mean?
Each little red star is a clickable link to additional information on whatever listing it appears beside. It might be a link to an article in a local newspaper, or it might be a press release the company has sent me.
Barrington Stage Musical Theatre Lab Receives $25,000 From NEA
Posted by Gail M. Burns - December 2009
2010 Access to Artistic Excellence Grant is theatre’s latest award from the NEA
(PITTSFIELD, MA) – Barrington Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Julianne Boyd and Producing Director Richard M. Parison, announced today that it has been awarded an Access to Artistic Excellence grant of $25,000 by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in support of BSC’s Musical Theatre Lab.
Created in 2006, BSC’s Musical Theatre Lab (MTL), overseen by Tony Award-winning composer/lyricist William Finn, is a place for young musical theatre writers to develop their work on all levels: from staged readings to workshops to full productions. In its first four years, five world premieres and four workshops were produced as well as a number of staged readings. The critically-acclaimed The Burnt Part Boys (2006), written by Nathan Tysen, Chris Miller, and Marianne Elder, will receive a spring production Off Broadway at Playwrights Horizons. Kirsten Childs, who wrote Funked Up Fairy Tales (2007), continued developing her musical at the Sundance Institute. And Barry Wyner’s 2007 hit musical Calvin Berger will receive a production at the George Street Playhouse in February 2010.
This grant marks the fourth award by the federal government since 2006 in recognition of Barrington Stage’s programming. Previous awards were an Access to Artistic Excellence Grant for the 2009 Mainstage production of the musical Carousel, the Coming Up Taller Award in recognition of BSC’s Playwright Mentoring Project in 2007 and an Access to Artistic Excellence Grant for the inaugural season of BSC’s Musical Theatre Lab in 2006.
“Bill Finn and I are thrilled with the NEA’s continued recognition of the Musical Theatre Lab. It is a tremendous vote of confidence as we work on two world premiere musicals for the 2010 season,” said Artistic Director Julianne Boyd.
The NEA Access to Artistic Excellence Grant encourages and supports artistic excellence, preserves the nation’s cultural heritage, and provides access to the arts for all Americans. The NEA saw a 22% increase in the number of applications in this round of Access to Artistic Excellence grants, receiving 1,697 eligible applications requesting more than $88 million. This compares with 1,394 applications received in March 2008. Through the Access to Artistic Excellence category, the NEA will fund 994 projects with a total of $23,828,500.
Established by Congress in 1965, the NEA is the largest annual funder of the arts in the United States , and is dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established; bringing the arts to all Americans and providing leadership in arts education. It is an independent federal agency and is the official arts organization of the United States government.
About Barrington Stage Company
Founded in 1995, Barrington Stage Company (BSC) is a not-for-profit professional theatre company in the Berkshires (MA), with a three-fold mission: to produce top-notch, compelling work; to develop new plays and musicals; and to find fresh, bold ways of bringing new audiences into the theatre, especially young people. For information on BSC’s Musical Theatre Lab call 413-499-5446.