NAMT Awards $62,000 to support New Musical Development

The National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) announces 15 awards granted from their National Fund for New Musicals, a major funding program to support NAMT member not-for-profit theatres in their collaboration with writers to create, develop, and produce new musicals. Now in its third year, the fund is providing grants totaling $62,000 to 14 organizations across the country.

NAMT Executive Director Kathy Evans stated, "I am so grateful to our generous donors, especially Stacey Mindich Productions, Ann Palmer Foundation, and the ASCAP Foundation, who have made it possible for us to support great new work being done across the country. We have given a total of 31 grants worth $149,000 in the first three years alone, and are raising money to give even more awards in the coming years."

National Fund grants between $10,000 and $15,000 supporting full productions have been awarded to:

Center Theatre Group (Los Angeles, CA) for Los Otros by Michael John LaChuisa and Ellen Fitzhugh, with support from The Ann Palmer Foundation. Fitzhugh is an alumna of NAMT's 1995 Festival of New Musicals for Paper Moon.

The Spirit of Broadway Theater (Norwich, CT) for Snow by Sean Hartley. Hartley is an alumnus of NAMT's 2000 Festival of New Musicals for Cupid & Pysche.

Weston Playhouse Theatre Company (Weston, VT) for Saint-Ex by Jenny Giering and Sean Barry, with support from Stacey Mindich Productions. Giering is an alumna from NAMT's 2005 Festival of New Musicals for Princess Caraboo.

National Fund grants between $2,500 and $5,000 supporting a workshop or reading have been awarded to:

CAP 21 (New York, NY) for Southern Comfort by Dan Collins and Julianne Wick Davis, with support from The ASCAP Foundation Irving Caesar Fund.

Florida Stage (West Palm Beach, FL) for Sirens by Deborah Zoe Laufer and Benjamin Velez.

La Jolla Playhouse (La Jolla, CA) for The Life of John Birch by Mark Bennett and Keith Bunin.

The Public Theater/NYSF (New York, NY) for February House by Seth Bockley and Gabriel Kahane.

Uptown Players (Dallas, TX) for Crazy Just Like Me by Drew Gasparini and Louis Sacco.

This is the third 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. The recipients were selected by a distinguished panel, moderated by Gigi Bolt, the former Director of Theater and Musical Theater at the National Endowment for the Arts. The Panelists were Marge Betley, former Literary Manager at The GeVa Theatre Center; playwright and librettist Cheryl L. Davis; Dan Egan, Coordinator of the Shen Curriculum for Musical Theatre at Yale University; Philip Himberg, Producing Artistic Director of The Sundance Institute Theatre Program; R. James Mercer, General Manager of Pittsburgh CLO; and Sarah Schlesinger, Chair of the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

Additionally, the National Fund for New Musicals has awarded $1,000 Writers ResidenCy Grants quarterly over the past year:

Academy for New Musical Theatre (North Hollywood, CA) for Duplexity by Jake Anthony and Eric Dodson

Barrington Stage Company (Pittsfield, MA) for Harmony, Kansas by Anna Jacobs and Bill Nelson.

Boston Conservatory (Boston, MA) for Factory Girls by Creighton Irons, Sean Mahoney and Maggie-Kate Coleman, from the 2009 NAMT Festival of New Musicals.

The Little Theatre On The Square (Sullivan, IL) for How to Bust a Bully! by Terry Abrahamson, Michael Carlson and Buddy Reeder.

Millikin University (Decatur, IL) for String by Adam Gwon (2008 Festival alumnus) and Sarah Hammond.

Playwrights Horizons (New York, NY) for Southern Comfort by Dan Collins and Julianne Wick Davis.

TheatreWorks (Palo Alto, CA) for Fly By Night by Kimberly Rosenstock, Will Connolly and Michael Mitnick.

Founded in 1985 and based in New York City, the National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT), is a national service organization dedicated exclusively to musical theatre, with a focus on nurturing the creation, development, and production of new musicals. NAMT's 150 members, located throughout 35 states and abroad, are some of the leading producers of musical theatre, and include theatres, developmental organizations, universities, and individual producers. NAMT fulfills its mission through its New Works Programs, highlighted by the Festival of New Musicals, which was integral to launching The Drowsy Chaperone, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Ordinary Days, and Vanities. NAMT's other new works programs include New Works Summits and the National Fund for New Musicals, which awards grants to theatres to support their work with writers as they develop and produce new musicals. Major funding for NAMT is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, Stacey Mindich Productions, and The Shubert Foundation. For more information, visit www.namt.org