Dates, Guidelines Announced for 2012 Yale Institute for Music Theatre

The Yale Institute For Music Theater (Mark Brokaw, Artistic Director) will select up to three original music theatre works to be developed in an intensive lab setting in New Haven June 4-17, 2012. Submissions will be accepted December 15, 2011, through February 1, 2012.

Established in 2009, YIMT is a program of the Yale School of Drama (James Bundy, Dean) that endeavors to bridge the gap between training and the professional world for emerging composers, playwrights, lyricists, and librettists. YIMT seeks distinctive and original music theatre works by emerging composers and writers to be developed in an intensive lab setting. During a two-week summer residency in New Haven, the Institute matches the authors of the selected works with collaborators, including professional directors and music directors, as well as a company of actors and singers that includes professionals from NYC and current Yale students. The residency culminates with open rehearsal readings of each project, presented as part of the 2012 International Festival of Arts & Ideas.

The selections for the inaugural Yale Institute For Music Theater in 2009 were the book musicals sam i was with book, music, and lyrics by Sam Wessels and POP! with book and lyrics by Maggie-Kate Coleman and music by Anna K. Jacobs and the opera Invisible Cities with score and libretto by Christopher Cerrone. The Institute’s other projects have included The Daughters with music and libretto by Shaina Taub, and Stuck Elevator with music by Byron Au Yong and libretto by Aaron Jafferis, in 2010, and Maren of Vardø with music by Jeff Myers and libretto by Royce Vavrek, Pregnancy Pact with music by Julia Meinwald and book and lyrics by Gordon Leary, and The Profit of Creation with music by Tim Rosser and book and lyrics by Charlie Sohne, in 2011.

ELIGIBILITY

The Yale Institute for Music Theatre accepts applications for projects at various stages of development but focuses on work that is ready to be explored musically and dramatically with performers and directors. Submissions cannot have had a professional production.

Book musicals and other imaginative music Theatre Projects are welcome. Only composers, playwrights, lyricists, or librettists who are current graduate students; or who have graduated from an accredited degree granting institution (undergraduate or graduate) within the past five years; or who are current Yale students (undergraduate or graduate) are eligible to apply.

Applicants may only submit one work for consideration. Composers and writers may apply as individuals or as part of a team.

Participants must be available for the full duration of the residency. Each member of the writing team will receive an honorarium of $1,000, as well as round-trip transportation and accommodation.

GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSION

Submissions will be accepted beginning December 15, 2011, and must be received by February 1, 2012. Note: this is not a postmark date.

All submissions must include the following:

1- three copies of a script with lyrics or a full libretto (no DVDs, videotapes, or photographs);

2- three copies of a synopsis of no more than one page, with a list of characters and instrumentation;

3- three copies of a CD (no audio tapes) of at least 20 minutes of music, including a minimum of five songs accompanied by the sheet music for those songs. Piano and vocals are sufficient, and a composer’s demo is acceptable though not preferred. Studio demos are not necessary. No midi recordings will be accepted. Songs must be in sequence on the CD and clearly noted in the script;

4- three copies of a one-page biography or resume for each creative artist;

5- three copies of the history of the work’s development and a brief description of what the creative team hopes to achieve at the Institute;

6- a completed application form signed by all collaborators (book writer, composer, lyricist, librettist). If the proposed project is an adaptation of an existing work that is not in the public domain, proof of fully secured rights must accompany the submission.

Application forms are available at drama.yale.edu/YIMT.

Submissions should be addressed to:

Yale Institute for Music Theatre

c/o Yale School of Drama

P.O. Box 208244

New Haven, CT 06520-8244

For more information about the Yale Institute for Music Theatre or the application process, please email yimt@yale.edu or call (203) 432-1591.

All applicants will be notified of selection by April 1, 2012.

Mark Brokaw (ARTISTIC DIRECTOR) Recent Broadway credits include After Miss Julie, Reckless, The
Constant Wife and the new musical Cry-Baby. New York premieres include works by Paula Vogel (her Pulitzer Prize-winning How I Learned to Drive), Kenneth Lonergan, Craig Lucas, Nicky Silver, David Auburn, Charles Busch, Eric Bogosian, Douglas Carter Beane, Wendy Wasserstein, Julia Cho, Lisa Kron, and Lynda Barry. His regional credits include the Sondheim Celebration at the Kennedy Center, the Guthrie, Center Theatre Group, Yale Rep, Steppenwolf, Seattle Rep, Long Wharf, Hartford Stage, La Jolla Playhouse, Huntington, Berkeley Rep, Sundance Theatre Lab, O’Neill Theatre Conference, and New York Stage & Film. His work has also been seen at London’s Donmar Warehouse and Dublin’s Gate Theatre. He is the recipient of the Alan Schneider Award presented by TCG, a TCG-PEW ResidenCy Grant, a Fosse Fellowship, the OBIE and Drama Desk, and the Drama League Fellowship. Mark is an associate artist of the Roundabout Theatre in New York and a Yale School of Drama graduate.

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