TADA!, the 17 year old non-profit organization responsible for producing original musical theatre performed by children, is holding its Eight Annual Playwriting Competition. Applications are now being accepted for new one-act plays and musicals to be produced as part of TADA!'s "Spring Staged Reading Series" and "New Play Project."
Deadlines for entry is January 15, 1997 and professionals, amateurs and students alike are encouraged to enter their works to be performed by casts of mostly children. Four winners will be announced on March 5, 1997 where the grand prize winner will receive a cash prize as well have the opportunity to have his/her winning play performed with professionally designed sets, costumes and lighting. The three other winners will receive staged readings of their scripts and also cash prizes.
Submission Guidelines:
*Works must be original, unproduced and unpublished one-act plays with a cast of children or of children and adults. Preference is given to works with a cast primarily of youth between the ages of 8 and 18. There may be no more than two or three adults in the cast. Children do not play adults; adult actors will be hired, as well as professional directors and choreographers.
*Plays may be geared toward an age-specific audience of teens, families or younger children. [Plays dealing with current teen topics are highly encouraged.] Plays written for an entirely adult cast or for an adult audience are ineligible. *The deadline for submission is January 15, 1997. Submit scripts with character breakdown, set and costume requirements and a self-addressed stamped envelope (for return script).
*Send submissions to:
TADA!
120 West 28th Street
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10001
For more information, contact TADA! At (212) 627-1732.
In a time when it has become increasingly difficult to obtain corporate or government funds, TADA! has just been awarded a major Grant from David & Minnie Berk Foundation to produce its "Script Marketing Project." With this special project, a catalogue of TADA!'s original scripts and scores will be published as well as distributed to theatres, schools, camps and other organizations. Playwrights and composers/lyricists will be able to have their works exposed to a much larger audience and possibly ensure a continuing source of income.
Winning plays from the Playwriting Competition may also be eligible for publication (and royalties for the writer) in the "Script Marketing Project" described above.
-- By Katia Lundy
