BWW Exclusive: National Theater Institute's New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year! In 2015, the National Theater Institute will train 130 young artists through six credit-earning programs taught by master teachers and industry professionals at the two-time Tony Award-winning Eugene O'Neill Theater Center.

In anticipation for the year ahead, RISK AGAIN! takes a look at NTI's New Year's Resolutions:

1. Celebrate NTI's 45th anniversary year with: the second and third semesters of the new National Music Theater Institute; completed student residences and rehearsal rooms as part of the O'Neill's historic campus expansion project; and a record number of alums returning as faculty members to share their years of professional experience in all forms of theater creation.

2. Welcome living playwrights to the O'Neill while NTI works on his/her plays during the weekly Theater Labs.

3. Reunite with our Fall 2005 alums who went on to create the acclaimed multidisciplinary theater laboratory FullStop Collective. The class will return to the O'Neill to celebrate their 10 year reunion this fall.

4. See NTI alumni at work including new shows from The Debate Society "The Light Years"; Rebecca Taichman's world premiere of "Familiar" at Yale Rep; Erica Schmidt "A Month in the Country"with Peter Dinklage and Taylor Schilling at Classic Stage Company; Superhero Clubhouse "Salty Folk"; Diana Oh "My Lingerie Play"; Leta Tremblay"Mrs. Mayfield's Fifth Grade Class of '93 20-Year Reunion"; and Bill Barclay Globe to Globe "Hamlet," among others.

5. Travel to London with our Advanced Playwrights. This spring will be the first time that the NTI-Advanced Playwriting Semester students study abroad with the NTI ensemble. While in London, the playwrights will train with Complicite as well as study with London-based playwrights including NTI alum Jake Jeppson.

6. Welcome several professional companies to work in-residence alongside NTI students on the O'Neill's seaside campus.

7. Enable 30 students to study in the birthplace of modern drama with NTI's fall 2015 Moscow Art Theatre Semester, the nation's only opportunity for undergraduates to train at the famed School.

8. Explore puppetry with artists-in-residence, special events in the new Jim and Jane Henson Hall, and the 25th anniversary of the National Puppetry Conference this summer.

9. Launch the National Theater Institute's new website providing greater resources for our vast alumni network as well as for prospective students, their families, and colleges.

10. Host even more Q&A's with professionals from every aspect of theater making. (2014 included conversations with Brian Dennehy, Julia Murney, Reed Birney, Nick Wyman, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Gavin Creel, Jed Bernstein, Josh Radnor, Mel Marvin, Samuel D. Hunter, Alexander Whitley, Jennifer Tepper, Michael Starobin, Cazimir Liske, Michael John LaChuisa, Alex Brightman, Nia Lynn, Thomas Whitehead, Bruce Coughlin, Bill Barclay, and Jill Winternitz.)

Next week: Actress Jennifer Garner shares what she learned during her time at the National Theater Institute in the fall 1993.

To learn more and apply, visit www.NationalTheaterInstitute.org and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (@NTIRiskFailRisk). The application deadline for summer and fall programs is March 20. Early applications are encouraged!