The Charles Abbott Fellowship

Director Alex Hare was named the 2019/20 Charles Abbott Fellowship recipient.

Photo credit Cortney Armitage

He is assisting director Barbara Gaines on her production of Emma at Chicago Shakespeare Theater for the duration of his fellowship.

Alex Hare is a director of new musicals (mostly) and the associate artistic director of Corkscrew Theater Festival, which seeks to reduce financial barriers for early career artists and provide meaningful production support. With Zhailon Levingston and Nehemiah Luckett, Alex is developing the new musical A Burning Church through New Ohio/IRT’s Archive Residency (spring 2021 premiere). Assistant credits include School of Rock (Broadway – SDCF Observership) and Side Show (Broadway, Kennedy Center). Frequently an assistant to film director Bill Condon, Alex studied American Studies at Columbia University.  http://www.alexhare.nyc/

The Charles Abbott Fellowship
Established by a wide group of friends and colleagues of Charles Abbott to honor him upon his retirement as artistic director of Maine State Music Theatre, the goal of the Charles Abbott Fellowship is to help early-career directors and director-choreographers of promise develop their skills in directing musical theatre by allowing them access to the entire rehearsal process as a master artist directs a musical in a regional theatre of national recognition. Mentors for the Charles Abbott Fellowship have historically been the artistic directors or resident directors of the host theatre. This Fellowship will continue to present a new generation of gifted artists with a remarkable education in – and unique understanding of – the directorial skills necessary to create musical theatre, the workings of regional theatre, and the leadership of those artists shaping the regional arts landscape.

The Denham Fellowship

Director Arpita Mukherjee was named the 2019/2020 Denham Fellow recipient for her upcoming production of Raisins Not Virgins by Sharbari Zohra Ahmed.

Raisins Not Virgins will be presented by Hypokrit Theatre Company at Next Door NYTW from June 4^th, 2020 to June 18^th, 2020.

Arpita Mukherjee (she/her/hers) is the artistic director and co-founder of Hypokrit Theatre Company and the Festival Chair for Tamasha. Recent: Jump by Charly Evon Simpson (APAC), One Way by Ben Bonnema and Christopher Staskel (NAMT), The Golden Threshold by Cheeyang Ng and Eric Sorrels (Live & In Color), Strange Men by Will Snider (PlayPenn 2019), Citizen Scientist by CQ (Barrington Stage Company Playworks Weekend), Anon(ymous) by Naomi Iizuka (Iowa State University), Vietgone by Qui Nguyen (reading Song Collective), Eh Dah? Questions For My Father by Aya Aziz (Next Door @NYTW), and Elements of Change by Divya Mangwani (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, UNICEF). Upcoming: House of Joy by Madhuri Shekar (San Diego Rep), Tobias by CQ (WP Theater Pipeline Festival), and Raisins Not Virgins by Sharbari Ahmed (Next Door @NYTW). She is a 2018 – 2020 Women’s Project Lab Member, 2018 Eugene O’Neill National Directing Fellow, alumni of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab, and 2019 Mabou Mines Resident Artist. Arpita is currently the book writer for Monsoon Wedding musical, opening in London summer 2020.

For the full press release, please click here.

The Denham Fellowship
Established by Mary Orr Denham in 2006 with a bequest to the SDC Foundation in honor of her late husband, Reginald H. F. Denham, the Denham Fellowship is an annual award to early and mid-career female identifying directors to further develop their directing skills.  The Denham Fellowship recipient will be selected by the Denham Committee, which is made up of theatre professionals.

The Denham Fellowship comes with a $10,000 stipend. Mukherjee was unanimously selected for this honor by a panel comprised of Susan Booth (Alliance Theater), Desdemona Chiang (freelance director), Elizabeth Diamond (Yale University), KJ Sanchez (University of Texas, Austin), and Hana Sharif (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis).

Harold Prince/Kurt Weill Fellowship

Harold Prince/Kurt Weill Fellowship offers an opportunity for a mid-career director working in opera and/or musical theatre to work as an Associate with a master director on a Kurt Weill or Marc Blitzstein stage work, acquainting them both with the techniques of skilled artists and the importance of Weill’s or Blitzstein’s work in theatrical practices today. The experience will expand the Fellow’s own artistry, enrich their leadership and collaborative skills, and further their knowledge of directing a musical production. Through this Fellowship, the Fellow also gains greater understanding of Weill’s or Blitzstein’s theatrical catalogue and an ability to draw on this in future work.

The 2020 Harold Prince/Kurt Weill Fellowship will be mentored by Victoria Clark, who is directing the Kurt Weill and Alan Jay Lerner musical LOVE  LIFE (1948)  at New York City Center Encores!. This year, with a continued focus on mid-career directors, the Fellowship opportunity will be open to all SDC Members and Associate Members in good standing, as well as SDCF’s 2019/2020 Observership Class. This is not an Observership, but rather an opportunity to collaborate closely as a creative consultant to Victoria Clark and the Encores! LOVE  LIFE Production and to contribute creative solutions and feedback. The selected Fellow will receive a $5,000 artist stipend, plus an additional $1,500 in travel/housing support.

The selected Fellow will attend pre-productions meetings beginning in New York on February 20^th; the commitment continues through the rehearsal period beginning on March 6^th and concludes with opening night on March 18^th. Prior to pre-production on February 20^th, and ongoing throughout the process, there will be opportunities for the selected Fellow to complete dramaturgical assignments, including generating historical research and background for the creative team, cast, and company as well as script supervision and maintenance.

The commitments prior to February 20^th could be completed remotely starting as early as October, 2019; however, the selected Fellow will need to be in New York in time for the start of official pre-production on February 20^th.

To apply, submit a one-page artistic statement and one-page resume. One letter of recommendation is required. The artistic statement should address three things: why the applicant believes working with Victoria Clark will play a significant role in their professional development; why working on this particular Weill production is attractive at this point in the applicant’s artistic development; and a description of any relevant dramaturgical experience.

Applications are due August 30^th; interviews will be held the week of September 23^rd.