NEW YORK CITY: The National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) has named the recipients of their 2022-23 Writers Residency Grants. The grants, which are part of the Frank Young Fund for New Musicals, support collaborations with writers to create, develop, and produce new musicals.
“We are thrilled to announce this funding for our member organizations that celebrates their commitment to the development of new musicals,” NAMT executive director Betsy King Militello said in a statement. “We are constantly amazed by the quality and range of the work coming from our members, and the Writers Residency Grants support the cultivation of those vital collaborations between writers and producers at an early stage.”
The Frank Young Fund has awarded multiple member organizations $500 to $2,000 in grants, including Ars Nova for James Harrison Monaco’s Travels; Diversionary Theatre for Queer. People. Time. by EllaRose Chary and Brandon James Gwinn; East West Players for Jennifer Paz’s Proud Mary’s; Goodspeed Musicals for Joriah Kwamé’s Little Miss Perfect; Playwrights Horizons for Black Girl in Paris by AriDy Nox and Jacinth Greywoode; Seattle Repertory Theatre for (BIRD + CRAB) by Jessica Huang, Fernando Diaz, and Florencia Iriondo; Theater Latté Da for Celeste Moreno’s The Legend of La Llorona: A Zarzuela of La Frontera; and TheatreWorks Silicon Valley for How to Build a Revolution by Lynn Rosen, Pia Wilson, and Paula Cole.
The Frank Young Fund is overseen by NAMT new works director Frankie Dailey, and the recommended grant recipients are selected by a committee of nationwide industry leaders. This year’s committee was co-chaired by Eric Keen-Louie of La Jolla Playhouse and Aislinn Frantz of Chicago Shakespeare Theater. The fund has provided over $750,000 in awards to new musicals over the last 14 years.
The mission of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre is to be a catalyst for nurturing musical theatre development, production, innovation, and collaboration. Their members include some of the leading musical theatre producers in the world, including theatres, developmental organizations, higher education groups, presenting companies, and independent producers.
