Musical Theater: FY 2005 Grants

Some details of the projects listed below are subject to change, contingent upon prior Endowment approval.

Access to Artistic Excellence | Access to Artistic Excellence II | Panelists

Access to Artistic Excellence

About Face Theatre Collective
Chicago, IL
$20,000
To support the development and production of a new musical. Tony Award-winning director Frank Galati and composer Stephen Flaherty will create a new musical adapted from the writings of Gertrude Stein.

American Music Theater Festival, Inc.
Philadelphia, PA
$20,000
To support a festival of new musical theater. The 2005 New Music Theater Festival will include performances and showcases of new musical theater works, workshops, residencies, panels, and audience discussion activities.

Augustana College (on behalf of The Children's Theatre Company of Sioux Falls)
Sioux Falls, SD
$10,000
To support the development and production of a new musical based on the Hans Christian Anderson story The Emperor's New Clothes. Emperor, Incorporated will be conceived by Artistic Director Nancy Halverson, written by Wesley Middleton, and composed by Michael Keck with the participation of local students in the development process.

Columbus Association for the Performing Arts
Columbus, OH
$8,000
To support the presentation of a musical adapted from a literary work. A revival of Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn will be presented in an American Sign Language (ASL) adaptation.

East-West Players
Los Angeles, CA
$20,000
To support the commission, development, and premiere production of a new musical. The artistic team of lyricist Aaron Coleman, book writer Sachi Oyamo, and composer Nathan Wang will create a new production titled Imelda.

Emerald City Arts
Seattle, WA
$10,000
To support a semi-staged production of an American musical. In partnership with the 5th Avenue Theatre, the Seattle Men's Chorus will produce a concert version of a musical by composer Jule Styne and lyricist Leo Robbin.

First Stage Milwaukee, Inc.
Milwaukee, WI
$15,000
To support the production of a musical for school and family audiences. Adapted from a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, Honk! will be produced in collaboration with the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Hudson Vagabond Puppets, Incorporate
Blauvelt, NY
$8,000
To support the restoration and redesign of puppets and sets for the production of Mammoth Follies, a musical puppetry work. This vaudeville-style dinosaur review is part of the company's touring repertoire.

Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma, Inc.
Oklahoma City, OK
$18,000
To support the presentation of a musical adapted from a literary work. As the centerpiece of the 2005 Summer Season, Honk! will include the training of a youth ensemble to participate in the production.

Melting Pot Theatre Co.
New York, NY
$15,000
To support the development and production of a new musical by composer Mike Reid and lyricist/librettist Sarah Schlesinger. In This House examines the lives of two married couples.

Music-Theatre Group, Inc.
New York, NY
$38,000
To support the final development and production of a new musical work. The artistic team of composer Tod Machover, U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky, director Diane Paulus, and writer/director Randy Weiner will develop Death and the Powers, exploring the life of inventor, businessman, and showman Casey Powers.

National Alliance for Musical Theatre, Inc.
New York, NY
$33,000
To support the 17th annual Festival of New Musicals. The festival will showcase new musicals for an invited audience of producers and musical theater professionals.

North Shore Community Arts Foundation, Inc.
Beverly, MA
$40,000
To support the 2005 New Works Development Program. Since 1985, North Shore Music Theatre has provided a nurturing environment for artists and has been a catalyst in the development of new musicals.

Old Globe Theatre
San Diego, CA
$30,000
To support the world premiere of a new musical about the Irish author James Joyce, titled Himself And Nora. The project will be written by Sheila Walsh and composer Jonathan Brielle; Tony Award winner Joseph Hardy will direct the production.

Perseverance Theatre, Inc.
Douglas, AK
$25,000
To support world premiere productions of a chamber musical and a new play, part of a festival of emergent theater works. The Long Season depicts the lives of Filipino immigrants working in salmon canneries in 1930s Alaska. The play Columbinus illuminates the realities of adolescent culture and behavior.

San Francisco Mime Troupe, Inc.
San Francisco, CA
$25,000
To support the development, production, and tour of Behind Every Child, an original musical comedy that explores how critical thinking in our education system contributes to our democracy. As the centerpiece of its annual summer tour of free shows, Behind Every Child will tour to venues throughout California including underserved rural communities.

Second Generation Productions, Inc.
New York, NY
$15,000
To support the production of a new musical theater work. Based on Ang Lee's Academy Award-nominated film, the adaptation titled The Wedding Banquet: The Musical will be created by the artistic team of co-bookwriter and conceiver Welly Yang, co-bookwriter and lyricist Brian Yorkey, and composer Woody Pak.

Seven Loaves, Inc. (on behalf of Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre)
New York, NY
$10,000
To support the development and production of a new musical work with actors, jazz musicians, and puppets. The Bass Saxophone tells the story of teen musicians and jazz aficionados in German-occupied Czechoslovakia during World War II.

Signature Theatre, Inc.
Arlington, VA
$30,000
To support the adaptation and production of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's musical Pacific Overtures. The musical portrays Japan's first encounter with America in 1853, and is presented during the 150th anniversary of U.S.-Japan relations.

Society of the Educational Arts, Inc.
New York, NY
$15,000
To support productions of children's musical theater with accompanying workshops in New York and Puerto Rico. Through the presentation of Latin American children's classics and folk tales, Sociedad Educativa de las Artes (SEA) preserves Latin American arts and culture.

Thalia Spanish Theatre Inc.
Sunnyside, NY
$10,000
To support the world premiere of a musical theater work that celebrates the art of tango. To be written and directed by Angel Gil Orrios, with original music by composer Raul Jaurena, I Love Tango/Te Amo Tango will explore tango from its origins to its fusion with jazz and modern dance.

Theater Mu Incorporated
Minneapolis, MN
$15,000
To support the development and production of a new music theater work adapted from a play in the theater's repertoire. The Walleye Kid, inspired by Korean and Japanese folktales, is based on the experience of thousands of Korean cross-racial adoptions in Minnesota.

TheatreWorks
Palo Alto, CA
$20,000
To support an annual New Works Festival. As a component of the New Works Initiative, the festival will include staged readings and the California premiere of Crowns, a work by Regina Taylor that celebrates African American women and their church heritage.

Vivian Beaumont Theater, Inc.
New York, NY
$60,000
To support the world premiere of a new musical. Based on a novel by Sherley Anne Williams, Dessa Rose will be directed by Graciela Daniele, with libretto and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and score by Stephen Flaherty.

Access to Artistic Excellence II

African Continuum Theatre Coalition, Inc.
Washington, DC
$25,000
To support the production of a contemporary musical. Scot Reese will direct Jelly's Last Jam, by George C. Wolfe and lyricist Susan Birkenhead, in ACTC's new performance venue.

Barter Foundation, Incorporated (consortium)
Abingdon, VA
$35,000
To support a consortium project for the final development and production of a new musical theater work celebrating Appalachian music and culture. In partnership with the Town of Clintwood, Virginia, and the Ralph Stanley Museum, the Barter Theatre will produce Constant Sorrow: The Story of the Stanley Brothers by Dr. Douglas Pote.

Black Ensemble Theater Corporation
Chicago, IL
$35,000
To support the Black Playwrights Initiative. The project will provide training to emerging playwrights in the development of new musical theater works, to be showcased at the annual Chicago Black Playwrights Festival.

City Center 55th Street Theater Foundation, Inc.
New York, NY
$55,000
To support the restoration, remounting, and staged concert productions of musicals and a concert in the Encores! series. The annual series of rarely-heard American musicals is performed in City Center's 2,753-seat theater.

Civic Light Opera
Pittsburgh, PA
$15,000
To support the tour of a new musical. Jason Coll and Andrew Masich's historical musical, Young Washington, explores George Washington's early life in western Pennsylvania, and will be presented as part of an education and outreach program in schools.

Goodspeed Opera House Foundation, Inc.
East Haddam, CT
$50,000
To support the remounting of a musical theater work based on the novel Marked by Fire by Joyce Carol Thomas. Abyssinia, with book by James Racheff and Ted Kociolek, music by Kociolek, and lyrics by Racheff, will be presented on the mainstage of the Goodspeed Opera House in the fall of 2005.

Lime Kiln Arts, Inc.
Lexington, VA
$17,000
To support the production and tour of a musical based on Appalachian folk tales. The project will re-orchestrate and produce a summer outdoor production of Sing Down the Moon, by Mary Hall Surface and David Maddox, and tour a one-hour version of the work to rural areas.

Mad River Theater Works
West Liberty, OH
$25,000
To support the creation of a play based on local history and folklore in collaboration with students and their families, teachers, and members of the public. The play will tour to non-traditional settings throughout Ohio and surrounding states.

Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, Inc.
New York, NY
$25,000
To support the development and workshop production of a new musical adapted from a literary work. Based on the novel Days of the Tong War by author and lyricist C. Y. Lee, The Fan Tan King will be composed by Douglas Lackey and directed by Tisa Chang.

San Jose Children's Musical Theater
San Jose, CA
$18,000
To support the training of young artists, workshops, and the production of a musical. Young performers will receive introductory training with professional theater artists and perform in a presentation of the musical Jesus Christ Superstar.

Skylight Opera Theatre Corp.
Milwaukee, WI
$10,000
To support the KidsWrites Workshop Program. The project, intended to advance children's understanding of musical theater, includes a writing workshop that culminates in the creation of a musical.

Theatreworks/USA Corporation
New York, NY
$45,000
To support a national tour of theater productions for young audiences. Theatreworks/USA will provide audiences in 35 states and the District of Columbia with access to live theater and educational activities that complement school curricula.

Timber Lake Playhouse
Mt. Carroll, IL
$10,000
To support the production of a seldom-produced musical theater work based on a literary text. The musical adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame, by playwright David H. Bell, lyricist Cheri Coons, and composer Tom Sivak, will be further developed and directed by Artistic Director Brad Lyons.

Tulane University (on behalf of The Summer Lyric Theatre)
New Orleans, LA
$20,000
To support the Summer in Residence program for artists. Choreographers, dancers, and members of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) will be in residence at the Summer Lyric Theatre for the production of musicals, and to participate in community outreach activities.

Young at Heart Chorus, Incorporated
Northampton, MA
$25,000
To support the production and tour of two musicals. The Chorus will tour the repertory works Road to Heaven and Road to Nowhere to states in the Midwest, and on the West Coast.

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