O’NEILL THEATER CENTER UNITES SUMMER CONFERENCES
O’Neill Playwrights & Music Theater Conferences Join Forces July 4 — 31, 2004
Waterford, CT, February 18, 2004 — The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s flagship programs, the O’Neill Playwrights Conference and the O’Neill Music Theater Conference, will share the same stages for the first time this summer, from July 4 through July 31, as the center celebrates its 40th anniversary.
The change, announced by artistic director J Ranelli, is intended to enrich the creative environment for both projects through the sharing of resources, new opportunities for exchange and, potentially, collaboration among the artists whose work is developed at the center.
The plan also restores weeks previously lost to both projects, giving each equal access to the O’Neill’s resources.
The change was welcomed by Executive Director Amy Sullivan as a significant step in the development of creative interactions among all O’Neill Center programs. “This is an opportunity to explore all of our projects for the potential that may reside in the closer ties which were so vital to the early success of the O’Neill.”
Paulette Haupt, founding artistic director for the Music Theater Conference, commented, “I have long been an advocate for our programs joining together. I believe that exploring the cross-fertilization of disciplines and diverse projects that come to our conferences greatly enhances the artistic collaboration for which the O’Neill is so well known.”
Ranelli and Haupt agree that, in practical terms, the added weeks will offer more time for development.
“Given the complexity of the music theater form,” Haupt commented, “the added weeks will be of immense benefit to the authors and composers in residence. With more time for restructuring and revising material between public presentations, we now have the opportunity to work not only outside of the box but outside of the bag.”
“Traditionally in residence for the entire conference,” Ranelli added, “playwrights whose new work is shown early on have remained to revise their work, while those authors whose work is shown later in the conference have made changes prior to rehearsals. Now, the authors’ work can be read and discussed apart from scheduled rehearsal days, something not often permitted under the stricter demands of past conference schedules.”
In commenting on this and other changes at the O’Neill Theater Center, Ranelli, who was brought on to refresh the artistic vision of the center’s present projects and to develop new ones, expressed his view that “Change is inevitable, just as in rehearsal where every try brings an adjustment, there is no gain in defending an institutional form or structure against the natural tendency of art and artists to question, challenge, and provoke. When O’Neill said “I write first about life, then try to cram it into play form,” he defined our mission. We’re here to support any artist who wants to take the same risks.”
Ranelli continued, “Because the O’Neill is now established as a premiere theater laboratory, people tend to regard it as something of a ship making a steady course at a steady speed. In fact, it is more like a canoe in the rapids. Whatever we do, all of our rehearsals will remain open to the community who, as friends and first audience, have always been an essential element in the creative process. Now it’s possible for them to see a play in the afternoon and a musical in the evening, or vice versa.”
Over the years, artists served by the O’Neill have included John Guare, who came to the O’Neill with only one act of his play THE HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES. David Henry Hwang was an undergraduate at Stanford when he sent in his first play. August Wilson, Lee Blessing, Wendy Wasserstein, Christopher Durang, Keith Reddin, and David Lindsay-Abaire are only a few of more than 550 playwrights who have participated in the Playwrights Conference.
The creators of the current Broadway hit AVENUE Q, Robert Lopez, Jeff Marx and Jeff Whitty,are among the more recent alumni of the Music Theater Conference. Other OMTC alumni include NINE, the 1982 Tony Award-winner (Best Musical, Best Original Score) recently revived with Antonio Banderas in the lead role; VIOLET, by Brian Crawley and Jeanine Tesori and the very first OMTC project, DESIRE UNDER THE ELMS, which along with the revival of NINE received a 2004 Grammy nomination.
The O’Neill’s summer activities begin June 12, with the O’Neill Puppetry Conference, and run through July 31. OPC/OMTC 2004 staged readings, in the familiar script-in-hand form originated at the O’Neill, will be held Tuesday through Sunday, July 9 through July 31. Ticket prices are $10 & $12, or $8 weekdays for O’Neill members. To request a summer schedule, apply for an internship or have your name placed on the mailing list, call the O’Neill at 860-443-5378 or the box office at 860-443-1238 (after June 15).
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