Nate von Zumwalt, Editorial Manager

Last week, the 68th annual Tony Awards marked the unofficial coda to theater awards season with a triumphant evening for Robert Freedman and Steven Lutvak’s musical, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder. But often the zenith of a project’s creative life tends to eclipse its own fascinating journey, like Gentleman’s voyage since participating at the 2006 Sundance Institute Theatre Lab. That raucous black comedy, along with a handful of other award winners below, each at some stage participated in the Theatre Program’s three-week play development retreat designed to support the creation of new work by playwrights, directors, composers and librettists. And while the mission to produce new work invariably trumps any desire for award recognition, the below artists and projects nonetheless warrant acknowledgment.  

Most recently, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins work-shopped his Obie Award winner Appropriate – a self-described family drama with a winding, surprise-filled storyline – at the 2012 Theatre Lab. That same year, Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori brought their musical adaptation of the acclaimed graphic novel by Alison Bechdel, Fun Home, to the intensive retreat. Below, check out all of the Theatre Program-supported award winners along with some shots from their time at the Lab. Congrats to our alumni!

Tony Awards 

 A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder Robert Freedman and Steven Lutvak

• Best Direction of a Musical / Darko Tresnjak 
• Best Book of a Musical / Robert L. Freedman 
• Best Musical 
• Best Costume Design of a Musical / Linda Cho 

Obie Awards

Appropriate by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

• Best New American Play
• Best Performance / Johanna Day
• Best Direction / Liesl Tommy 

Fun Home by Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori

• Best Performance / Sydney Lucas
• Best New Musical 

Drama League Awards

A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder by Robert Freedman and Steven Lutvak

• Distinguished Production of a Musical 

Drama Desk Awards

A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder by Robert Freedman and Steven Lutvak

• Outstanding Musical 
• Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical / Lauren Worsham 
• Outstanding Director of a Musical / Darko Tresnjak 
• Outstanding  Lyrics / Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak
• Outstanding Book of a Musical/Robert L. Freedman
• Outstanding Production Design / Aaron Rhyne 

The Glass Menagerie

• Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play / Celia Keenan-Bolger