Hughes | Reading Award | |
| 2010 | Buddy's Tavern | Raymond De Felitta Alison Louise Hubbard Kim Oler | Reading Award | |
| 2010 | Rocket Science | Patricia Cotter Jason Rhyne Stephen Weiner | Reading Award | |
| 2011 | Gloryana | Andrew Gerle | Reading Award | |
| 2011 | Dogfight | Peter Duchan Benj Pasek Justin Paul | Production Award | |
| 2012 | Witness Uganda | Matt Gould Griffin Matthews | Reading Award | |
| 2013 | Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 | Dave Malloy | Production Award | |
| 2013 | The Kid Who Would Be Pope | Tom Megan Jack Megan | Production Award | |
| 2014 | Witness Uganda | Matt Gould Griffin Matthews | Production Award | |
| 2015 | String | Adam Gwon Sarah Hammond | Production Award | |
| 2016 | Cost of Living | Timothy Huang | Reading Award | |
| 2016 | We Live in Cairo | Patrick Lazour Daniel Lazour | Reading Award | |
| 2016 | Hadestown | Anaïs Mitchell | Production Award | |
| 2017 | What I Learned from People | Will Aronson Hue Park | Production Award | |
| 2018 | Gun & Powder | Ross Baum Angelica Chéri | Studio Production Award | |
| 2018 | KPOP | Jason Kim Helen Park Max Vernon Woodshed Collective | Studio Production Award | |
| 2019 | Bhangin’ It | Mike Lew Rehana Lew Mirza Sam Willmott | Studio Production Award | |
| 2019 | The Lucky Ones | Abigail Bengson Shaun Bengson Sarah Gancher | Studio Production Award |