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, local arts agencies, media arts, multidisciplinary, museums, music, musical theater, opera, presenting, theatre and visual arts.

"Through these grants and fellowships, the National Endowment for the Arts is providing critical investments in the American arts," said Chairman of the Arts Endowment Dana Gioia.

"Access to Artistic Excellence" grants — the largest subcategory — received 1,353 applications which resulted in 780 grants that total more than $19.9 million. Theatre companies, festivals and spaces across the country will benefit from the grants including New York City's Brooklyn Academy of Music and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

In the musical theater realm, the following companies will receive grants for various new projects and programs: About Face Theatre Collective (Chicago, IL), American Music Theater Festival, Inc. (Philadelphia, PA), Augustana College/The Children's Theatre Company of Sioux Falls (Sioux Falls, SD), Columbus Association for the Performing Arts (Columbus, OH), East-West Players (Los Angeles, CA), Emerald City Arts (Seattle, WA), First Stage Milwaukee, Inc. (Milwaukee, WI), Hudson Vagabond Puppets, Incorporate (Blauvelt, NY), Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma, Inc. (Oklahoma City, OK), Melting Pot Theatre Co. (New York, NY), Music-Theatre Group, Inc. (New York, NY), National Alliance for Musical Theatre, Inc. (New York, NY), North Shore Community Arts Foundation, Inc. (Beverly, MA), Old Globe Theatre (San Diego, CA), Perseverance Theatre, Inc. (Douglas, AK), San Francisco Mime Troupe, Inc. (San Francisco, CA), Second Generation Productions, Inc. (New York, NY), Seven Loaves, Inc./Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre (New York, NY), Signature Theatre, Inc. (Arlington, VA), Society of the Educational Arts, Inc. (New York, NY), Thalia Spanish Theatre Inc. (Sunnyside, NY), Theater Mu Incorporated (Minneapolis, MN), TheatreWorks (Palo Alto, CA) and Vivian Beaumont Theater, Inc. (New York, NY). In the theatre subcategory, grants for new works and festivals in the coming season will be awarded to A Contemporary Theatre, Inc. (Seattle, WA), Acoma Center, Inc. (Denver, CO), Actors Theatre Of Louisville, Inc. (Louisville, KY), Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Inc. (Montgomery, AL), Alley Theatre (Houston, TX), American Conservatory Theater Foundation (San Francisco, CA), American Repertory Theatre (Cambridge, MA), Amherst College/Folger Shakespeare Library (Amherst, MA), Antenna Theater (Sausalito, CA), Appalshop, Inc./Roadside Theatre (Whitesburg, KY), Asian American Theater Workshop Co. (San Francisco, CA), Baltimore Theatre Project, Inc. (Baltimore, MD), Barter Foundation, Incorporated (Abingdon, VA), Berkeley Repertory Theatre (Berkeley, CA), Bilingual Foundation of the Arts (Los Angeles, CA), Blackberry Productions, Inc. (New York, NY), Boise Contemporary Theater, Inc. (Boise, ID), Bond Street Theatre Coalition Palenville Interarts Colony (New York, NY), Brava! For Women in the Arts (San Francisco, CA), Carter Family Puppet Theater (Seattle, WA), Center Stage Associates, Inc. (Baltimore, MD), Chicago Theatre Group, Inc. (Chicago, IL), Child's Play Touring Theatre (Chicago, IL), Children's Theatre Company and School (Minneapolis, MN), Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park (Cincinnati, OH), Circuit Playhouse, Inc. (Memphis, TN), Circus Amok, Inc. (Brooklyn, NY), Circus Center (San Francisco, CA), City Theatre Company, Inc. (Pittsburgh, PA), Cleveland Public Theatre, Inc. (Cleveland, OH), Clubbed Thumb, Inc. (New York, NY), Connecticut Players Foundation, Inc. (New Haven, CT), Cornerstone Theater Company, Inc. (Los Angeles, CA), Coterie, Inc. (Kansas City, MO), Court Theatre Fund (Chicago, IL), Crowded Fire Theater Company (San Francisco, CA), Cuarzo Blanco, Inc. (San Juan, PR), Cultural Images Group Inc. (Northampton, MA), Deep Ellum Theatre Group (Dallas, TX), Dell'Arte, Inc. (Blue Lake, CA), Double Edge Theatre Productions, Inc. (Ashfield, MA), Drama League of New York, Inc. (New York, NY), Exitheatre (San Francisco, CA), Fiji Theater Company, Inc. (New York, NY), Florida Stage, Inc. (Manalapan, FL), Foundry Theatre, Inc. (New York, NY), Geva Theatre Center, Inc. (Rochester, NY), Great Small Works, Inc. (New York, NY), Greenbrier Repertory Theatre (Lewisburg, WV), Group I Acting Company, 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 (New York, NY), Honolulu Theatre for Youth (Honolulu, HI), Huntington Theatre Company, Inc. (Boston, MA), id Theatre, Inc. (Los Angeles, CA), Idris Ackamoor & Cultural Odyssey (San Francisco, CA), Indiana Repertory Theatre, Inc. (Indianapolis, IN), InterAct, Inc. (Philadelphia, PA), International Arts Relations, Inc. (New York, NY), (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), Lark Theatre Company, Inc. (New York, NY), Lawrence Arts Center/Seem-to Be-Players (Lawrence, KS), Lexington Children's Theatre, Inc. (Lexington, KY), Mabou Mines Development Foundation (New York, NY), Madison Repertory Theatre, Inc. (Madison, WI), Magic Theatre, Inc. (San Francisco, CA), Manhattan Class Company, Inc. (New York, NY), McCarter Theatre Company (Princeton, NJ), Mettawee Theatre Company (Salem, NY), (Miracle Theatre Group (Portland, OR), 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 Dramatists, Inc. (New York, NY), New Federal Theatre, Inc. (New York, NY), New Paradise Laboratories, Inc. (Philadelphia, PA), New Theatre, Inc. (Coral Gables, FL), New York Theatre Workshop, Inc. (New York, NY), Ontological-Hysteric Theater, Inc. (New York, NY), Oregon Shakespeare Festival Association (Ashland, OR), Penumbra Theatre Company, Inc. (St. Paul, MN), People's Light & Theatre Company (Malvern, PA), Philadelphia Theatre Company (Philadelphia, PA), Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre, Inc. (Pittsburgh, PA), Playwrights' Center, Inc. (Minneapolis, MN), Playwrights Foundation, Inc. (San Francisco, CA), Playwrights Horizons, Inc. (New York, NY), Portland Stage Company (Portland, ME), Primary Stages Company, Inc. (New York, NY), Redmoon Theater (Chicago, IL), Research Foundation of State University of New York/Performing Arts Center, Purchase College (Albany, NY), Robert W. Woodruff Arts Center, Inc./Alliance Theatre Company (Atlanta, GA), Round House Theatre (Bethesda, MD), Roundabout Theatre Company, Inc. (New York, NY), Salt Lake Acting Company (Salt Lake City, UT), Sandglass Center for Puppetry and Theater Research (Putney, VT), Seattle Children's Theatre Association (Seattle, WA), Seattle Repertory Theatre (Seattle, WA), Second Stage Theatre, Inc. (New York, NY), Seven Stages, Inc. (Atlanta, GA), Shakespeare Theatre (Washington, DC), Signature Theatre Company, Inc. (New York, NY), Skysaver Productions, Inc. (New York, NY), Sledgehammer Theatre (San Diego, CA), South Coast Repertory, Inc. (Costa Mesa, CA), Southern Repertory Theatre (New Orleans, LA), Southern Utah University (Cedar City, UT), Steppenwolf Theatre Company (Chicago, IL), Studio Theatre, Inc. (Washington, DC), SU Theatre Corporation (Syracuse, NY), Sundance Children's Theatre Inc. (Salt Lake City, UT), Synchronicity Performance Group, Inc. (Atlanta, GA), Talking Band, Inc. (New York, NY), Teatro de la Luna (Washington, DC), Tectonic Theater Project, Inc. (New York, NY), Theater Labrador, Inc. (New York, NY), Theatre & Arts Foundation of San Diego County (La Jolla, CA), Theatre de la Jeune Lune (Minneapolis, MN), Theatre for a New Audience, Inc. (New York, NY), Theatre for Children, Inc. (Sacramento, CA), Tricklock Company (Albuquerque, NM), Trinity Repertory Company (Providence, RI), Underground Railway Puppets & Actors, Inc. (Arlington, MA), Unidentified Moving Objects Company, Inc. (Vashon, WA), Victory Gardens Theater (Chicago, IL), Vineyard Theatre & Workshop Center, Inc. (New York, NY), Washington Drama Society, Inc. (Washington, DC), William Inge Festival Foundation (Independence, KS), Wilma Theater, Inc. (Philadelphia, PA), Women's Project & Productions (New York, NY), Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (Washington, DC) and Young Playwrights Inc. (New York, NY).

Though only down 27 applications from last year, the number of recipients dropped (to 839) from 915 recipients in the 2004 grant announcement. Grants to be distributed in the coming year total $25,352,000 — which is down over $4 million (the approximate change in NEA's budget) from last year's $21,059,750. The "Services to Arts Organizations and Artists" and "Leadership Initiatives" subcategories have also been eliminated.

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