NAMT Announces Seven New Musicals Grant Recipients

The National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) is proud to announce seven grant recipients of the National Fund for New Musicals, a new major granting initiative to support NAMT member not-for-profit theatres in their collaboration with writers to create, develop, and produce new musicals.

Grants supporting full productions have been awarded to:
Adirondack Theatre Festival (Glens Falls, NY) for Ordinary Days by Adam Gwon, which was part of NAMT's 2008 Festival of New Musicals, with underwriting support from Stacey Mindich.

Center Theatre Group (Los Angeles, CA) for Post Office with book & lyrics by Melissa James Gibson and music by Michael Friedman, with underwriting support from Broadway Across America.

Grants supporting a workshop or reading have been awarded to:

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (Chicago, IL) for The Emperor's New Clothes with music & lyrics by Alan Schmuckler and book by Dave Holstein, with underwriting support from The Mackintosh Foundation.

Goodspeed Musicals (East Haddam, CT) for Band Geeks! with a book by Tommy Newman & Gordon Greenberg, lyric by Gaby Alter & Newman, music by Mark Allen, Alter & Newman, concept by Newman, with underwriting support from The ASCAP Foundation Irving Caeser Fund. Allen and Newman are alumni from NAMT's 2008 Festival of New Musicals for Tinyard Hill.

The Human Race Theatre Company (Dayton, OH) for The Trimble Wars with music by Sean Michael Flowers, book & lyrics by Patrick Vaughn, with underwriting support from Charlie Fink/New Musical Foundation.
The Old Globe (San Diego, CA) for The Weird Sisters with music by Ian Williams and book & lyrics by Aaron Jafferis, with underwriting support from The Lake Company, Inc. Both Williams and Jafferis are alumni from NAMT's 2007 Festival of New Musicals for Kingdom.

A grant supporting early developmental work has been awarded to:

Ford's Theatre Society (Washington, DC) for The House by Andrew Gerle and Eddie Sugarman, with underwriting support from The Shen Family Foundation. Gerle and Sugarman are alumni from NAMT's 2007 Festival of New Musicals for Meet John Doe.

This is the first year of grants awarded from the National Fund of New Musicals, a fund created by NAMT to help support every stage of development for new musicals. Executive Director Kathy Evans stated, "We are pleased, especially in these economic times, to help these not-for-profit NAMT members in their work with such talented writing teams. We will continue to raise significant funds to grow the National Fund for New Musicals. We anticipate giving more grants annually and hope to make a lasting impact on the musical theatre field." To learn more about NAMT, its new works programs including the 21st Annual Festival of New Musicals, and its members, please visit www.namt.org.