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Opening Doors DRAMATIST GUILD FELLOWS PROGRAM A Letter to Jean Banks from the Dramatist Guild It is with great pleasure that The Dramatists Guild of America, Inc., announces the third year of The Dramatists Guild Fellows Program, which has been designed to augment the training of emerging American dramatists and enhance the sense of community among them. The first years have been quite a success and the program continues to evolve based on experience of what proves to be effective. As the national association of playwrights, composers and lyricists, and the only organization devoted solely to the interests of artists writing for the theater, and with over 6,000 members, the Guild and its Council have been concerned with how it can help to nurture the next generation of American dramatists. Traditionally, guilds of all stripes, in addition to aiding and protecting guild members and promoting common interests, have included a craft training program in which master craftspersons provide apprenticeship training designed to maintain the professional standards of the craft. The Dramatists Guild, through its Fellows Program, seeks to continue this tradition. The Guild recognizes the need for an advanced support system for emerging dramatists. The Dramatists Guild Fellowship program is designed for those theater writers who have completed a graduate program and are no more than ten years past that program, or have comparable experience in organized writers workshops or other pertinent experience. We want to continue fostering the spirit of community that began in institutions such as yours and to provide further training in all aspects of the professional American theater. Towards this end, we propose to offer to a select group of new theater writers a program providing continued support and training at no cost to the participants beyond membership in the Guild. The nine-month program will include one-on-one mentoring, group sessions with theater professionals, and, where possible, internship opportunities with dramatists involved in professional productions. The program encourages playwrights, composers and lyricists to apply. This second season, we hope to select five Dramatists Guild Playwriting Fellows and five Musical Theater Fellows. (In honor of the commitment of Jonathan Larson’s family to the development of musical theater in America, these five Musical Theater fellows will be known as Jonathan Larson Memorial Musical Theater Fellows.) Jonathan Larson Musical Theater Fellows should apply as creative teams where possible and applicable. Each Fellow (or team) will be assigned a mentor who will arrange one-on-one meetings on at least a monthly basis to discuss the Fellow’s ongoing projects and creative concerns. In addition, all Fellows will meet with theater professionals at sessions organized monthly by the Guild. These sessions are intended both to sustain the sense of community among Fellows and other Guild members and to allow Fellows to explore creative and business issues, drawing on the professionals’ experience. When possible, the Guild will also provide each Fellow an internship opportunity with a Guild member to observe pre-production, rehearsals or previews for an upcoming production. (We hope as well to be able to provide Fellows with a small stipend, but this will depend on the receipt of funding.) We need your help to make this new program work, and therefore would appreciate it if you, your faculty and staff could identify suitable candidates and encourage them to apply. Applications must be received by the Guild no later than April 1, 2002. Details regarding applications are annexed. We are excited about this program and what we think it can contribute to the American theater. We hope you are, too, and we welcome any input you might have and your support in suggesting applicants for the program. Application Requirements for Dramatist Guild Fellows Application Deadline Applications for the program commencing in Fall, 2001 must be received by the Guild no later than April 1, 2002. Applications should be sent to The Dramatists Guild of America, Inc., 1501 Broadway, Suite 701, New York, NY 10036. ATTN: Education Committee Application Requirements Applicants will be eligible for the program with one of the following qualifications: 1) Participation in a graduate program in theatrical writing within the last 10 years; or 2) Participation in an organized theatrical workshop within the last 10 years; or 3) Comparable experience, and a recommendation by a theater professional or theater educator; or 4) Pertinent, documented practical experience. Dramatists Guild Playwriting Fellows Please submit, with a cover letter containing pertinent contact information for you, with 20 pages of a script you have written. Please note that scripts will not be returned. Jonathan Larson Memorial Musical Theater Fellows Please submit, together with a cover letter containing pertinent contact information for you, a tape of four (4) songs with lyric sheets, a brief description of each song as to its plot placement, and a brief synopsis of the musical. Tapes 10 11
need not be elaborately produced; piano and voice is sufficient. Please note that tapes and synopses will not be returned. Please note it is recommended that collaborative teams should apply together to become Jonathan Larson Memorial Musical Theater Fellows. The cover letter and materials submitted should make it clear that you and your collaborator(s) are applying as a team. MERKIN’S BROADWAY CLOSE- UP SECOND SEASON The second season of Merkin Hall’s Broadway Close Up concert series begins on April 8, with “Michael Stewart: Broadway’s Unsung Hero.” This concert will celebrate the role of the bookwriter, focusing on some of Stewart’s most beloved shows, including “Hello, Dolly!”, “Bye, Bye Birdie”, “42nd Street” and “Barnum.” Expected to appear: Charles Strouse, Lee Adams, Jerry Herman, Jim Dale and many more. The second concert of the season, on May 13, will be a new edition of “Bound For Broadway,” featuring songs from upand-coming writers. BMI members and other writers are invited to submit tapes to be considered for this concert. Songs should be from shows that are nearly complete and ready for production. Submit as many songs as you like, but bear in mind that it’s hard to listen attentively to more than 4 or 5 songs at a time. CDs are preferred to audiotapes, but either is okay. Submissions should be sent to: Sean Hartley Elaine Kaufman Cultural Center 129 West 67th Street New York, NY 10023 APPLICATIONS AND GUIDE- LINES NOW AVAILABLE FOR KENNEDY CENTER FUND FOR NEW AMERICAN PLAYS YEAR 2002 GRANTS The Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays invites theaters to “Make A Play For Us” by submitting proposals for its 2002 grant year. Any non-profit professional American theater may apply for a Production Grant to support one new play that will open on stage in a world premiere or for a Development Grant to financially underwrite the development process of one new play. The Fund provides Production Grants to theaters to underwrite expenses related to hiring and maintaining the creative team, supporting unusually large casts and high caliber artists, and allowing the playwright to remain on site for the duration of the production period. In addition to the production support for the theaters, grants are awarded to playwrights—one of whom will also receive the Charlotte Woolard Award, distinguishing him or her as a promising new voice in American theater. Plays submitted must be written by a United States citi- zen and may not have been produced before, but may have had readings and workshops preparatory to full production. Plays must have their world premieres no earlier than January 1, 2003, and no later than December 31, 2004. Plays must be submitted by the producing organization itself; no submissions will be accepted from individual playwrights. Acknowledging the need to support the process of early development of new plays, The Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays also accepts submissions for Development Grants to theaters to underwrite extraordinary expenses relating to readings and subsequent workshop productions of new plays in development. Plays must be submitted by the producing organization itself and the development process must occur between November 1, 2002, and December 31, 2004. Theaters may apply for either or both grants. Funding decisions will be based on the artistic excellence and promise of the scripts and on the budget proposals submitted by the producing organizations. Initial screenings are made by a panel of readers who review plays blindly, without knowledge of playwright or submitting theater. A panel of theater professionals who volunteer as artistic advisors will make the final selection of the 2002 grant recipients. The announcement of grant recipients will be made at The Kennedy Center in October 2002 at a luncheon honoring the playwrights and representatives from the submitting theaters. The deadline for submissions is May 3, 2002. The Fund’s primary objectives are to stimulate and foster the development of new plays, ensuring the continued vitality of the nation’s theatrical heritage, to nurture American playwrights and support the creation of new works, and to provide non-profit professional theater organizations with additional resources to mount enhanced productions of new plays. Theaters interested in applying for a 2002 Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays grant are encouraged to contact Rebecca Foster, Manager of Theater Programming, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C., 20566. Ms. Foster may also be contacted by phone at (202) 416-8024, by FAX at (202) 416- 8205, or by e-mail at rsfoster@kennedy-center.org. Also, a full set of guidelines and an application form are available on the Fund’s website at http://kennedy-center.org/fnap/. Now in its 16th year, the Fund has awarded grants totaling nearly $4 million to 121 playwrights and 58 not-for-profit theaters across the country, enabling them to mount premieres of 83 new plays. Past Fund recipients include Pulitzer Prize winners Tony Kushner for “Angels in America”, Robert Schenkkan for “The Kentucky Cycle,” and Wendy Wasserstein for 12 13
Page 1 and 2: Vol. 5, No. 16 Spring, 2002 Guilty
Page 3 and 4: formed by the author, Alex Emanuel,
Page 5: “Lenny”) with production slated
Page 9 and 10: and lyrics by Michael Ogborn, a mus
Page 11 and 12: There were more than a thousand bee
Page 13 and 14: up and smack me on the back of the
Page 15 and 16: I went to the final matinee of “A
Page 17 and 18: her reading “Atlas Shrugged.” H
Page 19 and 20: chance to discover the show for the
Page 21 and 22: R 1 I 1 A 1 Everybody says don’t

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