Kobalt today announced a global publishing deal with Pulitzer Prize winner, Michael R. Jackson. The partnership with the American playwright, composer, and lyricist includes publishing administration, creative services and sync for all of Jackson’s catalog and future works.

“Michael R. Jackson’s musical, A Strange Loop, knocked me off my seat when I saw it last summer,” said Sue Drew, General Manager, Creative, Kobalt. “The eloquence of his storytelling and his unforgettable melodies signal a giant in musical theater. It is our honor and privilege to represent his publishing. He is an American treasure.”

In May of this year, Michael R. Jackson won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, for his critically acclaimed, A Strange Loop. The play also won him a New York Drama Critics Circle Award, the Lambda Literary Award for Drama, two Drama Desk Awards, two Obie Awards, two Outer Critics Circle Award Honors and an Antonyo Award. A Strange Loop was called "a full-on laparoscopy of the heart, soul, and loins" and a "gutsy, jubilantly anguished musical with infectious melodies" by Ben Brantley for The New York Times, and "exhilarating and wickedly funny" by Sara Holdren for New York.

Commenting on the deal, Jackson noted, “I am beyond thrilled to partner with Kobalt on my music publishing. For me, music is a dream that began when my father made my brother and I start taking piano lessons as kids in Detroit, Michigan, the birthplace of Motown. It was then and there that I began to learn that music was a TRADITION and not a trend and an inextricable part of my being as an artist. I look forward to sharing my contribution to that tradition as far and as wide as I can with Kobalt."

As a songwriter Michael R. Jackson's work has spanned from the Public Theatre, Joe’s Pub, to the National Alliance Music Theatre, growing his audience and recognition along the way. The young playwright and composer has already received many awards and associations including: a New Professional Theatre Festival Award, a Jonathan Larson Grant, a Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award, an ASCAP Foundation Harold Adamson Award, a Whiting Award, the Helen Merrill Award for Playwriting, a New York Drama Circle Critics Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, a Drama Desk Award, an Obie Award, a Dramatist Guild Fellowship. His work earned him commissions from Grove Entertainment, Barbara Whitman Productions, and LCT3, as well as becoming a newly-elected member of the Dramatists Guild Council.

To find more about Michael R. Jackson’s upcoming work, visit his website and socials.