NYC Performing Arts Spaces Blog

Don't Let This Deadline Slip By: February 26, 2010

Posted by Emily Bowles, on February 16, 2010 - 0 comments

Tags: musicians' residency, composers

MUSICIANS!  Friday, February 26 is the last day to submit your application for the Con Edison Musicians' Residency: Composition Program.

 

Six (6) residencies will be awarded, each providing a suitable workspace for three months plus a stipend.  In addition, each hosting facility will present a free public program featuring their resident composers' work (that's a built-in audience!).

 

Queens-based composers take note: four of the six residencies are open only to Queens residents and will be hosted by cultural facilities in Queens.

  

One of last year's winners, Matt Schickele, describes how his Con Edison Musicians' Residency helped his career:

 

"My residency at Flushing Town Hall in 2009 gave me the time and space, both physically and mentally, to complete the chamber opera that had until then been written in whatever niches of time I could find. Now the opera, which would have taken me ages to finish without the residency, is already being performed."

 

Full Residency Guidelines

Residency Application

 

Don't delay!  Apply today!

 

What the Heck is the Theater Subdistrict Council Grant?

Posted by David Johnston, on February 16, 2010 - 0 comments

Tags: fundraising, theatre, theatre groups

This info came from our friends at Jazzmobile....

The Theater Subdistrict Council is pleased to announce the second round of a grant program designed to recognize the vital role that theater plays in the overall economic and social well-being of New York City.  Projects receiving support will seek to celebrate the live art form of theater and create and expand the audience base attending live theater, as well as enhance the body and quality of performance options.  Funding for the grant program is provided through contributions to the Theater Subdistrict Fund made in connection with the transfer of development rights from Broadway theaters.
 
Eligibility in this second phase of the grant program is open to organizations and/or consortia that:

*offer theater-related cultural programs based in and operating in the five boroughs
*are incorporated in New York State
*have been in existence and providing cultural services for two years
*had an operating income of $200,000 or more in FY09

Further background information on the grant program as well as an Intent to Apply form and instructions will be available on the NYC Department of City Planning and NYC Department of Cultural Affairs websites as of the close of business Friday, February 12th, 2010.  Completed Intent to Apply forms must be postmarked by April 9, 2010.  The Intent to Apply is the first step in the application process.  Respondents to the Intent to Apply will be notified in June if they will be invited to submit a full application; a decision regarding which projects will be funded in the pilot phase of the grant program will be announced in September, after a review of the full applications.
 
Those considering submitting an Intent to Apply are strongly urged to attend one of three information sessions to learn more about the application process.  All three sessions will cover the same information, and reservations are essential to assure we can accommodate you. Locations and times are as follows:
 
Friday, Feb 19, 2010      10:30 a.m. - 12:00 noon  
Bruno Walter Auditorium at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (enter at Amsterdam Avenue at 65th Street)

Monday, Feb 22, 2010     2:00 p.m. - 3.30 p.m.
Marriott Marquis Hotel - Astor Room, 7th floor - 1535 Broadway (between 45th and 46th Streets)
 
Tuesday, Feb 23, 2010   10:30 a.m. - 12:00 noon 
Spector Hall, NYC Dept. of City Planning, 22 Reade Street

You must register for the information sessions by emailing theatersubdistrictcouncil@gmail.com.  Be sure to indicate which session, the number and names of people attending, and the organization/s they represent.  Also be sure to bring downloaded application materials to the information sessions; these will not be available at the sites.
 
To review grant program materials and download the Intent to Apply form go to
 www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/home.html or  www.nyc.gov/html/dcla/html/home/home.shtml.

Blogging from The Road: Paramount Theatre, Seattle

Posted by Emily Bowles, on February 6, 2010 - 0 comments

Tags: theatre, performance space, blogging from the road

Courtney Jones worked at NYCPAS as Assistant to the Director for two years before embarking on the national tour of “WICKED” as an ensemble cast member. She is a graduate of SUNY Purchase College and has danced professionally in New York City with Jennifer Muller/The Works, among others. This is her eighth blog from the road (click "blogging from the road" in our tag cloud [right column] to see all her blogs!).

 

Believe it or not, five straight weeks of sunshine in San Diego left me yearning for a gloomy day, so heading to Seattle was actually quite exciting.  The moment I stepped into downtown Seattle, I immediately felt rejuvenated.  I remember thinking if my alma mater, SUNY Purchase, were its own city, it would be downtown Seattle.  Youth groups rallying on the street, local musicians playing their music on every corner and lots of energy. 

I was so inspired by Seattle that I did something I had not done since I had been on tour.  I contacted an old professor of mine who I knew had completed his MFA in Dance at the University of Washington to find out if there were any dance studios where I could take a class as a visitor.  He referred me to a wonderful space called Velocity Dance Center (thanks, Michael!). 

Professionally, Seattle brought changes to the cast of Wicked: we said goodbye to both Myra Lucretia Taylor, who played the lovely Madame Morrible, and Lenny Wolpe, who played The Wizard (see photo of cast on their final performance).  And we welcomed Randy Dawson and Richard Kline of "Three’s Company" fame!

 

The Paramount Theatre had a lovely charm, however the backstage layout proved to be more than difficult.  With only one elevator and the women’s ensemble dressing room on the fifth floor, visits to and from the dressing room were nearly impossible.   If you did decide to wait for the elevator, you would be waiting a very long time and risked the possibility of getting trapped, which happened on more than one occasion (sorry, Shanna!).

Since we were in the “Emerald City” and had played the house before, the audiences were knowledgeable and really great.  The staff members at nearby restaurants were used to our time constraints between shows -- they showed us great respect, and got us in and out with lovely service.  I would also like to thank the Taphouse Grill for letting me celebrate my 28th birthday there with the entire cast -- we had an awesome time. 

For those who have never visited Seattle, make sure you make it down to the Pike Place Market and, although I regretfully did not make it there, don’t forget the Space Needle.  Seattle was a beautiful and exciting city to play.  Thanks, Seattle.  I will definitely be back!

A Haiku Reminder

Posted by Emily Bowles, on February 4, 2010 - 0 comments

Tags: composers, haiku, musicians' residencies

 

New York Composer

Wait not for the last minute

Do apply today!

-- Anonymous NYCPAS Staff Member

 

2010 Con Edison Musicians' Residencies: Composition Program

Overview

Residency Guidelines

Application Form

Support for Community Board Theater Task Forces

Posted by Kirsten Nordine, on February 2, 2010 - 0 comments

From Manhattan Community Board 4's Theater Task Force:

This Wednesday, February 3rd, at the Fulton Center Auditorium, 119 Ninth Avenue (between 17th and 18th Streets), Manhattan Community Board 4 is going to consider a letter written by its Theater Task Force for passage.

At 6:30, on that evening, members of the public are invited to sign-up for a public session at which they will be given two minutes to speak on any topic that interests them.

Any member of the public, who resides or works (or performs) within the confines of Community District 4, 14th Street to 59th, 8th Avenue to the Hudson River, is invited to attend.

If you are a theater artist, who supports the tax credit initiative that the unprecedented alliance of Community Board Arts related committees are developing, we need your support at that meeting.

We need you there to speak up on its behalf.

The chances of the passage of the CB4 Theater Task Forces letter (pasted below for your review) which informs our elected officials of the Community Board alliance formed to support small to mid-sized non-profit performing arts organizations, and in addition, asks for their consideration of an innovative tax credit proposal to help us reduce the crisis confronting the independent theater sector, can only benefit from your presence and participation at this public session.

Community Board 5 will be meeting at the First Alliance Church
127 West 26th Street, 2nd floor, at 6 p.m., on February 11, 2010.

Your support at that meeting, if you are an artist that lives or works in that district, 14th Street to 59th, from Lexington Avenue to Eighth
Avenue) is just as necessary and useful.

As other Community Boards bring this resolution (or letter) up for a vote, we will let you know of the time, date and place of their respective meetings.

Please make every effort to attend if you can.

Visit NYITA's blog for the full CB4 Theater Task Force letter to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn:

http://www.nyitawards.com/news/newsitem.asp?storyid=118