KC Rep's Hatley Receives Generative Performing Artist Award

Eric Rosen, Artistic Director of Kansas City Repertory Theatre, is pleased to announce that director/playwright Kyle Hatley, the Rep's Associate Artistic Director, has been selected by the Charlotte Street Foundation as one of two generative performing artists to receive an unrestricted cash award of $7,500 in 2011.

Hatley and UMKC composer James Mobberley were selected through a competitive, twophased process by a panel of performing arts professionals from 29 nominated artists.

A public performance of the work of this year's Generative Performing Awards Fellows is planned for fall, 2011.

Since launching in 2008, the Charlotte Street Generative Performing Artist Awards have now recognized nine Kansas City-based artists creating outstanding, innovative, original work in the fields of dance, theatre, music, experimental music performance, theatre/performance art and hybrid/interdisciplinary versions thereof, with a total of $58,000 in unrestricted funds distributed to these nine artists. The Generative Performing Awards were developed as a parallel program to Charlotte Street's Visual Artist Awards, which have now supported 74 Kansas City-based visual artists over 14 years, with a total of $482,500 awarded.

Through its awards programs, Charlotte Street Foundation seeks to foster the continued creative and professional development of the selected artists, provide the means for them to further focus on and develop their work, and increase exposure for their accomplishments. In so doing, Charlotte Street seeks to contribute to the vitality of Kansas City's art community and to enhance Kansas City's desirability as a place for artists to work and live.

The Charlotte Street Generative Performing Artist Award recognizes Hatley for his work as a playwright and director. Hatley received his degree in theatre from Rhodes College (Memphis, TN). Since moving to Kansas City from Chicago in 2008, Hatley has been a highly active participant in Kansas City's theatre community. For the Kansas City Fringe Festival, he wrote and directed Watering the Grave, a blues musical retelling of the Oresteia; The Death of Cupid, a folk musical retelling of Lysistrata; and Head, which was based on the biblical story of Herod, Herodias, Salome and John the Baptist. For Chatterbox Audio Theater, a Kansas City/Memphis-based non-profit web-based community theatre project, of which he is artistic director, Hatley has written and directed a number of audio plays including an adult adaptation of Pinocchio, and is the recipient of the Silver Ogle Award for his original series "The Dead Girl."

Hatley's additional directing projects include Circle Mirror Transformation, A Christmas Carol, The
Borderland and Broke-ology at Kansas City Repertory Theatre; Hamlet for TwoThirds Theatre; How Does Your Garden Grow for the Equity Showcase; and Ben Franklin's Apprentice at the Coterie Theatre. Hatley was named Best Director in Kansas City by The Pitch in 2009. He is currently working on two new plays: a new musical called People Fall, and a psychological thriller, Raise My Hand. The work of composer James Mobberley spans many media, including orchestral and chamber music, music for film, video, theatre, dance, and music that combines electronic and computer elements with live performance. The recipient of a Rome Prize and a Guggenheim Fellowship, among other honors, Mobberley is the creator of nearly 80 original compositions and arrangements, which have been performed around the world.

Mobberley received both his BA in Music (Guitar) and his MM in Composition from the University of
North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and his DMA in Composition from the Cleveland Institute of Music. From 1991-1999, he served as the Kansas City Symphony's first Composer-in-Residence. This residency was expanded to include the State Ballet of Missouri and the Paseo Academy for the Performing and Visual Arts, the local arts magnet high school, through a grant from Meet the Composer's New Residencies program for 1994-97. Other residencies include Composer-in-Residence for the "newEar" Ensemble (1999-2002), and guest residencies and workshops at the Taiwan National Symphony, the Ft. Smith Symphony, the Composers Forum of the East at Bennington College, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Southern California, Oberlin College, Washington State University, the University of Arkansas and Heidelberg College. Since 1999 Mobberley has held the position of Curator's Professor of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

A rotating panel of Awards Advisors is responsible for selecting the Charlotte Street Foundation Awards Fellows each year. The 2011 Generative Performing Awards Advisors included Don Adams, performing arts and cultural consultant; Cynthia Rider, Managing Director, Kansas City Repertory Theatre; Sixto Wagan, Co-director and Performance Curator of DiverseWorks, Houston; and Susan Warden, choreographer. Peter Witte, Dean, University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance served as an advisory, non-voting member of the panel. Panelist Cynthia Rider was recused from voting on Kyle Hatley.

For the Generative Performing Awards, Artists are nominated by the Awards Advisors and a group of Community Nominators for consideration. 2011 Community Nominators included Jeff Church, Artistic Director, The Coterie Theatre; Brad Cox, composer/musician and 2010 Charlotte Street Generative Performing Award Fellow; David Ford, multi-disciplinary artist; Michael Joy, Director of Artistic and Educational Programs, Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey; Cheryl Kimmi, Director, Kansas City Fringe Festival; Glenn North, poet/spoken word artist and 2009 Charlotte Street Generative Performing Award Fellow; Stephanie Roberts, creator/director/performer and 2010 Charlotte Street Generative Performing Award Fellow; and Mark Southerland, composer/musician and 2008 Generative Performing Award Fellow.Twenty-nine nominated artists submitted materials for consideration this year through a combination of online applications and work samples submitted on CD/DVD. Selection was conducted through a twophased process whereby the Advisors reviewed all submitted materials privately and completed ratings online through callforentry.org, then came together for a final selection meeting, at which time materials were re-reviewed and discussed, and final selections were completed.

The recipients were selected based on the quality of their work and their accomplishments to date, for their promise for continued creation and development as generative artists, and for the relevance of their work in relation to the broader field of contemporary art and performance.

CHARLOTTE STREET FOUNDATION
A non-profit organization, Charlotte Street Foundation (CSF) supports and recognizes outstanding artists in Kansas City; presents, promotes, enhances, and encourages the visual and performing arts; and fosters economic development in the urban core of Kansas City, Mo. On all levels, CSF places artists at the center of its mission and has built an infrastructure that depends on and reflects their involvement. As a result, CSF continually evolves in response to artist input and in relation to the city's larger cultural ecosystem. For more about Charlotte Street Foundation and its activities, visit www.charlottestreet.org.

KANSAS CITY REPERTORY THEATRE
Now in its 46th season, Kansas City Repertory Theatre is its region's only member of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) and serves as the professional theatre in residence at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). The Rep produces mainstage plays and special events at Spencer Theatre on the UMKC campus and Copaken Stage located in downtown Kansas City. Kansas City Rep employs more than 250 professional artists, technicians and administrators, and serves more than 100,000 patrons annually. For more information about Kansas City Repertory Theatre, visit www.KCRep.org.