Adams Prize for Musical Theatre

Applications for the 2025 Adams Prize are now closed.

The Adams Prize for Musical Theatre is one of two new works contests held by the Toronto Fringe. This contest is for composers/playwrights with a new, previously unproduced musical. This contest has been created to provide an opportunity for new works that are at a point in development where they are ready to be produced at the upcoming Toronto Fringe Festival. 

Prize

The winner of the 2025 Adams Prize for Musical Theatre will receive a free performance slot in the 2025 Toronto Fringe Festival (July 2-13, 2024) as well as a bursary ($3500 for first place, $1000 for second place, and $750 for third place). 

The Adams Prize for Musical Theatre is generously sponsored by the Pat and Tony Adams Freedom Fund for the Arts.

Application Fees

$15/$25/$35 application fee including HST, paid by credit card through the online application form. 

(*Non-Sufficient Funds: If fee is returned the applicant will be informed and have 24 hours to pay the fee as well as any service fees incurred)

The application fee contributes towards the administrative costs of these contests. If this fee presents a barrier to you, please reach out to us via email at suzanne@fringetoronto.com.

Contest Terms & Conditions

1. All applicants must be a permanent resident of Canada. 
2. More than one entry per playwright/composer is permitted. 
3. All works must be submitted in English. 
4. All entries must be original, unproduced works. Works that have had a workshop for the purpose of creation and development are eligible.
5. The playwright/composer may have received funding to create or workshop this piece. 
6. All plays/musicals must have a performance time of 90 minutes or less. 
7. Playwrights/composers who enter a contest may also enter the Fringe lottery. 
8. If selected, the winner must produce the play/musical that was submitted to the corresponding contest for the next soonest Toronto Fringe Festival. It is understood that the piece will be subject to revisions/dramaturgical changes in the usual course of continued development. 
9. The winning production will also be required to recognize the Toronto Fringe on all their marketing materials (program, posters, brochures, press release, website, etc). Specific details of this recognition to follow. 
10. The winning production will also be required to recognize all sponsors/partners of the competition on all their marketing materials (specific details of this recognition to follow).
11. The winner must provide a short post-festival report on the contest, production, and festival experience. 
12. The winning plays will be announced each year at the Fringe Festival Lottery Party held in December. 

Application Materials

The application consists of a short, online form where you can upload materials and pay the application fee. If an alternative application method is required, please email suzanne@fringetoronto.com. 

1. Completed draft of a script including a minimum of three music samples hyperlinked into the body of your script. If you do not have recordings of the songs, you may submit the sheet music, however it is strongly recommended to provide a recording of at least one of the songs.
2. The first phase of the assessment process is anonymous, please ensure that the author’s name is not on the script, or visible on any of the music links (if you’re linking it to google drive, please use a company google drive account or something other than your personal account).
3. Proof of rights. 
4. Estimated running time (a maximum of 90 min). 
5. Brief statement about your producing experience, producing team and why your musical would be a hit at the Toronto Fringe. (only visible to the assessment committee on phase 2 of the adjudication process). 
6. Workshop and development history (150-word limit) & writer bios. 
7. An application fee of either $15, $25, or $35, paid by credit card through the online application form. 

Selection Process

This contest is adjudicated by approximately four assessment committee members and undergoes two rounds of adjudication. Due to the specific requirements of a slot in the upcoming Fringe Festival, the second adjudication round will not be anonymous and producing experience will also be considered by the assessment committee. Round 1 will be adjudicated anonymously and be based on the script and music samples provided. 

Round 1: All applications are divided equally between the jurors. Each juror selects a shortlist of which applications to advance to round 2.  

Round 2: Each application in the shortlist is reviewed by every committee member, and they come together in a final meeting to select the winning application. To give the winning piece the best possible chance of success, in this round, the committee will take into consideration the whole company experience behind the show.

Each application is assessed against the following criteria:

• artistic merit  
• innovation  
• script coherence   
• producing experience and suitability of the script for a Fringe producing platform and audience
• the work must be no longer than 90 mins and no less than 45 mins.  
• the work must be a completed piece, or a draft that could be reasonably completed by the time the 2025 Toronto Fringe Festival occurs

Access

The Toronto Fringe is committed to equality, diversity, and prioritizing accessibility. We warmly encourage applications from Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour communities, 2SLGBTQ+ identified persons as well as Deaf, Mad and disability-identified persons.

If you require any accommodations, please do not hesitate to contact Suzanne Wilkie (suzanne@fringetoronto.com).

Timeline

• Tuesday, Oct 1- Submissions open by end of day 
• Monday, Oct 21- First Deadline
• Monday, Oct 28- Final Deadline Submission form closes at 11:59 PM
• Monday, Dec 2- Winners of contests notified
• Early December- Winners announced at Lottery Party

Applications will be assessed as they are received. It is highly encouraged to submit your application by October 21 if possible, but applications will be accepted up until 11:59 PM October 28. 

Click here to apply now!

Download the eligibility and guidelines as a PDF.

Past Winners

"Boy Boy and the Magic Drum" by Chantal Forde and Jewelle Blackman (2024)
"Dancer" by Jim Betts (2023)
"As You Lay Sleeping" by Amelia Izmanki (2021, Digital Adams Prize)
"Statistics" by Shreya Jha (2020, deferred to 2022)
"The Break-Up Diet" by Tamara Williamson (2019)
"The Preposterous Predicament of Polly Peel" by Kevin Wong and Julie Tepperman (2018)
"Seeking Refuge" by Rick Jones (2017)
"Life After" by Britta Johnson (2016)

2025 Adams Prize Jury