"The Snow Goose" Writers to Receive Prestigious Jonathan Larson Grant

Press release

Goodspeed Musicals Announces The Snow Goose Writers Scott Gilmour and Claire McKenzie to Receive Prestigious Jonathan Larson Grant

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 organizations 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.