Stage Directors And Choreographers Foundation Announces A Noël Coward Fellowship With Funding From The Noël Coward Foundation

Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation announced that the recipient of the Noël Coward Fellowship will be Amy Anders Corcoran. The Noël Coward Fellowship was established in April of 2009 with funding from the Noël Coward Foundation. The fellowship is designed to provide early-career Members and Associates who have a proclivity for comedic work with the opportunity to develop professionally by assisting a Mentor Director on a major production of Noël Coward’s work.

Alan Brodie, chairman of the Trustees of the Noël Coward Foundation said, “We are delighted to be supporting the SDC in this way and particularly delighted that the chosen recipient is attached to the California Shakespeare Theater production of Private Lives since the Bay Area is currently hosting a number of Noël Coward-related events, including a major exhibition of his life and work at the Museum of Performing Arts and Design in San Francisco.”

SDCF’s mentorship program consistently realizes the Foundation’s goals of providing opportunities to practice the crafts of direction and choreography; gathering and disseminating craft and career information; and promoting the profession to emerging talent. Together with the endowed Fellowships, these programs annually offer opportunities focused in both musical and classical theatre. Previous mentors for SDCF’s programs have included Michael Greif, Jerry Zaks, Kathleen Marshall, Daniel Sullivan and Jerry Mitchell, and experiences have taken place on Broadway, Off-Broadway and at regional theatres throughout the country.

SDCF Executive Director, Laura Penn, said, “We are certain that collaboration with the Noël Coward Foundation in the form of a focused Fellowship will ensure its participants artistic growth through unparalleled access to the most prominent experts in the field as well as increase national awareness of the importance of Noël Coward’s contribution to the theatrical cannon.”

The Fellow, Amy Anders Corcoran, will be placed on the Mark Rucker-helmed production of Noël Coward’s Private Lives at California Shakespeare Theater, under the artistic direction of Jonathan Moscone.

Jonathan Moscone, Artistic Director of California Shakespeare Theater commented, “I am inspired by SDCF’s commitment to offering exceptionAl Young directors the opportunity to gain access to the professional arena through observership and mentorship.  The vision of the Stage Director and Choreographers Foundation includes a much-needed plan to enable a continuing influx of talent into our field through unique collaborations with foundations and arts organizations.”

Director Mark Rucker added, “I am thrilled that my production has been given the gift of this fellowship!”

Amy Anders Corcoran is a Director and Choreographer and an Associate Member of SDC. She is currently pursuing an MFA in direction for the musical stage at Penn State University. She noted that, “there is no doubt that working on a classic piece by Mr. Coward will influence all future projects I will direct, and that kind of training is very hard to come by.”

SDC is a national theatrical labor union whose mission is to foster a national community of professional stage Directors and Choreographers by protecting the rights, health and livelihoods of all of its members; to facilitate the exchange of ideas, information and opportunities, while educating the current and future generations about the role of Directors and Choreographers and providing effective administration, negotiations and contractual support.

Founded in 1965, SDCF exists to foster, promote and develop the creativity and craft of stage directors and choreographers.  SDCF’s goals are to provide opportunities to practice the crafts of direction and choreography; to gather and disseminate craft and career information; to promote the profession to emerging talent; to provide opportunities for exchange of knowledge among directors and choreographers; and to increase the awareness of the value of directors’ and choreographers’ work.

The Noël Coward Foundation is a charitable trust founded in 2000 which aims through educational schemes primarily to help bring the name and the work of Noël Coward to future generations. For further information please go to www.noelcoward.org.

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