On Monday, April 27, 2026, in Midtown Manhattan, the Dramatists Guild honored Migdalia Cruz, Bess Wohl, Lisa Kron, Kimber Lee, Victor I. Cazares, Benjamin Velez and Joy Huerta, and Liberty Welch and Maggie Lawson at our annual Awards Night. The Dramatists Guild Awards, the only awards given to theatre writers by theatre writers, are a celebration of community and the remarkable talent that enriches the American theatre.
In addition to recognizing our award recipients, the evening marked the centennial of the negotiation of the Guild’s first enforceable contract: The Minimum Basic Agreement. To mark this tremendous occasion, the Guild was honored with a Proclamation from Mayor Zohran Mamdani commemorating the day, presented by New York State Senator Erik Bottcher.
Benjamin Velez & Joy Huerta, Real Women Have Curves
At a time when immigration seems to be one of this country’s political third rails, this charming, playful, and powerful musical recasts the conversation in a personal, human light. We’re reminded that real humans (real women!) are at the heart of this debate, trying to live, improve, and celebrate their lives every single day. It’s a show that succeeds both as fun and colorful Broadway entertainment and as social reckoning for our modern age. It deserved a much longer Broadway run. It deserves a long life going forward, and it certainly deserves this year’s Frederick Loewe Award.
- KRISTOFFER DIAZ
I’m so honored to accept this award on behalf of Joy Huerta and myself. Joy really wanted to be here, but she sends her love and wanted to say how lucky we both feel to have had each other as collaborators. All the writers here know collaboration can be a challenge, even in the best of times, but we were seriously like a married couple who somehow never needed counseling!
Thank you to the Dramatists Guild for elevating writers and their work. This score was such a labor of love, and I’m proud of how much light there is in it despite the fact our characters are dealing with so much darkness, a struggle to survive and thrive in a new homeland despite a lack of understanding and empathy, despite the dehumanizing othering that feels more present today than ever. But it’s a reminder that the work we do to give a voice to characters who don’t often get to be heard is one of the most vital ways we as artists can help people see their struggles reflected back to them and not feel so alone, and to give others a window into a world they don’t know, adding in all the shades of lush colors that make a black and white caricature feel human.
I discovered that composer Frederick Loewe died the year I was born, which maybe feels a tiny bit morbid, but to me it felt like a poetic passing of the torch. His music continues to thrive today, and I find it particularly poignant to think about how his score from Camelot presents this mirage of the perfect ideal, just like our country does for so many of the immigrants in Curves. And while ultimately the quest for goodness and hope doesn’t fully overcome the darkness, the attempt to find “shining moments” in an otherwise chaotic world is worth the effort. We tried to capture those moments of joy and hope in our songs and it’s an honor to receive this recognition in Frederick Loewe’s name tonight. Thank you again! ★
– Benjamin Velez
