Edward Kleban

Edward Kleban (April 30 1939 - December 28 1987), known professionally as Ed Kleban, was an American musical theatre composer and lyricist.

A graduate of New York's High School of Music & Art and Columbia University, Kleban wrote the lyrics for the smash Broadway hit "A Chorus Line". He and composer Marvin Hamlisch won the 1976 Tony Award for Best Original Score.

The one-woman Phyllis Newman show, "The Madwoman of Central Park West" (1979), featured a few tunes with his lyrics.

In 2000, Lonny Price co-wrote (with Linda Kline), directed, and starred in "A Class Act", a musical biography of Kleban with a score comprised of songs he had written for numerous unproduced musicals. After a two-month run at the Manhattan Theatre Club, it transferred to the Ambassador Theatre, where it closed after three months. Fourteen years after his death from throat cancer, Kleban earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Original Score and Drama Desk nominations for Outstanding Music and Outstanding Lyrics.

Kleban created the Kleban Foundation, which awards grants to aspiring theatre lyricists.

###@@@KEY@@@### s-ach|awsuccession box
title=Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music and Lyrics
years=1975-1976
for "A Chorus Line"
before=Charlie Smalls
for "The Wiz"
after=none, separate awards for music and lyrics after this year

External links

* [http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=13009 Internet Broadway Database listing]