NEW YORK – On Saturday, January 26 from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM, Theater for the New City will ceremonially burn its mortgage to celebrate becoming debt-free. The gathering, to be attended by elected officials, local activists, artists and celebrities, will include performances and the opening of an art exhibit.

 With the “Fiscal Cliff” staring the country in the face, the mortgage payoff was accomplished in a three-year push which mobilized over 200 small donors. The mortgage campaign had been initiated with a $30,000 gift from the Peg Santvoord Foundation in 2010. This early money notwithstanding, the completed campaign now testifies to the tremendous support TNC enjoys from its community.

 At the mortgage event, the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers will bless TNC’s newly-secured permanent home with Native American dance, as they did in 1986 when the theater first moved into the First Avenue Retail Market Building. A plaque will be unveiled that contains the names of all donors – over 200 in number – who contributed toward the effort. Major donors included Gerald Rupp, the Peg Santvoord Foundation, Aviva Spring, Betsy Von Furstenberg, Daniel Rose, Nesbitt Blaisdell. The Peg Santvoord Foundation gave a final $10,000 as a coup de grace.

 Coinciding with the mortgage event will be the opening of a retro-spectacle, “TNC: 40 Years of Struggle and Triumph,” an art exhibit curated by Peter Ketchum with historical support from Carolyn Ratcliff. It features programs, scripts, and photos of historic TNC productions including plays by Charles Ludlam, Maria Irene Fornes and Sam Shepard.

 TNC’s mortgage started out at $717,000 in 1987 and the campaign to pay it off took only three years. Last year $21,000 was raised and this year, the final $45,000 was secured. Crystal Field, Executive Artistic Director of TNC, says, “The economic downturn scared us, as did the fact that so many people were losing their homes because of their mortgages. Government grants were going down. It made us realize that Theater for the New City must have a guaranteed home, since we are a home for so many emerging artists: writers, directors, actors and theater companies.” Since the demise of the much-loved Charas El Bohillo Arts Center, TNC has become increasingly the cultural center for the East Village.

 Crystal Field adds, “TNC lives frugally and is now debt-free. At least we know now that they will never build another Wal-Mart on this site.”

The National Endowment for the Arts announces application

guidelines are available for Grants for Arts Projects for Theater/Musical Theater

Arts Works & Challenge America Fast-Track deadlines are March, May, and August 2013

NEA applicants must be nonprofit, tax-exempt 501©(3) organizations; units of state or local government; or federally recognized tribal communities or tribes with at least three years of programming history in order to apply.

Grant Opportunity: Art Works

The NEA’s Art Works grants support the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and the strengthening of communities through the arts. Within these areas, innovative projects are strongly encouraged.

The NEA supports organizations and artists in the creation and refinement of work, the public presentation of plays and musicals from all cultures and periods, and opportunities for professional development. This encompasses the entire spectrum of the nonprofit theater and musical theater field, including production or presentation of traditional or classical repertoire, new plays and musicals, development laboratories, showcases, artist residencies, work for young audiences, experimental work, community-based work, outdoor historical dramas, and puppetry.

Art Works project types for theater/musical theater include but are not limited to:

·         Production or presentation of existing contemporary or classical work.

·         Documentation, preservation, conservation, and dissemination of America’s theater and musical theater heritage.

·         Exposure and enrichment projects for youth, adults, and intergenerational groups.

·         Commissioning, development, and production of new work, translations, and adaptations.

·         Development programs and labs for new work, which may include the hosting of artist residencies, showcase productions of new work, development workshops, and festivals of new works or works in progress.

·         Arts journalism (For project examples, deadlines, and webinar date,  please click here.)

·         Arts, science, technology ( For project examples, archived webinar, and related content, please click here. )

Visit the Art Works guidelines for theater and musical theater projectsfor complete information.

Webinar for potential Art Works applicants

The NEA will present a webinar for theater and musical theater applicants covering the basics of the Art Works funding category, how to apply to the NEA, selecting work samples, and advice on preparing a strong application. There will be time for Q & A with NEA staff. The webinar will be February 12, 2013 from 4:00 - 5:00 pm EST at arts.gov. To join the webinar, go here.

A sample of recent Art Works theater and musical theater grants

·         A $30,000 grant to Actors Theatre Of Louisville (Kentucky) will support the 37th Annual Humana Festival of New American Plays, a showcase of new theatrical work featuring American playwrights.

·         A $70,000 grant to Dallas Theater Center (Texas) will support the development and world premiere musical production of Stagger Lee by Will Power and Justin Ellington. Power’s story is based on African American folk tales and portrays the history of African American music.

·         A $100,000 grant to Mixed Blood Theatre inMinneapolis, Minnesota will support production of a new play by Caridad Svich, based on Julia Alvarez’s novel In the Time of the Butterflies, and a piece about veterans with disabilities created in partnership with Footprints Collective. 

To see the full list of recent NEA Art Works grants in theater and musical theater, visit the Recent Grants section of the NEA website.

Signature Theatre (James Houghton, Founding Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director) is pleased to announce casting is confirmed and tickets are now on sale for The Dance And The Railroad written by Dramatists Guild Councilmember David Henry Hwang and directed by May Adrales. All tickets for the initial run of the production are $25 as part of the Signature Ticket Initiative: A Generation of Access. The production runs February 5 through March 17, 2013 with a February 25 opening night in The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatreat The Pershing Square Signature Center(480 West 42^nd Street between 9^th and 10^th Avenues).

The cast includes Ruy Iskandar (The Public Theater’s Measure for Measure and Classic Stage Company’s Purimcelo) as Ma and Yuekun Wu (Theater for the New City’s Love in Tears and Laughter & Luo Shen: Legend of the Luo River) as Lone.

On a California mountaintop in 1867 near the Transcontinental Railroad, two Chinese workers struggle through poverty and hunger to reconnect with the traditions of their homeland. The Dance And The Railroad follows the twice-extended Golden Child as the second production in the Residency One: David Henry Hwang Series.

The design team includesMimi Lien (Scenic Design), Jennifer Moeller (Costume Design), Jiyoun Chang (Lighting Design), Broken Chord Collective(Sound Design), Huang Ruo (Music), Qian Yi (Chinese Opera Consultant), Leah Loukas (Wig Design) and Grace Zandarski(Vocal Coach). Casting by TELSEY + COMPANY, William Cantler CSA. Cole P. Bonenberger is Production Stage Manager.

To purchase tickets for all Signature productions, call the Signature Theatre Box Office (212-244-7529) or visit signaturetheatre.org.

(Source: dramatistsguild.com)

John Kander & Greg Pierce photographed for the Centennial Issue of The Dramatist, November/December 2012, by Walter Kurtz.