THE PORTUGUESE KID, Donna Summer Musical Among 2nd Round of 2017 Edgerton New Play Award Winners

Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, is pleased to announce the recipients of the second round of the 2017 Edgerton Foundation New Play Awards.

The awards, totaling $1,051,000, allow 27 productions extra time for the development and rehearsal of new plays with the entire creative team, hoping to extend the life of the world premiere play after its first run.

Over the last eleven years, the Edgerton Foundation has awarded $11,295,900 to 375 productions, enabling many plays to schedule subsequent productions following their world premieres. Twenty-seven have made it to Broadway, including: Curtains, 13, Next to Normal, 33 Variations, In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play), Time Stands Still, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, A Free Man of Color, Good People, Chinglish, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Bronx Bombers, Casa Valentina, Outside Mullingar, All the Way, Eclipsed, Bright Star, Hamilton, The Columnist, In Transit, A Doll's House Part 2, Indecent, Dear Evan Hansen, Oslo, Escape to Margaritaville and The Prom. Fifteen plays were nominated for Tony Awards, with All the Way, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, and Oslo winning the best play or musical awards. Nine plays were nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, with wins for Hamilton (2016), The Flick (2014), Water by the Spoonful (2012), and Next to Normal (2010).

"If you weren't sure about whether we were in a golden age for playwriting, this round of Edgerton Foundation recipients should confirm it," said Teresa Eyring, executive director of TCG. "By supporting the initial rehearsal process for these plays, the Edgerton Foundation propels these works to future productions and inclusion in our ever-expanding theatrical canon."

The second round of the 2017 Edgerton Foundation New Play Awards were presented to:

Describe the Night
by Rajiv Joseph
at Alley Theatre

Cleo
by Lawrence Wright
at Alley Theatre

Snow Child
book by John Strand, music by Bob Banghart and Georgia Stitt, lyrics by George Stitt
at Arena Stage

Magellanica
by E.M. Lewis
at Artists Repertory Theatre

The Trials of Sam Houston
by Aaron Loeb
at Dallas Theater Center

American Mariachi
by José Cruz González
at Denver Center for the Performing Arts

Great Leap
by Lauren Yee
at Denver Center for the Performing Arts

Chasing Mem'ries: A Different Kind of Musical
written by Josh Ravetch; lyrics by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman; music by Bill Cantos and Mari Falcone, Dave Grusin, Marvin Hamlisch, Michel Legrand, and Johnny Mandel
at Geffen Playhouse

Blind Date
by Rogelio Martinez
at Goodman Theatre

Support Group for Men
by Ellen Fairey
at Goodman Theatre

Seder
by Sarah Gancher
at Hartford Stage

Fall
by Bernard Weinraub
at Huntington Theatre Company

SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical
book by Colman Domingo, Robert Cary, and Des McAnuff
at La Jolla Playhouse

Admissions
by Joshua Harmon
at Lincoln Center Theater

The Portuguese Kid
by John Patrick Shanley
at Manhattan Theatre Club

Transfers
by Lucy Thurber
at MCC Theater

One House Over
by Catherine Trieschmann
at Milwaukee Repertory Theater

Saint George and the Dragon
by Rory Mullarkey
at National Theatre

Issei, He Say (Or The Myth of the First)
by Chloé Hung
at New Jersey Repertory Company

Manahatta
by Mary Kathryn Nagle
at Oregon Shakespeare Festival

The Way the Mountain Moved
by Idris Goodwin
at Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Sex and Other Disturbances
by Marisa Smith
at Portland Stage

Ibsen in Chicago
by David Grimm
at Seattle Repertory Theatre

Cambodian Rock Band
by Lauren Yee
at South Coast Repertory

Doing It
by Boo Killebrew
at Victory Gardens Theater

The Beast in the Jungle
music by John Kander, book by David Thompson, direction and choreography by Susan Stroman
at Vineyard Theatre

Bread
by ReGina Taylor
at WaterTower Theatre

"It is rare for Native American Playwrights to be produced in American theatre, and premiering Manahatta at a theatre the size of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) is a high stakes opportunity for Ms. Nagle, OSF and the field," said Bill Rauch, artistic director, OSF. "Telling a Native story comes with the responsibility for the piece to be presented in a way that is true to the Native experience. The extended rehearsal made possible by the Edgerton Foundation New Play Award advances and deepens the work significantly in preparation for its world premiere. With the full creative team together for the first time, Ms. Nagle, Ms. Woolery and the cast can perfect the complex doubling and tripling of characters that will enhance their challenging and essential on-stage transformations, delve together into the intricate Lenape language, cultural references and history, and refine the brilliant interspersing of Lenape language and song throughout the play."

"Snow Child is a major challenge and one that will take all of our talent and shared imaginations. Along with the unique music combination of Alaskan back-country and contemporary musical theater, we will use puppetry for the animals which will underscore the rough magic of Alaska," said Molly Smith, artistic director, Arena Stage. "Capturing the environment of this piece, from the Alaskan forests to the snow to the visceral nature of the child makes this production a fantastic undertaking. We are deeply grateful to the Edgerton Foundation for providing us with the funds for an additional week of rehearsals, as it will enable us to take on this challenge and attempt to capture the power of Alaska."

The Edgerton Foundation New Plays Program, directed by Brad and Louise Edgerton, was piloted in 2006 with the Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles by offering two musicals in development an extended rehearsal period for the entire creative team, including the playwrights. The Edgertons launched the program nationally in 2007 and have supported 375 plays to date at over 50 different Art Theatres across the country.

For over 55 years, Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for U.S. theatre, has existed to strengthen, nurture, and promote the professional not-for-profit theatre. TCG's constituency has grown from a handful of groundbreaking theatres to over 700 member theatres and affiliate organizations and more than 12,000 individuals nationwide. TCG offers its members networking and knowledge-building opportunities through conferences, events, research, and communications; awards grants, approximately $2 million per year, to theatre companies and individual artists; advocates on the federal level; and through the Global Theater Initiative, TCG's partnership with the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics, serves as the U.S. Center of the International Theatre Institute. TCG is North America's largest independent publisher of dramatic literature, with 15 Pulitzer Prizes for Best Play on the TCG booklist. It also publishes the award-winning American Theatre magazine and ARTSEARCH, the essential source for a career in the arts. In all of its endeavors, TCG seeks to increase the organizational efficiency of its Member Theatres, cultivate and celebrate the artistic talent and achievements of the field, and promote a larger public understanding of, and appreciation for, the theatre. Visit www.tcg.org for more information.

Pictured: A scene from THE PORTUGUESE KID at Manhattan Theatre Club. Photo by Richard Termine.