Musical Theater: FY 2006 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
American Masterpieces: Musical Theater | Panelists

Access to Artistic Excellence

(March 14, 2005 deadline)

5th Avenue Theatre Association
Seattle, WA
$15,000
To support the Seattle premiere of a contemporary musical with accompanying educational activities. Stephen Schwartz and Roger O'Hirson's Tony Award-winning musical Pippin will be directed by David Armstrong and feature new choreography and changes to the book and lyrics.

Actors Express, Inc.
Atlanta, GA
$12,000
To support the premiere of a new musical play with accompanying educational and outreach activities. Alliance Theatre Associate Artistic Director Kent Gash will direct Love Jerry - A Musical About Brothers, with script and music written and composed by Megan Gogerty.

Augustana College (on behalf of The Children's Theater of Sioux Falls)
Sioux Falls, SD
$12,000
To support regional touring of an original musical and a residency program. A Midwest tour of Stand Together will offer schools and community organizations live musical theater and educate them about issues related to tolerance and diversity.

Barrington Stage Company Inc.
Sheffield, MA
$25,000
To support the inauguration of the Musical Theater Lab for emerging artists. Under the mentorship of Tony Award-winning composer and lyricist William Finn and lyricist/ librettist Sarah Schlesinger of New York University's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, the Lab will identify and assist emerging musical theater writers, composers, and lyricists as they develop new work.

Columbus Association for the Performing Arts (Consortium)
Columbus, OH
$35,000
To support a consortium project to commission the adaptation and translation into American Sign Language (ASL) of a musical. Deaf West Theatre will tour a new production of The Secret Garden incorporating deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing actors performing in both spoken English and ASL.

Coterie, Inc.
Kansas City, MO
$22,000
To support the development and production of a musical for young audiences. Based on Collodi's story of the wooden puppet Pinocchio, the new musical Geppetto & Son by composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz and writer David Stern will accomodate the time limitations and smaller casts of professional theaters for young audiences.

East-West Players
Los Angeles, CA
$30,000
To support the production of a musical. As part of the 40th-anniversary season, Tim Dang will direct a revival of the theater's 1994 production of Sweeney Todd by composer Stephen Sondheim and lyricist Hugh Wheeler.

La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, Inc. (aka La MaMa E.T.C.)
New York, NY
$33,000
To support the creation and production of a new operatic theater work based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Artistic Director Ellen Stewart will create and direct the work with music composed by Genji Ito, lyrics by Ellen Stewart, and musical direction by Michael Sirotta.

Lyric Stage, Inc.
Irving, TX
$8,000
To support the revival and production of a classic musical work. Sheilah Vaughn Walker will conduct the music for Cabin in the Sky with book by Lynn Root, lyrics by John Latouche, and music by Vernon Duke.

Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma, Inc.
Oklahoma City, OK
$18,000
To support the production of a contemporary musical. Beauty and the Beast, with a score by Alan Menken, Tim Rice, and the late Howard Ashman, will be produced as part of the 2006 summer season at the Civic Center Music Hall.

Mum Puppettheatre, Ltd.
Philadelphia, PA
$15,000
To support the recreation and production of a musical theater work. The Wizard of Oz, with music and lyrics by Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg, will be performed using live actors and puppets.

Nashville Academy Theatre and Nashville Children's Theatre Association
Nashville, TN
$18,000
To support the production and musical adaptation of classic children's literature. During the New Classics Project, musical stagings of The Wind in the Willows and Peter Pan:The Story of Peter & Wendy will be included in the theater's school performance series, accompanied by standards-based curriculum guides, teacher training, post-show disucssions, and family workshops.

National Alliance for Musical Theatre, Inc.
New York, NY
$35,000
To support the 18th annual Festival of New Musicals. The festival will showcase new musicals for an invited audience of producers and musical theater professionals.

New York Theatre Workshop, Inc.
New York, NY
$45,000
To support the production of a new musical adapted from a classic text. The world premiere of The Seven, a hip-hop musical adaptation by Will Power of Aeschylus's Seven Against Thebes, will be directed by Jo Bonney.

Next Theatre Company
Evanston, IL
$12,000
To support the premiere production of a new chamber musical by Joshua Smith and Jason Loewith adapted from The Adding Machine by Elmer Rice. Educational activities will include lectures, panel discussions, and in-school work at Evanston Township High School.

Roundabout Theatre Company, Inc.
New York, NY
$50,000
To support the production of a new adaptation of The Threepenny Opera. More than 4,000 New York City public high school students will study The Threepenny Opera and attend a performance through Roundabout Theatre's education programs.

San Francisco Mime Troupe, Inc.
San Francisco, CA
$25,000
To support the creation and tour of a new musical theater work. Leave the Light On will tour in Bay Area parks and to rural communities in northern and central California.

Signature Theatre, Inc.
Arlington, VA
$35,000
To support the production of a new musical theater work. The world premiere of the chamber musical Nevermore, by composer Matt Conner and playwright Norman Allen with orchestration by Jonathan Tunick, will be directed by Eric Schaeffer.

Society of the Educational Arts, Inc.
New York, NY
$20,000
To support productions of children's musical theater in Spanish, with accompanying workshops, in New York and Puerto Rico. The theater will offer free admission to low-income families as well as a discounted rate to community organizations.

Thalia Spanish Theatre Inc.
Sunnyside, NY
$12,000
To support the world premiere of a new musical. Tango & Flamenco, a musical fusion of tango and flamenco with original music composed and performed by bandoneon maestro Raul Jaurena and composer/guitarist Daniel Casares, will be directed by Gil Orrios.

Theater Mu Incorporated (aka Mu Performing Arts)
Minneapolis, MN
$15,000
To support the development and production of a new musical. The Street Sweeper, by Rick Shiomi and composer/lyricist Kurt Miyashiro, will be based on the Benito folk tales of the Philippines and feature taiko drumming and martial arts movement.

Theatre & Arts Foundation of San Diego County (aka La Jolla Playhouse)
La Jolla, CA
$40,000
To support the world premiere of a new musical. The Essential Alice, a musical adaptation of Lewis Carroll's novels by author Annie Weisman and composer/sound designer Michael Friedman, will be directed by Des McAnuff.

Theatre Building Chicago, NFP
Chicago, IL
$10,000
To support the public presentation of new musicals-in-progress. The Stages Festival will present as many as eight musicals, selected from more than 100 submissions, to be performed as concert readings or skeletal productions.

Theatre Under The Stars
Houston, TX
$30,000
To support the recreation and revival of a classic musical. In collaboration with original creators Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, Associate Artistic Director Roy Hamlin will direct 110 in the Shade, which is based on the play The Rainmaker.

TheatreWorks
Palo Alto, CA
$25,000
To support the 2006 New Works Festival.

Vineyard Theatre & Workshop Center, Inc.
New York, NY
$30,000
To support the development and workshop presentation of a new musical. My Mother and Umm Kulthum by Polly Pen will be developed in the Kitty Carlisle Hart Musical Theater Lab with accompanying dramaturgical support.

Vivian Beaumont Theater, Inc. (aka Lincoln Center Theater)
New York, NY
$50,000
To support the world premiere of a new musical. A musical adaptation of Federico Garcia Lorca's novel The House of Bernarda Alba, by playwright Richard Nelson and composer Michael John La Chiusa, will be staged by director and choreographer Graciela Daniele.

York Theatre Company, Inc.
New York, NY
$8,000
To support the development of new musicals. The annual Developmental Reading series will feature more than 40 readings of new musicals offered free-of-charge to composers, lyricists, and the general public.

Access to Artistic Excellence II

(August 15, 2005 deadline)

American Conservatory Theatre Foundation (aka American Conservatory Theater)
San Francisco, CA
$55,000
To support the production of a classic musical theater work. Artistic Director Carey Perloff will direct Happy End by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, with music direction by Constantine Kitsopoulos.

City Center 55th Street Theater Foundation, Inc.
New York, NY
$50,000
To support the restoration, remounting, and staged concert productions of musicals in the Encores! series. The annual series of rarely heard American musicals will be performed in New York City Center's 2,753-seat theater.

Civic Light Opera (aka Pittsburgh CLO)
Pittsburgh, PA
$16,000
To support the tour of a musical and the Gallery of Heroes education and outreach program. Jason Coll's historical musical Steel will explore an immigrant man's efforts to improve his life through hard work and technology and the importance of the steel industry to the region.

Hudson Vagabond Puppets, Incorporated (aka HVP)
Blauvelt, NY
$10,000
To support a national tour of a musical puppetry work. Mammoth Follies, a vaudeville-style dinosaur review, is part of the company's touring repertoire and is designed to serve children in grades pre-K through fourth.

M Ensemble Company, Inc. (aka M Ensemble)
Miami, FL
$10,000
To support the production of a two-act musical play and playwriting workshops for emerging artists. Jerry Maple, Jr. will direct Indigo Blues: A Lovesong by Judi Ann Mason.

Mad River Theater Works
West Liberty, OH
$35,000
To support the creation of a play with music, based on local history, 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.

MCT, Inc. (aka Missoula Children's Theatre)
Missoula, MT
$15,000
To support the MCT Tour Project. Touring musical theater performing arts residencies will be offered to K-12 children nationwide. Activities will include auditions, rehearsals, classroom workshops, and a final public performance.

New York Shakespeare Festival (aka Public Theater) (Consortium)
New York, NY
$40,000
To support a consortium project with the Berkeley Repertory Theatre for the premiere production of a new musical theater work. Annie Dorsen will direct Passing Strange by singer/songwriter Stew (Mark Stewart) and music collaborator Heidi Rodewald.

North Shore Community Arts Foundation, Inc. (aka North Shore Music Theatre)
Beverly, MA
$50,000
To support the production of a revised musical adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' 1844 novel, The Three Musketeers. The project includes music by George Stiles, lyrics by Paul Leigh, and book by Peter Raby.

Paper Mill Playhouse
Millburn, NJ
$10,000
To support the Free Access Program for persons with disabilities. Paper Mill Playhouse will provide barrier-free access; discounted tickets; and access services to patrons with hearing, visual, and other physical impairments.

Skylight Opera Theatre Corp. (aka Skylight Opera Theatre)
Milwaukee, WI
$12,000
To support a production of the 1881 satirical opera Patience. The theater will produce the work in its Student Matinee Series and offer artist presentations and educational activities in schools and community venues.

Theatreworks/USA Corporation (aka Theatreworks)
New York, NY
$55,000
To support a national tour of theater productions for young audiences. Theatreworks/USA will provide audiences in as many as 35 states and the District of Columbia with access to live theater and educational activities that complement school curricula.

Walnut Street Theatre Corporation
Philadelphia, PA
$10,000
To support an education and outreach program. The outreach program will supplement school curricula with artistic programming that is relevant to students' lives with a goal of building future audiences.

Young at Heart Chorus, Incorporated (aka Young at Heart Chorus)
Northampton, MA
$28,000
To support the development and production of an original musical to tour with other repertory productions. Road Race, staged by director Roy Faudree and performed by the chorus, will join repertory works Road to Heaven and Road to Nowhere for performances in Northampton and Springfield, Massachusetts.

American Masterpieces: Musical Theater

City Center 55th Street Theater Foundation, Inc.
New York, NY
$75,000
To support the production of A Celebration of the Great American Broadway Revue. In recognition of the 100th aniversary of the Ziegfeld Follies, the project will celebrate and preserve the songs and sketches of the Broadway revue form.

Cumberland County Playhouse, Inc.
Crossville, TN
$30,000
To support the production of Carousel, by composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist/librettist Oscar Hammerstein. The project will benefit the Avalon Center Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Program.

Goodspeed Opera House Foundation, Inc. (aka Goodspeed Musicals)
East Haddam, CT
$60,000
To support the production and tour of The Unsinkable Molly Brown, by composer/lyricist Meredith Willson and book writer Richard Morris. Prior to a national tour, the work will be revised through developmental workshops and produced on Goodspeed Opera House's mainstage.

Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Inc.
Kansas City, MO
$50,000
To support the revival of Allegro, the seldom-produced musical by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, with educational activities commemorating their artistic legacy. Eric Schaeffer, artistic director and co-founder of Signature Theatre, will direct an adaptation of Allegro, with book and lyrics by Joe DiPietro and orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick.

Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma, Inc.
Oklahoma City, OK
$55,000
To support the 2007 official centennial production of Oklahoma! by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. The production will honor Oklahoma's centennial year and be performed in Oklahoma City's newly renovated Civic Center Music Hall.

North Carolina School of the Arts Foundation, Inc.
Winston-Salem, NC
$40,000
To support the 50th-anniversary celebration and production of West Side Story with accompanying outreach and educational activities. Obie Award-winner and dean of the North Carolina School of Drama Gerald Freeman, will direct the production, with book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

Portland Center Stage
Portland, OR
$45,000
To support the production of West Side Story, with accompanying community and education programs. In celebration of Portland Center Stage's move to a new home and first season in the Armory Theater, Artistic Director Chris Coleman will direct.

San Jose Children's Musical Theater
San Jose, CA
$25,000
To support the production of Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods, with educational activities, theatrical training, and performance experience for young artists. Artistic Director and Choreographer Kevin R. Hauge will produce the piece as part of the theater's 40th anniversary Masterpieces in the Making season.

Signature Theatre, Inc.
Arlington, VA
$40,000
To support the production of the award-winning contemporary musical Into the Woods. Founding Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer will direct Into the Woods, created by the Pulitzer-Prize winning team of composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim and book writer James Lapine.

Studio Theatre, Inc.
Washington, DC
$40,000
To support the production of a contemporary musical, with accompanying education and outreach activities. Award-winning director and choreographer Greg Ganakas will direct Caroline, or Change by Pulitzer Prize winner and playwright Tony Kushner and composer Jeanine Tesori.

Village Theatre
Issaquah, WA
$45,000
To support the production and tour of Hello Dolly, with music and lyrics by Jerry Herman and book by Michael Stewart. The work will be produced at the Francis J. Gaudette Theatre followed by a three-week tour to the Everett Performing Arts Center.

Virginia Stage Company
Norfolk, VA
$35,000
To support a concert staging of Lost in the Stars, with community outreach and educational activities. Artistic Director Chris Hanna will direct Kurt Weill's 1949 Broadway piece, with musical direction by international conductor and maestro Julius Rudel.

Zachary Scott Theater Center
Austin, TX
$40,000
To support the production of a classic musical theater work, with educational outreach components for children, youth, and adults. Composer George Gershwin's 1935 American opera Porgy and Bess will be staged in the Kleberg Theater.

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