The Kurt Weill Foundation is pleased to announce that the same star-studded panel of judges from the canceled 2020 Lotte Lenya Competition will preside over the Finals of the 2021 Competition. Tony Award-winner Victoria Clark and leading Broadway music director and conductor Andy Einhorn both return for the fifth time as judges, while stage and screen star Mary Beth Peil makes her inaugural appearance.
Clark has led a distinguished career both as member and leader of the cast. She won the Award for Best Director at the 2016 New York Musical Festival for her work on Newton's Cradle, and was to direct Weill and Alan Jay Lerner's Love Life for New York City Center Encores! in March 2020 (canceled due to the pandemic). As a singing actor, she took home the Tony Award for her portrayal of Margaret in The Light in the Piazza and earned nominations for roles in Gigi, Cinderella, and Sister Act. Clark recently starred as Liza Elliott in MasterVoices' critically acclaimed production of Lady in the Dark.
Since 2011, Einhorn has served as music director and pianist for Tony Award-winner Audra McDonald, performing alongside her with the New York Philharmonic, Boston Pops, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the San Francisco Symphony. On Broadway, he served as music director for productions of Carousel, Hello Dolly!, Holiday Inn, and Sondheim on Sondheim, among others. His tour work includes Sweeney Todd, The Light in the Piazza, Mamma Mia!, and The Lion King.
Opera, musical theater, and television audiences alike claim Peil as one of their own. After winning the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions at the age of 24, Peil toured with Boris Goldovsky's opera company and became a regular at New York City Opera. She earned Tony Award nominations both for her portrayal of Anna Leonowens in The King and I opposite Yul Brynner, and as the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna in Anastasia. She has appeared in dozens of films and television shows, including Collateral Beauty, Dawson's Creek, and The Good Wife. In 2014, Peil played Mrs. Peachum in the Atlantic Theater Company's production of The Threepenny Opera directed by Martha Clarke.
Applications are currently being accepted through 16 February; semifinalists chosen from the initial pool will submit a second video audition, with financial support from the Foundation, by 8 April. Depending on travel restrictions, the Final Round will take place in person, with or without an audience, on 29 May either in Rochester, NY or New York City. The Finals will be available for streaming for viewers worldwide on OperaVision shortly afterwards.
Originally posted: 2 February 2021