| BRET ADAMS & PAUL REISCH FOUNDATION announces recipients of COVID-19 response grants for theater writers | |
| Posted by: Official_Press_Release 07:23 pm EDT 04/17/20 | |
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| The Bret Adams and Paul Reisch Foundation has announced the recipients of their special COVID-19 response grants for playwrights, composers, lyricists and librettists who have had a full professional production cancelled, closed, or indefinitely postponed due to the COVID-19 closures. Earlier this month, in response to theater closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Foundation announced its decision to reinvent the means by which it would distribute funds allocated for its 2020 Idea Award for Theatre. Supplemental funding from the Venturous Theater Fund of the Tides Foundation supports additional grants to playwrights, through administrative services provided by New Dramatists. The Foundation has awarded 80 grants of $2,500, a total of $200,000, for theater writers impacted by the crisis. The Bret Adams and Paul Reisch Foundation COVID-19 response grant recipients: Raquel Almazan Kevin Artigue Hilary Bettis Liza Birkenmeier Seth Bisen-Hersh Jessica Blank & Erik Jensen Carlyle Brown Darcy Bruce Diana Burbano Heather Chrisler Heather Christian J. Julian Christopher Kate Cortesi Patricia Cotter Nathan Davis Guadalís Del Carmen Jeremy Desmon Noah Diaz Christopher Dimond Sarah Einspanier Will Eno Bonnie Gleicher Daniel Goldstein Kirsten Greenidge Katori Hall Kate Hamill Jessica Huang Caroline Hewitt Justin Huertas Anthony Hudson Ruben Santiago Hudson Candrice Jones Sukari Jones Barbara Kahn Nambi E. Kelley Hannah Kohl Abe Koogler Michael A. Kooman Michael John LaChiusa Rehana Lew Mirza Haruna Lee Melissa Li Ethan Lipton David M Lutken Steven Lutvak Caroline V. McGraw Aaron Meicht Omar Vélez Meléndez Tony Meneses Anna Moench Nahal Navidar Ronan Noone Yea Bin Diana Oh Matthew Paul Olmos Marisela Orta Andrew Palermo Zach Redler Gab Reisman Marco Antonio Rodriguez Steph Del Rosso Elyssa Samsel Laura Schein Madhuri Shekar Mat Smart Celine Song Gary Soto Caridad Svich Alexandra Tatarsky Shaun Taylor-Corbett Melisa Tien Jillian Walker Stephanie Kyung Sun Walters Cheryl L. West Whitney White Jason Odell Williams Sam Willmott Chris Wiseman Nathan J. Yungerberg Karen Zacarias Daniel Zaitchik From the nearly 300 eligible theater artists who have applied, The Bret Adams and Paul Reisch Foundation COVID-19 response grant recipients were selected randomly by electronic lottery. Eligible playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists were those who had a professional production canceled should submit their name and proof of a professional show's closure. ("Professional," in this case, is defined as LORT, Off Broadway, or Broadway). With a submission deadline of April 14, The Foundation aimed to make funds available to artists as quickly as possible, as many artists are already in dire need. "The Bret Adams & Paul Reisch Foundation's mission as a charitable foundation is to give money to writers with 'big ideas.' This year, our 'big idea' is our declaration that we must help those who have had productions cancelled" says Bruce Ostler, V.P. and Board Member of The Bret Adams and Paul Reisch Foundation. "In no uncertain terms, the business of theatre today has ground to a shocking halt due to the pandemic. Playwrights are not salaried workers and therefore are NOT eligible for unemployment for a cancelled production. We want to get money to people who need it NOW. At the very moment when theatres began announcing they were canceling productions and shows started closing, a small group of concerned theatre samaritans ran towards the emerging doom to put forward the simple but 'big' idea that together we can and should help those in need. Today at 7PM, when all New Yorkers shout and cheer out our windows for first responders, I know I will be thinking of these theatre first responders: Kate Bussert, Sheilah Rae, Terry Bernstein, Ben Pesner, Emily Morse, Joel Ruark, Mark Orsini, Bonnie Davis, Beth Blickers, Melissa Crespo and Sarah Ruhl. I am proud and honored to be associated with these nimble humanitarians." ABOUT THE BRET ADAMS AND PAUL REISCH FOUNDATION: Theatrical Agent Bret Adams and his partner Dr. Paul Reisch loved the theatre with great passion. As a theatrical agent, Bret shepherded the careers of many actors, writers and directors and designers, including Phylicia Rashad, Judy Kaye, Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, Sherman Helmsley, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Eve Arden, Christine Ebersole, Kathleen Marshall, Jayne Wyman, Andre DeShields, Kathy Bates, Susan H. Schulman, Jack Heifner, Philip McKinley and Robert Harling, among many others. After Bret and Paul's passing, in 2006 and 2015 respectively, their eponymous foundation was created at their bequest. The Bret Adams and Paul Reisch Foundation champions visionary playwrights in their creation of expansive, illuminating, and idea-driven theatre. Embracing diversity in all its forms, The Foundation encourages artists with fresh perspectives - particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds - to create idea-driven new plays and musicals reflecting on multivalent themes including science, history, philosophy, gender, race, politics, sexual orientation, technology, religion, money, global warming, and medicine, among others. For more information, visit www.BretnPaulFoundation.org. ABOUT THE VENTUROUS THEATER FUND OF THE TIDES FOUNDATION: The Venturous Theater Fund of the Tides Foundation supports innovative approaches to theatrical production by encouraging playwrights and other theater-makers to take risks in the creation of new plays. VTF supports ambitious new work for the stage and the artists who create it. We seek to fund ambitious and challenging work by creating room for experimentation and risk in new play production. Our goal is to help writers achieve the freedom to write the plays they fear would otherwise go unproduced; and to enable producing organizations to say "yes" instead of "no" to worthy but challenging author-driven projects. We are particularly interested in seeding new play productions that involve controversial subject matter, large casts, or other perceived obstacles. Because VTF is committed to offering direct support, financial and otherwise, to artists who create new work, we aim to create grant programs that put money into artists' hands. This may come about by funding projects that directly benefit playwrights, as well as those that promote the employment of directors, designers, and actors. www.VenturousTheaterFund.org ABOUT NEW DRAMATISTS: Founded in 1949 by Michaela O'Harra in association with Howard Lindsay, Richard Rodgers, Russel Crouse, Oscar Hammerstein II, John Golden, Moss Hart, Maxwell Anderson, John Wharton, Robert E. Sherwood and Elmer Rice, New Dramatists hosts the longest-running, continuous community of playwrights in the United States. This small upstart of young writers banded together to develop their work, share resources, and expand their role in the contemporary American theatre. Today, New Dramatists is still working in pursuit of a singular mission: to provide playwrights with time, space, and resources in the company of gifted peers, to create work, realize their artistic potential, and make lasting contributions to the theatre. Now in its 71st year, more than 700 playwrights have passed through our doors, creating work that has set a standard for contemporary American dramatic literature. Alumni include some of the most influential writers of our time: Robert Anderson, Annie Baker, Kia Corthron, Nilo Cruz, Lonne Elder III, Horton Foote, Richard Foreman, Maria Irene Fornes, Melissa James Gibson, David Greenspan, John Guare, Quiara Alegría Hudes, William Inge, David Lindsay-Abaire, Eduardo Machado, Taylor Mac, Donald Margulies, Joe Masteroff, Tarrell Alvin McCraney, Lynn Nottage, Suzan-Lori Parks, Sarah Ruhl, John Patrick Shanley, Mac Wellman, August Wilson, Lanford Wilson, Paula Vogel, Doug Wright, Chay Yew, and many more. The writers of New Dramatists have made significant contributions to the American theatrical canon and to the cultural fabric of the performing arts in New York City. To date, our resident and alumni writers have won 20 Pulitzers, 23 Tonys, 84 OBIEs, 18 Drama Desk Awards, 8 MacArthur Fellowships, and 14 Susan Smith Blackburn Awards. New Dramatists itself received a Ross Wetzsteon Award for excellence at the 2005 OBIEs and a 2001 Tony Honor for "blessing the theatre with new and exceptional works that have assured both a rich theatrical heritage and future for the American Theatre." www.NewDramatists.org |
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