Barrington Stage Receives Grant
Announces Season This Week
By: Ariel Petrova - Dec 15, 2009
Created in 2006, BSCÂ’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 WynerÂ’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 StageÂ’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 BSCÂ’s Playwright Mentoring Project in 2007 and an Access to Artistic Excellence Grant for the inaugural season of BSCÂ’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 nationÂ’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.