In recognition of his contributions to theater, playwright John Logan will receive the Monte Cristo Award from the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Connecticut.
In the words of O’Neill’s executive director Preston Whiteway, Logan’s body of work represents “the finest in American storytelling.” Whiteway continued in a statement, “As a playwright and screenwriter, John creates singular and transformative stories that touch our common humanity.”
Added Logan, “I’m honored to accept the O’Neill’s Monte Cristo Award. Creating a new work of theater is a treacherous, exciting, nerve-racking experience. All dramatists need support and encouragement; and most of all they need a safe place to experiment, to fail grandly sometimes, and to occasionally take flight. The O’Neill was that safe space for me.”
“I started out as a starving playwright in Chicago and this is a chance to say thanks to an institution that, for over 50 years, has helped emerging artists find their voice,” Logan elaborated to The Hollywood Reporter. He emphasized that the O’Neill understands the process of creativity.
Developed as part of O’Neill’s 2017 National Theater Conference, Logan’s new musical Superhero, a collaboration with composer Tom Kitt, intertwines the activities of a fractured family, a mysterious stranger and an unexpected hero. “It’s a very personal work,” Logan told THR, “a small human story about learning how to stand up in the face of adversity.”
Logan labeled the development experience “nothing short of miraculous.” Superhero opens off-Broadway on Feb. 28 at Second Stage’s Tony Kiser Theatre.
On Broadway, Logan’s stage adaptation of Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge! opens July 25 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. In Logan’s words, the production is “uplifting in unexpected ways — and a spectacle.”
As a screenwriter, Logan has received three Oscar nominations — for Gladiator, The Aviator and Hugo. He won the 2010 Tony Award for best play for his Mark Rothko bio-drama, Red.
Logan will receive the Monte Cristo Award during a gala event at the Edison Ballroom on April 22. Past recipients include Lin-Manuel Miranda, Meryl Streep, Neil Simon and Michael Douglas.
