O'Neill Seeks Applicants for Music Theatre Conference, Through 12/1

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center has announced the start of its Open Submission Process for projects to be considered for development during the 2011 National Music Theater Conference.  Music theater works from applicants for the National Music Theater Conference will be accepted with  postmarks from Friday, October 1st through Friday, December 1st, 2010.  Early submissions are strongly encouraged.
 
The National Music Theater Conference, led by Artistic Director Paulette Haupt, supports the development of all styles and genres of music theater, including operas and experimental works. The National Music Theater Conference aims to provide a supportive and challenging environment in which emerging and established creative artists can take risks in order to refine and illuminate their work's vision during its formative stages. Since its inception, NMTC has developed more than 100 works.
 
Open Submissions is a key element of the National Music Theater Conference mission to develop diverse voices and new works for the American Stage, requiring neither agent submission nor previous experience.  The O'Neill typically receives 150 scripts for consideration in NMTC.   The submission fee is $35 dollars and covers the costs of the process.  Both original and adapted works are accepted, providing that the rights to any material not in the public domain have been granted in writing, and a copy is included with application and materials submitted. Projects that have been produced by a professional company must receive approval before applying.
 
Visit our website to download an application: http://www.theoneill.org/prog/music/submit.htm. Please direct any questions about the conference to Martin Kettling, Literary Manager, at (860) 443-5378 ext. 227 or email litoffice@theoneill.org.
 
Paulette Haupt is the co-founder and Artistic Director of the National Music Theater Conference since its inception in 1978.  Ms. Haupt notes, "the open submission process at the O'Neill Theater Center speaks to the heart of our mission and to the artists we support at the Conference. So many of the works that have been developed here were written by creative talents who had no agent representation, and were it not for this policy we would likely have overlooked extremely deserving projects in need of development."
 
The O'Neill continues to build an endowment to support the Open Submission Process. Initiated in 2006 with donations made in honor of O'Neill playwright Wendy Wasserstein, interest income helps support the submission and selection process. For more information about the O'Neill's Wendy Wasserstein Fund, please call (860) 443-5378 ext. 213 or email theaterlives@theoneill.org
 
The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, founded in 1964 in honor of Eugene O'Neill, four-time Pulitzer Prize Winner and America's only playwright to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, is the recipient of two Tony Awards, in 2010 for Regional Theater, and in 1979 for Theatrical Excellence.
 
The O'Neill is the country's preeminent organization dedicated to the development of new works and new voices for the American theater.  The O'Neill has been home to more than 1,000 new works for the stage and 2,500 emerging artists. Scores of projects developed at the O'Neill have gone on to full production at other theaters around the world, including Broadway, Off-Broadway and major regional theaters.
 
O'Neill programs include the National Playwrights Conference, National Music Theater Conference, National Critics Institute, National Puppetry Conference, the Cabaret & Performance Conference, and National Theater Institute ? which conducts semester-long intensive theater training, and a six-week summer program, Theatermakers.
 
In addition, the O'Neill owns and operates Monte Cristo Cottage as a museum open to the public. Childhood summer home of Eugene O'Neill, the Cottage is a National Historic Landmark.
 
Along with its Tony recognition, the O'Neill has also received the National Opera Award, the Jujamcyn Award for Theatre Excellence, and the Arts and Business Council Encore Award. For more information, visit www.theoneill.org or email theaterlives@theoneill.org