Rhinebeck Writers Retreat Hosting 21 Award-winning Musical Theatre Writers For Fully-funded Summer Residencies

For its 13th summer, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat is hosting 21 award-winning musical theatre writers of nine new musicals for nine consecutive weeklong residencies between June 25 and August 27. Each writing team will live in a private home in the Hudson Valley to focus solely on writing their musical for one week. Writers include Broadway's Adam Chanler-Berat and Robi Hager, Drama Desk Nominee Adam Gwon, and Broadway director Arpita Mukherjee. They are provided a home, travel, food and a stipend. Plus, they will work with a member of Rhinebeck Writers Retreat's Sounding Board of artistic advisors for dramaturgical support. New this year is the "Writers' Choice" program, a flexible $1,000 fund the writers can use to support the development of their musical, which is made possible by a generous grant from the New York State Council on the Arts.

The nine musicals were selected from a record 210 applications representing 453 musical theatre writers, which were reviewed by 29 readers in the first round and six readers in the final round: Rebecca Aparicio, Director & Rhinebeck alum; Brian Hill, Bookwriter; Timothy Huang, Writer & Rhinebeck alum; Khiyon Hursey, Writer & Rhinebeck alum; Mara Isaacs, Founder & Executive Producer, Octopus Theatricals; and Barbara Pasternack, Artistic Director, TheaterWorksUSA.

All the writers' costs are covered by donors, including an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, The New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, The ASCAP Foundation Bart Howard Fund, National Foundation for Musical Theatre, and The Noël Coward Foundation. Major individual support comes from Liz Armstrong; Molly McEneny; Liz and Bill Mills, Steve and Paula Reynolds, and Alex Robertson. Bios, synopses, and list of finalists can be found at www.rhinebeckwriters.org

The writers and musicals selected for this summer and the supporters underwriting each week are:

· Jun 25 - Jul 2: Robi Hager, Georgina Escobar, LITTLE DUENDE, with Lead Support by Liz Armstrong

· Jul 2 - Jul 9: Thalia Ranjbar, Kat Cartusciello, NIMA & THE JEN, with Underwriting Support by Paul Feuerman & Bruce Grivetti

· Jul 9 - Jul 16: Adam Chanler-Berat, Julian Hornik, ASSISTED, with Lead Support by The ASCAP Foundation Bart Howard Fund

· Jul 16 - Jul 23: Coyle Girelli, Ben Thornewill, Laura Zlatos, REINCARNATION BLUES, with Lead Support by Liz and Bill Mills

· Jul 23 - Jul 30: Arpita Mukherjee, Justin Halpin, Jeffrey James, A SONG FOR WHAT COULD BE, with Lead Support by Molly McEneny

· Jul 30 - Aug 6: Adam Gwon, Michael Mitnick, THE BOZOS, with Lead Support by The ASCAP Foundation Bart Howard Fund

· Aug 6 - Aug 13: Jae Broderick, André McRae, JENNY & JUNE, with Lead Support by The National Foundation for Musical Theatre

· Aug 13 - Aug 20: Justin Huertas, Rheanna Atendido, WE'VE BATTLED MONSTERS BEFORE, with Lead Support by Steve and Paula Reynolds

· Aug 20 - Aug 27: Cheeyang Ng, Eric Sorrels, Desdemona Chiang, THE PHOENIX, with Lead Support by The Noël Coward Foundation in honor of Geoffrey Johnson