The NEA grants will be awarded in the categories of Creativity, Services to Arts Organizations and Artists, Literature Fellowships and Leadership Initiatives. The entire budget for 2004 amounts to $122.5 million.

The grants will be used towards projects in multiple disciplines of the arts — including dance, design, folk and traditional arts, literature, media arts, multidisciplinary, museums, music, musical theater, opera, presenting, theatre and visual arts.

"These projects are a testament to the excellence, imagination, and creativity and of our nation's arts organizations and the millions of Americans we serve," said Dana Gioia, Chairman of the Arts Endowment.

Creativity grants — the largest subcategory — received 1,380 applications which resulted in 788 grants that total more than $19.8 million. Theatre companies, festivals and spaces across the country will benefit from the grants including New York City's Performance Space 122, Inc., Dixon Place and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

In the musical theater realm, the following companies will receive grants for various new projects and programs: 42nd Street Moon (San Francisco, CA), About Face Theatre Collective (Chicago, IL), Administrators of the Tulane (New Orleans, LA), African Continuum Theatre Coalition, Inc. (Washington, DC), Alley Theatre (Houston, TX), American Music Theater Festival, Inc./ Prince Music Theater (Philadelphia, PA), American Musical Theatre of San Jose (San Jose, CA), Carter Family Puppet Theater/ Northwest Puppet Center (Seattle, WA), Contemporary Arts Center (New Orleans, LA), Coterie, Inc. (Kansas City, MO), Everyman Theatre, Inc. (Baltimore, MD), Geva Theatre Center, Inc. (Rochester, NY), Goodspeed Opera House Foundation, Inc. (East Haddam, CT), La Jolla Playhouse/ Theatre and Arts Foundation of San Diego (La Jolla, CA), Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma, Inc. (Oklahoma City, OK) Music-Theatre Group, Inc. (New York, NY), Musical Theatre Works, Inc. (New York, NY), National Alliance for Musical Theatre, Inc. (New York, NY), New Professional Theatre, Inc. (New York, NY), New Turners Theatre/ Theatre Building Chicago, NFP (Chicago, IL), North Shore Community Arts (Beverly, MA), Northlight Theatre, Inc. (Skokie, IL), Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre, Inc. (Pittsburgh, PA), Robert W. Woodruff Arts Center, Inc./ 14th Street Playhouse (Atlanta, GA), Salvage Vanguard Theater (Austin, TX), San Francisco Mime Troupe, Inc. (San Francisco, CA), San Jose Repertory Theatre (San Jose, CA), Second Generation Productions, Inc. (New York, NY), Signature Theatre, Inc. (Arlington, VA), Staret...The Directors Company (New York, NY), Studio Arena Theatre/Studio Theatre School, Inc. (Buffalo, NY), Talking Band, Inc. (New York, NY), Thalia Spanish Theatre, Inc. (Sunnyside, NY), TheatreWorks (Palo Alto, CA), Unity Theatre Ensemble (Florissant, MO), Village Theatre (Issaquah, WA) and Wilma Theater (Philadelphia, PA). In the theatre subcategory, grants for new works and festivals in the coming season will be awarded to 1812 Productions, Inc. (Philadelphia, PA), 7 Stages, Inc. (Atlanta, GA), A Traveling Jewish Theatre (San Francisco, CA), About Productions (Los Angeles, CA), Actors Theatre Of Louisville, Inc. (Louisville, KY), Adirondack Theatre Festival, Inc. (Glens Falls, NY), Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Inc. (Montgomery, AL), American Conservatory Theater Foundation (San Francisco, CA), American Repertory Theatre Company, Inc. (Cambridge, MA), Appalshop, Inc./ Roadside Theater (Whitesburg, KY), Arden Theatre Company (Philadelphia, PA), Arena Stage/ Washington Drama Society, Inc. (Washington, DC), Arizona Theatre Company (Tucson, AZ), Artists Repertory Theatre (Portland, OR), Atlantic Theater Company (New York, NY), Aurora Theatre Company (Berkeley, CA), Berkeley Repertory Theatre (Berkeley, CA), Black Ensemble Theater Corporation (Chicago, IL), Center Stage Associates Endowment Fund (Baltimore, MD), Cherry Lane Alternative, Inc. (New York, NY), Child's Play Touring Theatre (Chicago, IL), Children's Theatre Company and School (Minneapolis, MN) Childsplay, Inc. (Tempe, AZ), Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park (Cincinnati, OH), Circus Center (San Francisco, CA), Cleveland Public Theatre, Inc. (Cleveland, OH), Clubbed Thumb, Inc. (New York, NY), Contemporary American Theater Festival (Shepherdstown, WV), Cornerstone Theater Company (Los Angeles, CA), Court Theatre Fund/ Redmoon Theatre (Chicago, IL), Cuarzo Blanco, Inc. (San Juan, PR), Cultural Images Group, Inc./ Serious Play! (Northampton, MA), Dad's Garage, Inc. (Atlanta, GA), Dell'Arte, Inc. (Blue Lake, CA), Division 13 Productions (Brooklyn, NY), East-West Players (Los Angeles, CA), Empty Space Association (Seattle, WA), Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, Inc. (Waterford, CT), Exittheatre (San Francisco, CA), Famous Door (Chicago, IL), First Stage Milwaukee, Inc. (Milwaukee, WI), Folger Shakespeare Library/ Trustees of Amherst College (Washington, DC), Foothill Theatre Company (Nevada City, CA), Foundry Theatre, Inc. (New York, NY), Goodman Theatre/ Chicago Theatre Group, Inc. (Chicago, IL), Great Small Works, Inc. (New York, NY), Guthrie Theater Foundation (Minneapolis, MN), Hartford Stage Company, Inc. (Hartford, CT), Heart of the Beast Theatre, Inc. (Minneapolis, MN), Home for Contemporary Theatre and Art, Ltd./ HERE (New York, NY), Honolulu Theatre for Youth (Honolulu, HI), Huntington Theatre Company, Inc. (Boston, MA), Idris Ackamoor & Cultural Odyssey (San Francisco, CA), Illusion Theater & School, Inc. (Minneapolis, MN), Imagination Stage, Inc. (Bethesda, MD), Imago, The Theatre Mask Ensemble (Portland, OR), John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Washington, DC), Jump-Start Performance Company (San Antonio, TX), Jungle Theatre (Minneapolis, MN), Kitchen Dog Theater Company (Dallas, TX), La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, Inc. (New York, NY), LAByrinth, Inc. (New York, NY), Lantern Theater Company (Philadelphia, PA), Lawrence Arts Center/ Seem to Be Players (Lawrence, KS), Lincoln Center Theater/ Vivian Beaumont Theater, Inc. (New York, NY), Long Wharf Theatre/ Connecticut Players Foundation, Inc. (New Haven, CT), Lookingglass Theatre Company (Chicago, IL), Ma-Yi Filipino Theatre Ensemble, Inc. (New York, NY), Mabou Mines Development Foundation (New York, NY), Manhattan Class Company, Inc./ MCC Theater (New York, NY), Mark Taper Forum/ Center Theatre Group of Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA), McCarter Theatre Company (Princeton, NJ), Mettawee Theatre Company (Salem, NY), Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Inc. (Milwaukee, WI), Missouri Repertory Theatre, Inc. (Kansas City, MO), Mixed Blood Theatre Company (Minneapolis, MN), Mum Puppettheatre, Ltd. (Philadelphia, PA), Neo-Futurists (Chicago, IL), New 42nd Street, Inc. (New York, NY), New Conservatory Theatre Center (San Francisco, CA), New Dramatists, Inc. (New York, NY), New Freedom Theatre, Inc. (Philadelphia, PA), New Group, Inc. (New York, NY), New Harmony Project, Inc. (Indianapolis, IN), New York Shakespeare Festival/ Public Theater (New York, NY), New York Theatre Workshop, Inc. (New York, NY), Northern Prairie Performing Arts/ Fargo-Moorhead Community Theatre (Fargo, ND), Odyssey Theatre Foundation (Los Angeles, CA), Ontological-Hysteric Theater, Inc. (New York, NY), Oregon Shakespeare Festival Association (Ashland, OR), Penobscot Theatre Company (Bangor, ME), Penumbra Theatre Company, Inc. (St. Paul, MN), Perishable Theatre (Providence, RI), Perseverance Theatre, Inc. (Douglas, AK), Pig Iron Theatre Company (Philadelphia, PA), Ping Chong & Company/ Fiji Theater Company, Inc. (New York, NY), Pittsburgh Public Theater Corporation (Pittsburgh, PA), Piven Theatre Workshop (Evanston, IL), Playwrights Foundation, Inc. (San Francisco, CA), Playwrights Horizons, Inc. (New York, NY), Playwrights' Center, Inc. (Minneapolis, MN), Portland Center Stage (Portland, OR), Portland Stage Company (Portland, ME), Pregones Touring Puerto Rican Theatre (Bronx, NY), Present Theatre Company, Inc. (New York, NY), Providence Black Repertory Company (Providence, RI), Research Foundation of State University of New York/ Performing Arts Center, Purchase College (Albany, NY), Round House Theatre (Bethesda, MD), Roundabout Theatre Company, Inc. (New York, NY), Rude Mechanicals-A Theatre Collective (Austin, TX), Salt Lake Acting Company (Salt Lake City, UT), San Diego Repertory Theatre (San Diego, CA), Saratoga International Theater (New York, NY), Seattle Children's Theatre Association (Seattle, WA), Seattle Repertory Theatre (Seattle, WA), Seven Loaves, Inc./ GOH Productions/ Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre (New York, NY), Shakespeare Theatre (Washington, DC), Signature Theatre Company, Inc. (New York, NY), Skysaver Productions, Inc. (New York, NY), Soho Repertory Theatre, Inc. (New York, NY), South Coast Repertory, Inc. (Costa Mesa, CA), Steppenwolf Theatre Company (Chicago, IL), Studio Theatre, Inc. (Washington, DC), Sundance Children's Theatre Inc. (Salt Lake City, UT), Sweet Jane Productions, Inc./ International WOW Company (New York, NY), Synchronicity Performance Group, Inc. (Atlanta, GA), Syracuse Stage/ S.U. Theatre Corporation (Syracuse, NY), Target Margin Theater, Inc. (Brooklyn, NY), Teatro Nuero/ New Theatre, Inc. (Coral Gables, FL), Tectonic Theater Project, Inc. (New York, NY), Theater Labrador, Inc. (New York, NY), Theater Mu, Inc. (Minneapolis, MN), Theatre de la Jeune Lune (Minneapolis, MN), Theatre for a New Audience, Inc. (New York, NY), Theatre Grottesco North America, Inc. (Santa Fe, NM), Theatre of Yugen (San Francisco, CA), Trinity Repertory Company (Providence, RI), Unicorn Theatre (Kansas City, MO), Unidentified Moving Objects (Vashon, WA), University of California at Santa Barbara/ Center for Chicano Studies (Santa Barbara, CA), University of Tennessee at Knoxville (Knoxville, TN), Victory Gardens Theater (Chicago, IL), Vineyard Theatre & Workshop Center, Inc. (New York, NY), Walk & Squawk Performance Project (Detroit, MI), Western Stage Auxiliary Corporation (Salinas, CA), William Inge Festival Foundation (Independence, KS), Women's Project & Productions (New York, NY), Yale University/ Yale Repertory Theatre (New Haven, CT), Young Playwrights, Inc. (New York, NY) and Z Space Studio/ The Magic Theatre (San Francisco, CA).

The Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York, Inc., Drama League of New York, Inc., League of Chicago Theatres Foundation, Washington, D.C.'s National New Play Network, New York's Non-Traditional Casting Project, Inc., San Francisco's Theatre Bay Area and Theatre Communications Group, Inc. Were among the arts organizations to receive grants for their services to the arts.

For more information on the National Endowment for the Arts and its programs, visit them on the web at www.nea.gov.