Apply for a Classroom Grant from Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation's New Initiative

The American Theatre Wing announced today that their new Andrew Lloyd Webber Initiative has launched the first grant cycle for the Classroom Resource Grant.

Grant requests of up to $100,000 will be considered for K-12 public schools, with the deadline of September 30, 2016. Final notifications of grants will be made by December 2016.

For more information, or to apply, visit americantheatrewing.org/program/the-andrew-lloyd-webber-initiative.

"Raising money for great causes can be very exciting, but what feels really good is putting that money to use," said Ms. Hitchens. "I am thrilled to be embarking on this first piece of the Andrew Lloyd Webber initiative just a little over a month after we first announced it live at the Tony Awards. Over the next three years, we will continue to expand the access to theatrical resources through our grants for primary, secondary, and higher education."

With the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation's help, the American Theatre Wing is investing in Public Schools to help drama teachers get more of the resources they need to provide quality drama instruction in their schools. Through a grant-giving program, funding will be provided directly to under-resourced public schools to provide instruments, dance floors, lighting grids, and other necessary materials to help create new and enhance existing theatre programs.

Any individual public K-12 school in the U.S. or Puerto Rico, or non-profit parent group associated with that K-12 may apply. Private/parochial schools, home schools, and pre-schools are not eligible. Parent groups (Parent Teacher Associations, etc.) may apply, but must have an independent EIN and official 501c(3) status from the IRS. If your group does not have 501c(3) status, please apply through your school, however, the PTA can still be the point of contact for a proposal.

Grant requests of up to $100,000 will be considered, but the priority of funding will be for resource requests in the $10,000 to $40,000 range, allowing the Wing to extend meaningful resources to multiple deserving schools each year.

The American Theatre Wing's Andrew Lloyd Webber Initiative is a major new national initiative which received $1.3 million in seed funding from the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation, and will support theatre education opportunities for underserved young people and under-resourced public schools around the United States. This project is an expansion of the work that the multi-Tony Award winning composer and producer has been doing to promote and fund arts education through his Foundation in the United Kingdom. It serves to both strengthen and expand the Wing's core mission of nurturing the next generation of theatre makers and patrons. Those wishing to join the Wing in their efforts to provide these critical opportunities for young people can contact the American Theatre Wing's Director of Programs, Joanna Sheehan Bell (joanna@americantheatrewing.org).

The Andrew Lloyd Webber Initiative consists of three separate components:

1) Classroom Resources: Through a grant-giving program, funding will be provided directly to under-resourced public schools to provide instruments, dance floors, lighting grids, and other necessary materials to help create new and enhance existing theatre programs.

2) Extracurricular Training Scholarships: Funding will go towards covering the costs associated with sending select students to summer study and after school training programs.

3) 4-Year Partial University Scholarships: Financial support will be provided to select students to pursue theatre studies at the University level.

The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation was set up by Andrew in 1992 to promote the arts, culture and heritage for the public benefit; since inception Andrew has been the principal provider of funding for all its charitable activities.

In 2010, the Foundation embarked on an active grant giving programme and has now awarded grants of more than US$17m to support high quality training and personal development as well as other projects that make a real difference to enrich the quality of life both for individuals and within local communities. In the last two years, Andrew and his Foundation have supported various projects in the USA including Little Kids Rock and The Young People's Chorus of New York. The American Theatre Wing Andrew Lloyd Webber Initiative will be the largest single grant awarded by the Foundation in the USA to date.

In 2015, the Foundation awarded over US$2.3m in 46 new grants to organisations, made 17 grants totaling US$1.3m to projects in their second and third year of funding and provided 30 musical theatre scholarships worth over US$450k to young performers on the brink of their careers. The grants focus on the enhancement of arts education and participation, improving access to the arts for all, and increasing diversity across the arts, culture and heritage sector. Visit www.andrewlloydwebberfoundation.com for more information.

The American Theatre Wing (Heather Hitchens, President and CEO) is dedicated to advancing artistic excellence and nurturing theatre's next generation: on the stage, behind the scenes, and in the audience. For nearly a century, the Wing has pursued this mission with programs that span the nation to invest in the growth and evolution of American Theatre. Traditionally, the Wing has encouraged members of the theatre community to share their off-stage time and talent directly with the theatre audience at large--whether it was singing for the troops in the Stage Door Canteen of the 1940s, or sharing their stories on a podcast today. As the founders of The Tony Awards, the American Theatre Wing has developed the foremost national platform for the recognition of theatrical achievement on Broadway. Yet the Wing's reach extends beyond Broadway and beyond New York. The Wing develops the next generation of theatre professionals through the SpringboardNYC and Theatre Intern Network programs, incubates innovative theatre across the country through the National Theatre Company Grants, fosters the song of American theatre through the Jonathan Larson Grants, honors the best in New York theatrical design with the Henry Hewes Design Award, and illuminates the creative process through the "Working in the Theatre" program and media archive. Beginning last season, the American Theatre Wing has entered into a long-term partnership with The Village Voice to co-present The Obie Awards, Off Broadway's Highest Honor. Visitors to AmericanTheatreWing.org can gain inspiration and insight into the artistic process through the Wing's extensive media collection, and learn more about its programming for students, aspiring and working professionals, and audiences.