News
Apr 05 2010
Shakespeare Festival receives grant from NEA
Winona, Minnesota’s Great River Shakespeare Festival has learned that for the second year in a row, it will receive support from the federal government’s chief arts agency, the National Endowment for the Arts. Congressman Tim Walz informed Festival leaders by telephone that his office received word of the Endowment’s $15,000 Artistic Excellence Award, a $5,000 increase over its 2009 grant to the Festival, in support of GRSF’s 2010 season production of Jonathan Gillard Daly, Gregg Coffin, and Larry Delinger’s musical memoir, The Daly News. Formal notification from the NEA will be forthcoming in April.
The production marks a significant step in this year’s expanded GRSF season, which features three productions by its professional company and an additional week of performances. The Daly News, the Festival’s first musical, will open on Sunday, July 4, and play in repertory with GRSF’s productions of Shakespeare’s Othello and The Comedy of Errors. The Festival season ends Sunday, August 1.
“The significance of this endorsement from the NEA cannot be underestimated,” according to Paul Barnes, GRSF Producing Director. “Companies with much longer track records and much larger budgets have not experienced the kind of success we have. Last year’s grant, also awarded in the category of Artistic Excellence and specifically targeted to support our production of The Tempest, was given to us on our first application to the Endowment. I know many much better known companies that have tried for years before receiving this kind of recognition and support. The NEA’s endorsement speaks volumes on behalf of what’s happening in Winona, about the quality of work at GRSF and about the combined efforts of so many people to establish the Festival. The $5,000 increase in this year’s award is clear affirmation that we’ve been doing something right.”
GRSF’s total application was for $25,000 and stressed that the addition of a musical to GRSF’s summer production roster would help reach new audiences that have not yet attended the Festival. “We’ve targeted 3-4,000 playgoers as potential audience for The Daly News. We’re hoping to reach people who are brand new to the Festival, who may be intrigued but lack interest in Shakespeare or confidence about their ability to comprehend his plays,” commented Barnes. “It’s become increasingly clear to me that Winonans love their music, and by offering them something like The Daly News, they may feel more comfortable spending time with us during the summer. Who knows? They might even decide to take a chance on Shakespeare!”
The Daly News was adapted by GRSF acting company member Jonathan Gillard Daly from weekly newsletters his grandfather, Martin Daly, a successful Milwaukee, Wisconsin banker, compiled, edited, and published on his basement typewriter and mimeograph machine during World War II. Martin Daly’s four sons and a son-in-law all served in the military in both theatres of war. When GRSF actor Daly’s father died, his mother passed along complete copies of the multiple volumes of newsletters to Daly and his own brothers. It took the actor-playwright months to read through the material, but he recognized immediately the newsletters’ potential power as a theatre piece and eventually set to work.
Daly, who lives in Milwaukee and is a seven-season veteran of the Festival, wrote the book and lyrics for the stage adaptation of The Daly News. Composers Gregg Coffin and Larry Delinger contributed music for the production.
Originally devised for 10 actors, The Daly News made its debut at PCPA Theaterfest in Santa Maria, California, where Daly and Barnes were on staff during the 1980s. Barnes directed the original production. In 1997 Daly relocated to Milwaukee, his home town, where he joined the resident acting company at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, and continued to refine the adaptation. A re-worked, three-actor version of the script debuted in 2009 at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre. GRSF sponsored a one-night benefit performance of The Daly News in 2009, which played to a sold-out audience and, according to many observers, brought a significant number of first-time playgoers to the Festival.
“Whereas this news from the NEA is very encouraging, it’s just one piece of an ambitious and complex fundraising puzzle for 2010. Our original request was for $25,000, and the NEA grant is just one of several requests for support that are still pending. The terms of the grant require matching funds from other sources. We’ve got a lot more to raise in order to meet our 2010 goals,” according to Jeff Stevenson, GRSF General Manager. “But there is no doubt that the news that Congressman Walz passed along earlier this week is a real vote of confidence.”
GRSF’s 2010 season begins preview performances June 23rd. Tickets are now on sale. For further information and a complete schedule of Festival performances and events, visit www.grsf.org, call 507-474-7900, or stop by the GRSF office, 79 E. Third Street in downtown, Winona.
The production marks a significant step in this year’s expanded GRSF season, which features three productions by its professional company and an additional week of performances. The Daly News, the Festival’s first musical, will open on Sunday, July 4, and play in repertory with GRSF’s productions of Shakespeare’s Othello and The Comedy of Errors. The Festival season ends Sunday, August 1.
“The significance of this endorsement from the NEA cannot be underestimated,” according to Paul Barnes, GRSF Producing Director. “Companies with much longer track records and much larger budgets have not experienced the kind of success we have. Last year’s grant, also awarded in the category of Artistic Excellence and specifically targeted to support our production of The Tempest, was given to us on our first application to the Endowment. I know many much better known companies that have tried for years before receiving this kind of recognition and support. The NEA’s endorsement speaks volumes on behalf of what’s happening in Winona, about the quality of work at GRSF and about the combined efforts of so many people to establish the Festival. The $5,000 increase in this year’s award is clear affirmation that we’ve been doing something right.”
GRSF’s total application was for $25,000 and stressed that the addition of a musical to GRSF’s summer production roster would help reach new audiences that have not yet attended the Festival. “We’ve targeted 3-4,000 playgoers as potential audience for The Daly News. We’re hoping to reach people who are brand new to the Festival, who may be intrigued but lack interest in Shakespeare or confidence about their ability to comprehend his plays,” commented Barnes. “It’s become increasingly clear to me that Winonans love their music, and by offering them something like The Daly News, they may feel more comfortable spending time with us during the summer. Who knows? They might even decide to take a chance on Shakespeare!”
The Daly News was adapted by GRSF acting company member Jonathan Gillard Daly from weekly newsletters his grandfather, Martin Daly, a successful Milwaukee, Wisconsin banker, compiled, edited, and published on his basement typewriter and mimeograph machine during World War II. Martin Daly’s four sons and a son-in-law all served in the military in both theatres of war. When GRSF actor Daly’s father died, his mother passed along complete copies of the multiple volumes of newsletters to Daly and his own brothers. It took the actor-playwright months to read through the material, but he recognized immediately the newsletters’ potential power as a theatre piece and eventually set to work.
Daly, who lives in Milwaukee and is a seven-season veteran of the Festival, wrote the book and lyrics for the stage adaptation of The Daly News. Composers Gregg Coffin and Larry Delinger contributed music for the production.
Originally devised for 10 actors, The Daly News made its debut at PCPA Theaterfest in Santa Maria, California, where Daly and Barnes were on staff during the 1980s. Barnes directed the original production. In 1997 Daly relocated to Milwaukee, his home town, where he joined the resident acting company at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, and continued to refine the adaptation. A re-worked, three-actor version of the script debuted in 2009 at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre. GRSF sponsored a one-night benefit performance of The Daly News in 2009, which played to a sold-out audience and, according to many observers, brought a significant number of first-time playgoers to the Festival.
“Whereas this news from the NEA is very encouraging, it’s just one piece of an ambitious and complex fundraising puzzle for 2010. Our original request was for $25,000, and the NEA grant is just one of several requests for support that are still pending. The terms of the grant require matching funds from other sources. We’ve got a lot more to raise in order to meet our 2010 goals,” according to Jeff Stevenson, GRSF General Manager. “But there is no doubt that the news that Congressman Walz passed along earlier this week is a real vote of confidence.”
GRSF’s 2010 season begins preview performances June 23rd. Tickets are now on sale. For further information and a complete schedule of Festival performances and events, visit www.grsf.org, call 507-474-7900, or stop by the GRSF office, 79 E. Third Street in downtown, Winona.
