The Oscar Micheaux Project wins the first Michael Friedman Award for New Composition
The Pipeline Arts Foundation is honored to present The Oscar Micheaux Project with its inaugural named award, in memory of Michael Friedman. Creative team credits: Music by Alphonso Horne; Lyrics by Jesse L. Kearney Jr. & Peter Mills; Book by Jesse L. Kearney Jr. & Cara Reichel (additional music by Peter Mills). Creative Team bios.
About The Oscar Micheaux Project:
From silent pictures to the talkies, groundbreaking cinematic pioneer Oscar Micheaux battles the racism of Hollywood to bring Black stories to the silver screen… facing down censorship boards, financial ruin, and family betrayal. Micheaux’s legacy as America’s first major Black filmmaker comes to syncopated and soulful life in this jazz musical.
About Michael Friedman:
Michael Friedman was an Obie Award winning composer/lyricist and a founding Associate Artist of The Civilians, the acclaimed investigative theater company. Selected credits: “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson” (music & lyrics); “Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play,” “The Fortress of Solitude,” “Unknown Soldier,” “Gone Missing,” “In the Footprint,” “The Great Immensity,” “Paris Commune,” (co-written with Steve Cosson) “(I Am) Nobody’s Lunch,” and “This Beautiful City.” Michael received a MacDowell Fellowship, a Princeton Hodder Fellowship, a Meet The Composer Fellowship, and he was a Barron Visiting Professor at The Princeton Environmental Institute in 2009. At the time of his death, he was the Artist in Residence and Director of the Public Forum at the Public Theater, and was also the Artistic Director of City Center Encores! Off-Center. In 2018, Michael received a star on the Playwrights’ Sidewalk at the Lucille Lortel Theater. Michaelfriedmanmusic.com.
2024 - The Oscar Micheaux Project $20,000
