New Stage Theatre receives $15,000 award from the National Endowment for the Arts

JANS – New Stage Theatre is has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for a Grants for Arts Projects award of $15,000. This grant will support New Stage Theatre Educational Touring Shows: “We Shall Not Be Moved: Courage in Mississippi” for middle and high schools and “A Year with Frog and Toad” for elementary schools.

The NEA will award 1,127 Grants for Arts Projects awards nationwide totaling more than $31.8 million as part of the recent announcement of fiscal year 2025 grants.

“The NEA is proud to continue our nearly 60 years of supporting the efforts of organizations and artists that help to shape our country’s vibrant arts sector and communities of all types across our nation,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “It is inspiring to see the wide range of creative projects taking place, including New Stage Theatre’s Educational Touring program.”

“We are grateful to the National Endowment for the Arts for its continued support of New Stage Theatre,” said Francine Thomas Reynolds, artistic director of New Stage.  “It is thrilling to receive the endorsement and funding from the NEA for our Educational Touring Program, a vital part of New Stage’s overall programming.  Each year New Stage Ed impacts 17,000 students and this grant award will enable that impact to continue.”

New Stage Theatre educational touring, on the Mississippi Arts Commission Artist Roster, introduces live theatre and provides information workshops to thousands of students each school year, many who have no other opportunity to experience live theatre and arts education.  The NEA matching funds will be used to develop, produce, and tour “We Shall Not Be Moved: Courage in Mississippi,” an original show for middle and high schools. Funds will also support the continued touring of the musical “A Year With Frog and Toad” for elementary schools. The project will elevate the production quality of the touring shows, expand on the theatres program’s success in addressing the history of the Civil Rights Movement and will provide more than 12 free performances for Mississippi schools.

New Stage has a strong reputation for presenting quality performances and has been touring successfully to high schools and middle schools since 1990. The tours travel throughout the state, from Clarksdale to New Albany to Gautier and most of the public school districts New Stage visits are to underserved audiences. In the 2023-2024 season, the associate artist company performed “Junie B. Jones, The Musical” and “Anne & Emmett” to 50 schools.

Winner of the 2019 Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, New Stage Theatre was chartered as a not-for-profit organization in 1965, producing its initial season in the winter/spring of 1966. Founded by Jane Reid-Petty with the assistance of the American National Theatre Academy and Actor’s Equity Association, dedication to professional excellence in theatre arts was part of the theatre’s original mission. New Stage’s education department was founded in 1989 and received the Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts in 1995 for its efforts to introduce tens of thousands of young Mississippians to live theatre.

The New Stage Arts-in-Education touring program is also sponsored by The Chisholm Foundation and Entergy Mississippi.

For pricing, more information or to schedule a tour or workshop, contact Education Director Xerron X Mingo at 601-948-3533 ext. 232 or xmingo@newstagetheatre.com.

For more information on other projects included in the NEA’s grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.