Led by founding artistic director Paulette Haupt, the annual conference provides writers with two-week residencies in June or July to help shape new musical works. Selected writers are provided with a stipend, housing, meals and transportation to support an intensive rehearsal process and four script-in-hand public readings.
Submissions are being accepted through Nov. 25. The application fee is $35. NMTC will also accept electronic submissions for the first time this year.
"The open submission process at the O'Neill Theater Center speaks to the heart of our mission and to the artists we support at the conference," Haupt said in a statement. "So many of the works that have been developed here were written by creative talents who had no agent representation, and were it not for this policy we would likely have overlooked extremely deserving projects in need of development."
Musicals developed at the O'Neill include Tales of the City, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Nine, Avenue Q, In The Heights and Violet. The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center was founded in 1964 and is based in Waterford, CT. Programs at the Center include the Puppetry Conference, Playwrights Conference, Critics Institute, Music Theater Conference and the National Theater Institute. The Monte Cristo Cottage, O'Neill's childhood home, is also owned and operated by the group.
