Rehearsing and Grantwriting

We had fun last night. Under the musical direction of Andrew McCormick, the adults performing in ANYTHING GOES (including myself, Joye - my wife and director of education, and Nathan Halvorson - also directing the staged concert) worked our way through about 3 1/2 of the group numbers. It's always a challenge to learn 4-part harmonies, and when learning each individual part it doesn't sound like its neccesarily going to make sense, but once you put it all together and add the piano - it's simply magic. We're making music. And having fun doing it.

I've been spending most of my daytime writing grants - and am taking a break from a big NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) grant right now in order to post this blog. Tomorrow morning I go to City Council chambers here in Bangor to defend a recent grant we wrote to the cultural commission asking for $25,000 to help support Penobscot Theatre moving to a new shop space. The result of the move would allow us to offer the Opera House more frequently to outside rentals. This would benefit all of us, especially the community - being able to attend lots of different arts events here in the Opera House. We are currently limited in this regard because without an adequate shop space we are forced to build our sets on the stage, making the stage unavailable for weeks before one of our productions.

The NEA grant is actually for the 2008-2009 season (yes, we have to think that far ahead!) Our plan is to produce the 1946 Pulitzer Prize winning play STATE OF THE UNION in late October/Early November, 2008. The play, written by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, is basically about the making of a presidential candidate in America. It's a wonderful comedy and the dialogue that the 17 cast members engage in feels very much like Aaron Sorkin's writing from THE WEST WING. My goal is to combinie the production with various discussions and symposiums regarding the 2008 elections, which will be held during the run of the production. I also plan to have voter registration tables in the lobby of the theatre, and to create study guides regarding the show and the state of politics in America to school groups.

I'd love to blog all day, but the NEA is calling. The grant is due August 13th and there are lots and lots of attachments that I need to create. More soon.

--Scott