Theatre Building Chicago has received a $25,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts as part of 50 Million dollars allocated to the arts in the American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Funds will be dedicated to executing STAGES 2009, TBC’s 16th Annual Festival of New Musicals in Progress. TBC is one of 631 recipients nationally, 24 grant recipients in the State of Illinois and one of only 9 recipients under the musical theater category.
Theatre Building Chicago is proud to announce that its work has been recognized nationally as being a worthy recipient of this grant for STAGES 2009. According to Joan Mazzonelli, former Executive Director of TBC, “This sort of grant is really the difference between life and death for what is one of the only events for new musicals in the country.
The NEA grant will allow us continue creating new musical theatre and opportunities for hundreds of theatre professionals here in Chicago.” The grant will be used exclusively for fees and salaries of the over 80 artists creating works and performances in STAGES 2009.
The need for these types of grants highlights the critical gap in funding being experienced by all arts groups.
TBC continues to pursue all avenues of revenue generation to keep the doors open. Donations, sponsorship and ticket sales are all down in this economy. Currently TBC invests over 80% of its resources into its mission.
It currently raises only a modest 20 percent of income in public support.
Mazzonelli, who is leaving TBC, has been instrumental along with staff member Leah Kaiser in securing grants from the NEA, Alphawood foundation and many other organizations that provide support to arts. Last year TBC received $137,844 in grants of this kind.
STAGES 2009, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, August 21-23, 2009.
The three-day musical extravaganza performs each new work twice in concert readings and studio presentations. Now in its 16th season, STAGES focuses on the development of new works of musical theatre.
The six new musicals are written by a diverse group of writers (many members of Theatre Building Chicago’s Musical Theater Writers Workshop) from Chicago, Los Angels, New York and from Pennsylvania to Utah.
STAGES 2009 is a creative gathering of authors, actors, artists, theatre producers and musical theatre lovers who come together for one weekend, celebrating America’s original art form, the musical.
For complete details, visit TBC online: theatrebuildingchicago.org – under News
MEDIA CONTACT:
Jeff DeLong, 773-327-5252
Jeff@Theatrebuildingchicago.org
Marketing Director