EAST HADDAM, Conn. (Feb. 19, 2026) – Goodspeed Musicals is pleased to announce that Scott Gilmour and Claire McKenzie, award-winning writers of Goodspeed’s upcoming world premiere production of The Snow Goose, are recipients of the 2025 Jonathan Larson® Grant. Established by the American Theatre Wing, the esteemed annual prize is awarded to exceptional emerging musical theatre composers, lyricists, and librettists, or writing teams.
The Snow Goose will make its debut at The Goodspeed Aug. 28 – Oct. 18. It is commissioned by Goodspeed as part of its GoodWorks program and the first to be produced on The Goodspeed stage. The Snow Goose is by Gilmour & McKenzie and is based on the novel by Paul Gallico.
“It’s an honour, not just to receive this prestigious grant, but to be so welcomed and embraced by the American theatre community,” said Gilmour and McKenzie. “Growing up in Scotland, we watched our American peers and contemporaries with such awe, that to be acknowledged alongside them now means a great deal to us both. Goodspeed was one of the first organisations to see that potential in us, and offer their support and experience through granting us a platform for our work. We’re delighted that in the same year we’re receiving this grant, we also get to return to Goodspeed with our newest work The Snow Goose. It’s a piece that we’re deeply connected to and can’t wait to share it for the first time with Goodspeed audiences this summer.”
“Goodspeed has long recognized Scott’s and Claire’s exceptional talents as musical theatre writers, and so I am thrilled that they are being acknowledged with this most well-deserved prize,” said Artistic Director Donna Lynn Hilton. “We are excited that this news coincides with our upcoming production of The Snow Goose, which will give audiences the opportunity to enjoy and celebrate their work on The Goodspeed stage.”
Through the American Theatre Wing’s Jonathan Larson® Grants, recipients are given a platform to amplify stories, and free rein in the application of the grant – which serves as pivotal support to take their professional development to the next level and, in many cases, their work from creative concept to stage. The grants – named for seminal composer Jonathan Larson, who posthumously won a Pulitzer Prize and four Tony Awards – regularly serve as an indicator of who will be the next great theater-makers and culture-shapers.
This year’s winners also include multimedia artist Fouad Dakwar, a participant in the 2025 Johnny Mercer Foundation (JMF) Writers Grove at Goodspeed Musicals; and composer, lyricist and librettist Adam J. Rineer, currently participating in the 2026 JMF Writers Grove, music director of Goodspeed’s 2025 production of All Shook Up, and associate music director on Christmas in Connecticut and Cabaret.
ABOUT GOODSPEED MUSICALS
Goodspeed Musicals is a nonprofit arts organization that has achieved international acclaim and is the first theatre in the nation to receive two Tony Awards for outstanding achievement in musical theatre. Under the leadership of Donna Lynn Hilton, Artistic Director, and Vanessa Logan, Managing Director, Goodspeed Musicals is dedicated to the celebration, development and advancement of musical theatre. Goodspeed creates powerful, world-class productions of enlightening new and established works to delight, inspire and challenge audiences on its two stages – The Goodspeed in East Haddam, Conn., and The Terris Theatre in Chester, Conn. From Goodspeed, 21 musicals have gone to Broadway (including Man of La Mancha, Annie, Shenandoah, By Jeeves and Holiday Inn) and 91 world premieres have been launched. Goodspeed’s Festival of New Musicals, GoodWorks commissioning program and the Johnny Mercer Foundation Writers Grove at Goodspeed are distinguished cornerstones of the organization that highlight its commitment to nurture creators and the creative process. Goodspeed also maintains The Scherer Library of Musical Theatre and The Max Showalter Center for Education in Musical Theatre. The organization is supported in part by the Burry Fredrik Foundation; the Connecticut Office of the Arts, which also receives funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency; Masonic are at Chester Village; The Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving; The Shubert Foundation; Smith Farm Gardens; and WSHU Public Radio. Additional support is provided by United Airlines, the official airline of Goodspeed Musicals. For more information, visit www.goodspeed.org.
