Applications Are Open for Rhinebeck Writers Retreat's NEA and NYSCA Funded Residencies

Kathy Evans, Founding Executive Director of Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, announced applications are open to musical theatre writers for nine consecutive weeklong residencies in the Hudson Valley between June 28 and August 30. Each team gets a private retreat to focus solely on writing their new musical. There is no fee for applications received by February 3 at 6:00pm EST and there is a fee of $25 for the final deadline of February 10 at 6:00pm EST. All details and the online application can be found at https://www.rhinebeckwriters.org/2020-application.

Rhinebeck Writers Retreat covers all the writers' costs, including air travel up to $750 and a $500 stipend for each writer, thanks to $10,000 in funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and $12,000 from New York State Council on the Arts. Funding also comes from The ASCAP Foundation Bart Howard Fund, The Noël Coward Foundation, and hundreds of individual donors.

Past Rhinebeck writers and musicals include Tony-nominee Joe Iconis, Lance Rubin, and Jason "SweetTooth" Williams with Broadway Bounty Hunter, soon to have a cast recording; and Kleban winners Sam Willmott, Mike Lew, and Rehana Lew Mirza with Bhangin' It, which will have co-world premiere productions in 2021 at La Jolla Playhouse (CA) and McCarter Theatre Center (NJ).

Created in 2011, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat provides a sanctuary for musical theatre writers to focus solely on writing their new musicals in the heart of the Hudson Valley. The Triple R program provides one team two readings and a residency for intensive development of their musicals. Rhinebeck musicals have been seen at The Public Theater, Barrington Stage, Second Stage Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, The Old Globe, and Paper Mill Playhouse. All costs are covered by donors, including National Endowment for the Arts and New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Major individual support comes from Liz Armstrong; Cathy Cabrera and Rick Ungar; Rick Farrar and Jeff Zadroga; Amy and Roger Faxon; Lisa Kohl and Ricardo Hornos; Liz and Bill Mills, and Steve and Paula Reynolds. www.rhinebeckwriters.org.