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A DC-BASED COMPANY, and at our core:
DEVELOPING AND PRODUCING ORIGINAL WORKS OF MUSIC-THEATRE,
FOSTERING ARTISTS IN THEIR DEVELOPMENT,
AND ENGAGING WITH THE COMMUNITY IN PARTNERSHIP
Changing the Conversation Through the Arts
Our Monthly Newsletter - May 2024
What’s Ahead for Alliance for New Music-Theatre in 2024?
We are stepping up our activities this season in anticipation of celebrating in 2024-25 season our 30-Year Anniversary of our humble beginnings as a workshop for local artists to advance their collaborative capacities to experiment in the many art forms of music-theatre.
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DC Budget for the Arts
Dear Friends and Supporters of Local DC Theatre.
You may have heard that the DC Council Budget Committee is currently holding hearings on the budget for the DC Commission on the Arts (DCCAH) during the next fiscal year. They are planning on cuts to DCCAH’s budget of $9 million dollars, not a lot by government standards, but it is a lot to our local theatre community.
The DCCAH budget cuts are not only going to impact theatre administration
- they will also impact theatre audiences and stakeholders -You!
DCCAH has been a regular supporter of our projects and our general operating expenses for many years now and these cuts will affect us and all theatres in DC.
You now have an opportunity to add your voice to advocate for continued financial support of theatres in DC. The budget committee is accepting written testimony until May 10th.
Below is a template for your use, with an introduction for some autobiographical context, a call to action, and the reason for the call through the lens of your own involvement with theatre in the District. Edit as you see fit.
The form to submit to the Budget Committee is found HERE.
They are accepting written testimony until May 10th.
Would very much appreciate if you could take a couple minutes to support local theaters.
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Dear Council,
As a (some personal information about yourself and experience with theater in the DMV), I am writing to denounce the proposed funding decrease to the DC Commission for the Arts and Humanities. I am particularly concerned by the proposed cutting of funds for General Operating Support. These are the most essential funds for an arts organization and the hardest to fundraise for through private donations. The support from DCCAH has been crucial for every theatre in DC and could not be more essential now in these times following the pandemic which crippled our industry.
The proposed cuts at all levels of the DCCAH programming would have a devastating effect on the services that the arts offer throughout the city to all of our citizens. This is not the time to cut back on the arts; these times demand support for this invaluable resource that gives voice and joy to all communities throughout DC.
Sincerely
(Name
Address)
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Thank you for your continued support!
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Launching our Cabaret Series
On June 23, Alliance for New Music-Theatre will launch its own Cabaret Series. The event will take place at The Arts Club, DC’s oldest continuing cultural club and not-for profit organization. Then, starting in October, we will host a new Cabaret performance every other month. Stay tuked for details!
What can you expect in the series and New Music-Theatre’s exploratory foray into this genre? We want you to assist us as we weigh in on the question, “What Is cabaret?” And more particularly, “What makes for an optimal cabaret experience?” We may feature, in the process, culturally international sounds and interpretations and even cross-disciplinary approaches. All bets are on that there will be transgressive themes, adult beverages, and a whole lot of fun when the artists invited in break the fourth wall and make their personal statements in this form.
Leading off this series, a dangerous duo, singer-actors Daniel Smith and Alan Naylor
You won’t want to miss up-to-date original cabaret songs, some newly minted for our series, and addressing peculiarly DC themes.
We are so proud to be joined by courageous, sometimes outrageous artists.
In addition to Daniel and Alan and surprise guests, we will be welcoming in our kick-off season Cuban-born artists Ernesto Lima-Paretz and Leo Herrera, Women-in-Jazz leader Amy K. Bormet, and a Songbird coming off her two-year tour of Tina, the Musical, Ms. Roz White herself (See our Featured Artist this month.) To learn more about the artists and schedule of the cabaret events go to our webpage HERE.
Limited Seating available for our launch and first show on June 23. Tickets will be available early June, so stay tuned.
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Featured Artist - Roz White
Roz White, singer-actress, born and bred in DC, is winding down a two-year national tour of Tina, playing Tina Turner’s mother in the bio musical about the iconic pop star.
Roz has been a Company member since 2019 when she Roz has starred in our production of Black Pearl Sings! which was Helen Hayes Recommended by Theatre Washington.
In May 2022, Roz took on the pivotal role of Mary Burrell in the Alliance premiere of Voices of Zion: The Black Georgetown Cemeteries Project.
Read more about Roz White HERE.
On Wednesday, May 8, Roz will be performing in the Mars Arts DC 2024 Free Concert Series.
The show starts 8:00 pm at the SongByrd Music House, 540 Penn St NE DC. More information and register for free tickets HERE.
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We recently sat down with Roz to talk about ‘Coming on Home to DC.'
So, what’s the best thing learned about being on the road?
Honestly, just how to love myself more, take care of myself, have moments of solitude where I can reflect and work on my outlook on life, and have the time to develop new projects.
And what’s the best thing about coming home?
Seeing my sons – Anthony and I’m hoping King can come down from Boston for a visit.
I asked her about the upcoming singing engagement this month with Washington Performing Arts Society (WPAS ) that interrupts the last leg of the tour and brings her back to in DC. What prompted this opportunity?
Eric Richardson, Supervisor of Special Productions & Initiatives with WPAS, first called on me to sing at an outdoor ceremony for a commemorative service for lives lost during COVID. He’s always appeared as someone to take me to the next level as far as my solo singing career. In 2020, he tapped me again to sing for a special MLK celebration. I’m grateful that he has always kept me in mind for some special and elegant opportunities.
Where will you be performing?
Songbird is a new performing venue in DC, and I’m performing as part of their new free concert series. I’ll be performing as part of ‘The Band,’ a group I’ve worked with since 2002 when I moved back from New Orleans. I’ll be singing some R&B, some jazz, some hip hop, and just having a good time for about 70 minutes.
Is there anything particular you want to convey in the concert?
I guess I want audiences to see how lucky I am to be able to express in so many different ways and not get stuck in one genre or medium in the industry, and that’s what helps me to keep fresh. I’m also just so excited to be home and singing.
Then you come back from the “Tina” tour this summer, right? What else is ahead for you?
In September there is Lady Day at Emersons Bar & Grill, an iconic role that Audra McDonald did on Broadway. That will be at Mosaic Theater, and I’m proud to have been handpicked by ‘Reg.’ (Reginald L Douglas) I’ll also be working with our friend Chris Banks who oversees all productions at Mosaic now. The show will run September 5 through October 6.
What is Washington for you as a place not just to swish out your things to get back on the road but a place to continue to hone your craft?
Everything that I am, the excellent training and opportunities here were my springboard for all that I have experienced professionally. I started doing tours in1989. I graduated High School in 1988 and my first national tour was when I was nineteen, And I’ve been working professionally ever since. All the amazing people –including Michael Malone and Carolyn Griffin and Susan Galbraith – who gave me great opportunities. The amazing thing is I’m blessed that I’ve never NOT been able to work at home. I can always work here, even if I am creating my own work which is a big part of my way of seeing myself. That’s special.
Are there special projects you want to create here?
I love your ideas for the Cabaret Series, I want to be involved for sure, even host, and help and build a network for us, bringing artists together. And I want to work with you on my pet educational project we discussed to bring teaching artists back into schools. I have a passion to give back and help the next generation.
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Our Artists and Partners on View
Drew Valins
in "The Burrow"
Tuesday, June 11 at 6:30 pm
Embassy of the Czech Republic
3900 Spring of Freedom St NW, Washington, DC
In his new adaptation, Drew Valins will present a staged reading of Kafka's final tale of Anxiety - The Burrow.
Drew has been a company member since 2013, performing in the role of the dissident playwright Ferdinand Vaněk in our productions of The Unveiling and Protest by Václav Havel. In the Fall 2019 as part of the celebration of 30th Anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, Drew reprised the role of Vaněk in Protest and in Vaněk Unleashed, our original production based on Havel's letters from prison. The two works were presented in the Dupont Underground and at the Prague Fringe Festival.
In The Burrow (Der Bau,) a nameless burrowing creature obsesses over erecting a perfectly secure system of defense against unseen enemies above and below. In the embrace of his underground fortress, however, the creature’s overactive imagination takes hold and the threat grows to an unbearable pitch.
Kafka’s wrote Der Bau in Berlin during the winter of 1923-1924, just 6 months before he died. It was his second to last story. I have been on a journey to penetrate its depths for years. With this adaptation I want to bring to the stage the urgency and immediacy of this animal narrator’s experience in all his insecurity, anxiety, paranoia, and obsessive self-observation.
I feel that Kafka’s animal protagonists are his most human. The urge to protect ourselves is at the core of the human animal. I want audiences to feel what Kafka seems to have felt: that we are all living within our own insecure burrows.
To register, email to czech_events@yahoo.com. More details to follow. Hope you can join us for this riveting performance.
Recent Graduates!
Congratulations to both Ronald "Trey" Walton and Paris Nia McMillian upon their graduation from UDC with BA's in Music and for their successful senior recitals these past weeks to appreciative supporters. Both Trey and Paris are alumnae of our 2023 Composer-Librettist Studio hosted by the UDC Music Department.
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As a small not-for-profit 501(c)3 public charity organization, Alliance for New Music-Theatre’s mission is to:
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Nurture the creation, development and production of new works of music-theatre
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Foster the development of professional and young artists
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Engage audiences in the creative process to promote a deeper understanding and critical appreciation of the transformative power of music-theatre.
We need your support to continue to fulfill our mission. There are many opportunities to provide support at various levels by supporting an artist, a production, or general support.
The Donate page on our website has information about ways to contribute. Donate | New Music-Theatre (newmusictheatre.org)