We are thrilled to announce nine awards granted from the National Fund for New Musicals, a major funding program to support NAMT member not-for-profit theatres in their collaborations with writers to create, develop and produce new musicals. Now in its seventh year, the Fund will provide grants totaling $46,000 to ten organizations across the country.
NAMT Executive Director Betsy King Militello stated:
“We are honored and excited to support our member theatres as they work with this inspiring group of writers to develop these innovative and provocative new musicals. With these grants, we have now awarded 77 grants totaling $315,500. These projects will join a growing list of important new musicals added to the canon with support from our National Fund for New Musicals.”
National Fund grants of $5,000 to $10,000 to support full productions have been awarded to:
Ars Nova (New York, NY) for Futurity by César Alvarez and The Lisps.
Diversionary Theatre (San Diego, CA) for The Boy Who Danced on Air by Charlie Sohne and Tim Rosser with support from Kathryn & Raymond Harbert. This project was previously presented in NAMT’s 2013 Festival of New Musicals and also received a Writers Residency Grant for its development at New York Theatre Barn.
Paper Mill Playhouse (Millburn, NJ) for Ever After by Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich with support from Stacey Mindich Productions.
Transport Group Theatre (New York, NY) for The Blonde Streak by Dan Lipton and David Rossmer with support from The Alhadeff Family Charitable Foundation. Both writers are NAMT Festival alumni for notes to MariAnne (Fest ’11) and Joe! The Musical (Fest ’00).
National Fund grants of $4,000 to $5,000 to support a workshop or reading have been awarded to:
The 5th Avenue Theatre (Seattle, WA) for Dutch Master by Marc Acito and Jeffrey Stock with support from Stacey Mindich Productions.
La Jolla Playhouse (La Jolla, CA) for The Hunter S. Thompson Musical by Joe Iconis and Gregory Moss with support from The ASCAP Foundation Irving Caesar Fund. Iconis is a NAMT Festival alumnus for his show Bloodsong of Love (NAMT Fest ’11).
This is the seventh 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. This year’s 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 Kathy Evans, Founder of the Rhinebeck Writers Retreat and honorary NAMT Board Member; Bud Franks, President of Franks & Associates and NAMT Founding Member; Maria Goyanes, Associate Producer at the Public Theater; Adam Gwon, three-time past NAMT Festival writer; Steve Stettler, Producing Artistic Director of Weston Playhouse Theatre Company; and Tom Viertel, Tony Award-winning producer.
Additionally, the National Fund for New Musicals has awarded $500 to $1,500 in Writers Residency Grants over the past year to the following member organizations, with support from Kathryn & Raymond Harbert:
Ars Nova (New York, NY) for K Pop by Teddy Bergman, Helen Park and Jason Kim
Kent State University (Kent, Ohio) for My Heart Is the Drum (NAMT Fest ’13) by Phillip Palmer, Stacey Luftig and Jenny Redling
New York Theatre Barn (New York, NY) for The Boy Who Danced On Air (NAMT Fest ’13) by Charlie Sohne and Tim Rosser
Northwestern University (Evanston, IL) for The Enlightenment of Percival Von Schmootz by Michael Kooman and Chris Dimond, both NAMT Festival alumni for Dani Girl (NAMT Fest ’11) and The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes (NAMT Fest ’14)
Theater Latté Da (Minneapolis, MN) for The Last Queen of Canaan by Rebekah Greer Melocik, Harrison David Rivers and Jacob Yandura
The National Fund for New Musicals has supported the development of many musicals over the last 7 years, including The Fortress of Solitude by Itamar Moses and Michael Friedman at the Public Theater; Giant by Michael John LaChiusa and Sybille Pearson at Dallas Theater Center; Ordinary Days (NAMT Fest ’08) by Adam Gwon at Adirondack Theatre Festival (pictured at top), which is now licensed through Rodgers & Hammerstein, Far From Heaven by Michael Korie, Scott Frankel and Richard Greenberg at Playwrights Horizons; The Memory Show (NAMT Fest ’09) by Sara Cooper and Zach Redler at Transport Group; The Circus in Winter (NAMT Fest ’12) by Ben Clark, Hunter Foster and Beth Turcotte at Goodspeed Musicals; and Southern Comfort (NAMT Fest ’12) at all three grant levels, at Playwrights Horizons, CAP21 and Barrington Stage Company; among many others.
NAMT thanks the following foundations, government agencies and organizations for their ongoing support of our programs: ABE Charitable Foundation, The Alhadeff Family Charitable Foundation, The Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York Creative Spaces Grant, ASCAP Foundation Irving Caesar Fund, BMI Foundation, The Dramatists Guild Fund, Friars Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, The Purple Plume Foundation, The Rodgers and Hammerstein Foundation, Stacey Mindich Productions and The Shubert Foundation.