The Fellows, The Fund and the Future
I have a confession. Between my first application to the Dramatists Guild Fellowship and my last, the entire Bush presidency happened. To be more precise, a decade went by before I was invited to the table. That’s five generations of MFAs, two and a half Summer Olympics and every episode of LOST. Ten years ago Twitter didn’t exist, iPods still had moving parts and Joss Whedon couldn’t make any movie he wanted.
So when I say I think it’s important that you get to know a group like the Dramatists Guild Fellows, I say it with purpose, and thought and with the confidence of 10,000 Malcolm Gladwell hours. But trust me. It’s really important. At some point every writer on this site decided it was just as important that they created new material as it was that they sang it. So whether or not you are an aspiring or veteran performer, or an aspiring or veteran writer, you are new musical theater. So this blog’s for you.
Aside from their personal career successes, former Fellows like Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk continue to participate in the Guild’s own Anti-Piracy Committee, which is not only responsible for that amazing Alan Menken/Craig Carnelia video “Someone Wrote That Song” but continues to raise thought and awareness to the protection of your intellectual property. In addition to writing music that gets sung to me at every audition I ever hold, former Fellow Adam Gwon is one of many teaching-artists at the Einhorn School of Performing Arts who carry on the traditions of your craft to the next generation. If you’ve ever been to a show at the Lark, you’ve collaborated with, participated in or contributed to the work that Program Director and former Fellow Lloyd Suh has implemented.
If you heard Norah Jones’ Come Away With Me album before the 2002 Grammys, or saw Avenue Q when it was at the Vineyard, you might have an idea of what it’s like to sit at the table with the Dramatists Guild Fellows: something truly significant was happening and you were on the ground floor when it happened. It’s no different here. Because while you might not get to be there as a Fellow- (yet. Remember…ten years) you do still get to be there!
The Dramatists Guild Fund is launching several new initiatives on its blog and now that we live in the future, participating is as easy as picking up your smartphone! So here’s what I’d love for you to do, please. Follow us on Twitter @DGFund. Then, if you’re paying zero attention at all, you’ll see a link to our blog, which contains really cool features like #5Q4F (wherein we ask each of the fellows five questions of monumental significance), #3Q4M (wherein we introduce you to the new moderators of the Fellows via three different but equally monumental questions) and the Fellows Follow Up where we ask former Fellows what they’re up to now. Keep it locked, and come back regularly for guest bloggers, Suggestion Box, and Theatre of the Week. It’s happening, you guys, and I really want you to be a part of it.
Great news: the Dramatists Guild Fellowship is currently accepting applications! You can find out more about the fellowship here and the application here.
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