2023 ATW Annual Report

Annual Report 2023

A Letter from our President & CEO

We are thrilled to share our first ever annual report with all of you! Many people recognize us for founding and co-producing the Tony Awards, but with this report, we wanted to showcase for all of you the other important work we do at the Wing the other 364 days a year.

Our programs provide critical discovery, access, training, and professional development opportunities to students, young professionals, and theatre curious folks of all ages. They help to ensure we have a dynamic and diverse next generation on stage, behind the scenes, and in the audience. In 2023, we distributed $642,000 in 72 grants and scholarships to artists, students, and theatre companies across the country. In total, 12,000 students were served through our programming. Our free educational content was seen in 50 states and 8 countries garnering over 700,000 views, and our Working in the Theatre docu-series earned its 5th Daytime Emmy nomination.

As we look ahead, we remain steadfast in our mission of ensuring a robust, equitable theatre nationwide. We are particularly looking forward to making a significant investment in regional theatres by re-launching our National Theatre Company Grants. This effort will help regional theatres successfully present the work of living American playwrights and under-presented work as well as incubate new ideas for marketing and presenting new work, which will strengthen the theatre ecology overall.

None of this would be possible without the unwavering support of our donors, partners, and advocates. Together, we will continue to move the American theatre forward. Thank you for your continued commitment to The American Theatre Wing!

Heather Hitchens President & CEO

01 Andrew Lloyd Webber Initiative

Bridging the Gap Between Talent and Opportunity

The Andrew Lloyd Webber Initiative was created in 2016 with seed funding from the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation to aid and abet systemic change in the American Theatre by infusing new resources into the theatre ecosystem in order to bolster the pipeline for underrepresented talent. By fostering lifelong engagement with theatre through educational avenues, we provide young people across the nation newfound access to the industry.

Through Classroom Resource Grants and Training and University Scholarships, this initiative directly addresses key systemic issues that create obstacles in the theatre education and training pipeline. The initiative creates opportunities for new voices in the theatre field, promoting equal opportunity and pathways to leadership on stage, behind the scenes, and in arts administration.

In addition to these grants, The Wing creates continuous impact through ongoing engagement with alums such as master classes, events, panels, and career advancement. These touch points help create space and opportunity for deserving students, bridging the gap between talent and opportunity.

Classroom Resources Grants

The American Theatre Wing provides Classroom Resources Grants to empower drama teachers in under-resourced public K-12 schools, in the U.S. or Puerto Rico, or non-profit parent group associated with that K-12 school. This grant program provides funding for essential resources such as instruments, dance floors, lighting grids, and many other materials. By funding these resources, The Wing aims to help create and enhance existing theatre programs, deepen knowledge of technical theatre, and offer new training opportunities to students and teachers across the country.

Grants requests of up to $50,000 are considered, aiming to extend meaningful support to multiple deserving schools annually, with a focus on enhancing learning experiences and nurturing young talent within the theatre arts.

“I have now started training electricians, engineers, stagehands, and management in 4th grade because they all have gear to do their jobs! Our production team has at least two dozen members this year! Tech theater is HUGE at our school now. Thank you for lighting a fire inside my kiddos!”

- 2021 Classroom Resources Grant recipient

Training Scholarships

Through the Training Scholarships, the Wing aims to bridge the gap between talent and opportunity by funding summer study and after-school training programs for students interested in various aspects of theatre.

Funding will go towards covering the costs associated with summer study and after school training programs for public middle and high school students in grades 6-11 who come from populations historically underrepresented in our industry; who demonstrate economic need, exceptional talent, and an interest in participating in after school training programs or intensive summer study programs to better prepare for future training at the university level.

The student’s area of focus can be from any aspect of theatre from performance, to design, to writing, to stage management, and others. Through the Training Scholarships, we hope to create a strong pipeline to the professional theatre for promising artists of all backgrounds.

Watch Anthony describe his career so far.

“Thank you for providing me the opportunity to work on my craft and train in such a oneof-a-kind, once-in-a-lifetime experience at Penn State. Without your support and help, I wouldn’t have been able to afford this intensive. Penn State ended up being a life-changing experience, amongst so many artists, creatives, and supportive people. I made lifelong friendships, trained with such wonderful and knowledgeable faculty, and walked out of that intensive a better artist. I look forward to implementing all of the tools and lessons I learned into my upcoming college audition season, future shows, and the rest of my career.”

- 2023 Training Scholarship Recipient

University Scholarships

The University Scholarships provide resources and support to rising high school seniors from populations historically underrepresented in the theatre industry who demonstrate exceptional talent and have economic need, lacking financial resources to attend college to study a discipline in theatre. Each recipient is provided with a scholarship of up to $40,000 ($10,000 a year, renewable for 4 years) to use toward course fees so long as a minimum GPA of 3.0 is maintained.

The University Scholarship can be used at an accredited private or public university or college in the United States where scholars can study ANY aspect of theatre - from stage management to arts administration, design to performance, and more, providing opportunities for all to pursue their dreams of a career in the theatre both on and off the stage.

Stewart F. Lane fellowship for Career Advancement

An award of $10,000 presented each year to a graduating college senior who is selected based on their potential to make

a positive, long-lasting contribution to the theatre industry.

Candidates for the fellowship are selected from the matriculating class of ALWI University Scholarship recipients and evaluated at the annual scholarship panel review. This program expansion eases the transition from college to career with an unrestricted award that allows the fellow to put the resources wherever they are most needed to safeguard their long-term career.

Mentorship Program

Each University Scholarship recipient is paired with an established theatre professional who will provide critical guidance, advice, and support to maximize and enhance their university experience. This helps ensure smooth and strategic entry into the industry and fosters meaningful relationships between today’s leading theatre professionals and the next generation of theatre makers and leaders. Mentors and scholars connect one-on-one via Zoom sessions or in-person quarterly.

.

“I am grateful for the ALW scholarship for sticking with me through the growing pains of finding my place in the world. This year, I realized I wanted to approach theatre more from behind the scenes, and that I really enjoyed musical theatre composition and stage management. So I have switched to NYU’s Clive Davis Institute for Recorded Music. Since this scholarship paid for the rest of my tuition after my NYU financial aid, I didn’t need to have a job in New York, and I was able to write two musicals and fully focus on my studies.”

- 2022 University Scholarship Recipient

Elevating your craft with titans in the industry

ATW’s Master Classes provide rising creative professionals with exclusive access to advice, insight, and training from the titans of the theatre industry. Each class allows attendees to hear the many and vast ways to find your way in the business with each featured artist sharing their unique journey and path to success as a creative.

Each Master Class consists of a live and virtual component. Students are invited in person to participate in the Master Class as it is filmed for on demand release.

All Master Classes are then premiered live on the American Theatre Wing’s YouTube channel during which time our instructor and participants join virtually for Q&A and conversation with viewers in real time.

03 Working in the Theatre

04 Playreaders Club & Ticket Offer Program

Playreaders Club

In partnership with the Drama Book Shop, the Playreaders Club brings together theatre enthusiasts, professionals, students, and educators to read and discuss interesting work each month – through virtual and in-person events with special guests at The Drama Book Shop. Each play is selected by an expert committee with an aim to raise awareness of diverse authors and works that audiences may not have heard about or seen before on stage.

Through Patreon, the Playreaders Club allows for individuals to engage with the Wing’s programming through a tiered system of micro donations while also creating a vibrant community of artists, theatre enthusiasts, educators, and more!

To join the club, become one of our Patreon members: https://www.patreon.com/ americantheatrewing

Ticket Offer Program

Access to live theatre is essential to the development of the next generation of theatre makers and audience members. The American Theatre Wing grants access to theatre by offering its past program participants complimentary tickets to numerous showsboth on and off-Broadway.

The ticket offer program provides this crucial opportunity so participants can witness diverse stories, nurture their own artistry, build community, and encourage inspiration to contribute to the American theatre.

Fostering the next generation of musical theatre

The Jonathan Larson Grants are an unconditional annual investment in individual talent. The grant is awarded to musical theatre composers, lyricists, and librettists, or writing teams, early in their career to support artistic endeavors and safeguard long-term careers.

A life-long musical theatre lover, Jonathan Larson worked tirelessly to develop his own musical vision for the stage. After nearly a decade of writing and composing, Larson’s rock musical Rent, a gritty urban update to Puccini’s La Bohème, premiered to enormous critical and popular success. The show reflected Larson’s personal story as a struggling artist living in Alphabet City, getting by with the support of his contemporaries. Tragically, Larson passed away suddenly the night before previews for the show began. The inspiring nature and brave subject matter

of Rent however, gave the show a life of its own and established Larson as the voice of a new generation on stage. The show, and its creator posthumously, won the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and four Tony Awards. “Rent” remains a celebrated musical and cultural touchstone today. The few grants Larson received inspirited him with the professional confidence to continue pursuing musical theatre and, ultimately, to finish “Rent.”

Today, Jonathan Larson Grants are awarded to musical writers with the potential to create work that shapes contemporary culture. It gives writers free reign to put the grant’s resources toward what they see as the best use for furthering their creative endeavors with the hope that the grant will provide the support necessary for artists to see their work from concept to cultural success.

Jae W.B. performs “Unremarkable” with music and lyrics by 2021 Jonathan Larson Grant recipient Kit Mee Kuen Yan. Photo by Natalie Powers.

Michael R. Jackson accepts his 2017 Jonathan Larson Grant.

Honoring Excellence in Regional Theatre

The National Theatre Company Grants has always been committed to championing regional theatres, recognizing their critical work in local communities and to the theatre ecosystem as a whole.

From 1956 to 2009, the program distributed $3M to New York City theatre companies. 2010 marked the first of several program changes, expanding eligibility to theatre companies across the nation. From 2010 to 2018, the program awarded general operating support grants of $10k to 81 theatre companies, distributing nearly $1M in funding to help build infrastructure, enhance resources, and create new initiatives.

As a result of the changing landscape and pandemic, the Wing paused the program in 2019 to respond to one of the industry’s most urgent needs - to encourage regional theatres to tell new, compelling stories, and to diversify and expand audiences and the national theatre canon.

Beginning in 2024, the relaunched National Theatre Company Grants will focus on helping regional theatres innovate new strategies to successfully present the work of living American playwrights. Five grants of $100,000 will be awarded annually to support projects that represent visionary approaches to presenting new work. Co-productions of world premieres, national not for profit tours of new work, regional or local debuts, fresh approaches to audience development and community outreach around new work, and educational and low-cost ticket initiatives that introduce younger and diverse audiences to new work are all examples of the projects ATW seeks to support with these grants. ATW will also consider the presentation of work by authors who are no longer living, but whose work remains unknown or under-presented in the national theatre canon.

Goals

• To uplift and celebrate the central contributions of playwrights in advancing the art form, and to build new audiences for their work;

• To support regional theatre companies in the successful presentation of new work

• To support and help drive new and innovative models for marketing, ticketing, and presenting new work and building new and sustaining audiences for that work which could serve as models for the whole industry;

• To help the work of under-represented and unknown playwrights find an audience.

07

Obie Awards

08

The Tony Awards

Honoring Excellence on Broadway

Founded by the American Theatre Wing in 1947, the Tony Awards have marked Broadway theatre’s most prestigious award. Broadcasted live on CBS beginning in 1978, the Tonys help illuminate and validate American theatre by reaching national and global audiences.

The awards reflect the legacy of their namesake, Antoinette “Tony” Perry, one of the Wing’s leaders and an instrumental pioneer in establishing American theatre in past and present. Today, The Tony Awards remain the pinnacle acknowledgment in Broadway, commanding theatre’s recognition as a timelessly relevant artform, and platform for advancing national culture.

The Tony Awards continue to celebrate the best on Broadway with at least 30 awards each year. Winners have come from many disciplines in the theatre, and we look forward to celebrating across various venues in the city, with many artists who we’ve been fortunate to work with on many projects, including mentoring younger artists from our programs.

09 Excellence in T heatre Education Award

RECIPIENTS

Excellence in Theatre Education Award

COREY MITCHELL 2015 Recipient Northwest School of the Arts

MELODY HERZFELD 2018 Recipient

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School

MARILYN McCORMICK 2016 Recipient Cass Technical High School

MADELINE MICHEL 2019 Recipient Monticello High School

JASON ZEMBUCH YOUNG 2023 Recipient South Plantation High School

RACHEL “KRUM” HARRY 2017 Recipient Hood River Valley High School

ROSHUNDA JONES-KOUMBA 2022 Recipient G.W. Carver Magnet High School

Celebrating theatre companies across the nation

The Regional Theatre Tony Award holds a special place among the Special Tony Awards. Its journey began in 1948 with an initial recognition of Virginia Barter Theatre and found its true footing in 1976. This was when the American Theatre Wing, in partnership with the American Theatre Critics Association, created this special award, honoring Arena Stage, the pioneering regional theatre in the country.

This award’s history and the ongoing commitment to celebrate regional theatres are at the heart of the American Theatre Wing’s mission. From the National Theatre Company Grants to the Andrew Lloyd Webber Initiative, and from Working in the Theatre to the Obie Awards, the spirit and vitality of regional theatre permeate all our endeavors.

Each year, the Regional Theatre Tony Award is lovingly presented to a different theatre company, ensuring each recipient is uniquely honored. This tradition highlights the remarkable strength, diversity, and wealth of new productions flourishing across the nation. The American Theatre Wing deeply believes in this work and proudly supports these theatres with a $25,000 grant each year, along with the esteemed title of Tony Award-winning Theatre Company.

The passion and dedication of regional theatres fuel our collective love for the arts, making every award a celebration of their invaluable contributions to the cultural fabric of our communities.

Donors

CORPORATION, GOVERNMENT, AND FOUNDATION SUPPORT

Athletics

Bloomberg Philanthropies

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights

AIDS

Concord Theatricals

Delta Airlines

The Dorothy Strelsin Foundation

Edwin Barbey Charitable Trust

Ernst & Young LLP

Hearst Foundation

John Gore Organization

Jujamycn Theaters

Kirkland and Ellis LLP

Morgan Stanley

New York State Council of the Arts

New York City Department of Cultural Affairs

Rosenstiel Foundation

Saw Island Foundation

The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation

The Nederlander Organization

The Shubert Foundation

The Shubert Organization

United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829, IATSE

Paramount

INDIVIDUAL SUPPORT

Gold ($50,000+)

Pamela & Peter D. Barbey

Robyn Coles

Margaret Fofonoff, Art Lab, LLC

Eleni Gianulis-Vermeer, Creative Partner Productions

Celso Gonzalez-Falla

Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley

Christine Schwarzman, No Guarantees

John Voege & Geoffrey Paul

Elaine Wilson

Silver ($25,000-$49,999)

Anonymous

CeCe and Lee Black

Brisa Carleton

Nicole Eisenberg

Dasha Epstein

Anna May Feige

Tom Healy and Fred P. Hochberg

James & Heather Higgins

LaTanya Richardson Jackson and Samuel L. Jackson

Elizabeth Kabler

The Miranda Family

Lee Perlman

Judith O. & Robert E. Rubin

Jane Safer

Emily Tow, The Tow Foundation

Pamela Zilly

Bronze ($15,000 – $24,999)

Sunny Bates

Jeffrey and Tina Bolton

Dale Cendali

Liz Claman

Jennifer E. Daly

Alex Donnelly, PRG

Amanda Dubois

Nicole and Stephen Eisenberg

Jeffrey Legum

Sandi Lurie and Steve Greene

Evan Steinberg

Barbara Waldman

Nadine Wong

Randi Zuckerberg

Advocate ($10,000 –$14,999)

Patricia Crown

Katie Fortunado

Lisa Fung

Rebecca Gillan

Marlene Hess

Anki Leeds

Kenny Leon

James Marver and Shirin Kaufman

Peter Schneider

Evan and Jill Shapiro

George Vrandenberg

Julian Yap

Steven Mezer

“Today, The Wing matters more than ever. Artists must continue to find the courage to be society’s moral compass. To my fellow artists, rest assured that The Wing is here, steadfast, with its hand on our backs from our earliest stages of our career onward, supporting and embracing our work, guiding us, into the next hundred years.”

- Patti LuPone, 2018 Tony Awards

Follow us on social: @thewing

To make a donation, please go to https:// americantheatrewing.org/support-us/ donate/ or, for more information, contact emily@americantheatrewing.org. Thank you for being a vital part of building a more vibrant and inclusive American Theatre!