The following bodies/projects were offered grants at the last meeting of the Trustees:

Almeida Theatre – Script Lab Project
Mercury Musical Developments – Musical Readings Series
Lost Musicals – Grant to cover research costs for next season’s programme
Caring for Life – Drama Therapy Project
Antaeus Theatre Company – THE YOUNG IDEA project Web
Museum of Performance & Design – John Lahr Masterclass
Coward in Verse Project – Funding for creation of archival CD

Drama Award for Noël Coward Scholar at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama

The first Noël Coward Scholar at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama Gwilym Lee - wins Drama Gold Medal. Gwilym, aged 24, is from Birmingham. He took the lead role of Vindice in the Guildhall School's production of The Revenger's Tragedy earlier this year. He appears in the BBC TV series Mutual Friends, a comedy drama starring Keeley Hawes, Alexander Armstrong and Marc Warren, and will also shortly be seen in ITV's Lewis. The Guildhall School's Drama Gold Medal is awarded at the end of the three-year BA Acting course. Many of its recipients have gone on to high-profile careers. Previous winners include Marcia Warren, Lesley Sharp, Stephen Campbell Moore, Jodie Whittaker and Michelle Dockery.

AGE Exchange SummerWorkshop (Web...)

Presentation of Scenes from "This Happy Breed" by Noel Coward

11 August – 15 August 2008

This was work in progress for a unique intergenerational theatre and film project funded by The Noel Coward Foundation.

For a week in August we held a five day workshop at Age Exchange with a group of young actors aged from 13 – 17 and with some older students to act as mentors. David Savill, Director of Arts and Education at Age Exchange, and Malcolm Jones, Arts and Education Officer at Age Exchange led the week’s workshops and rehearsal. The young actors looked at the context of the play using historical material and interviewed some of the older volunteers at Age Exchange who had memories of life at the time that Coward’s play takes place. We also held an acting workshop with actor and director Ben Thomas and a musical workshop on Coward’s song London Pride with Musical Director Michael Chance.

The week began by familiarising the students with the play, who Noel Coward was and the historical context of the work. We looked at film of Noel Coward being interviewed, film of First World War testimonies and music from the period.

Later we selected short extracts from the play, which we felt allowed the students to explore the character and relationships of the main participants. These we worked on throughout the week building the background of the people in the story.

A very useful session was spent with Lil Murrell, Kitty Finch, Joan Pearce and Eileen O’Sullivan, Age Exchange volunteers, who shared details of how they and their parents lived their lives in the 1930s. This supplied a realistic backdrop to the students’ interpretation of the chosen scenes.

Finally on Friday 15 August we presented the selection of scenes in performance to an invited audience including Robert Gardiner, Trustee of the Noel Coward Foundation, and actor/director Ben Thomas.

The students worked incredibly hard and enjoyed the week from the feedback we had. Most importantly they had discovered a writer they had never experienced before in Noel Coward and enjoyed it. They had also explored a period of history both politically and socially they knew little about and between the experience of the play and the Age Exchange volunteers had come out with a greater understanding of people’s lives, including their own families, in the 1930s.
The students were:
Soraya Thompson, Paloma Thompson, Lauren Davies, Megan McGery, Alice Roche, Stephanie McAuliffe, Sharni Cowcher, Lee Cooper, Laurence Jarlett, Elly Savill. Mentors: Emma Beard, Jess Amos-Davidson, Olivia Ponting

This report was received from Robert Ashby of The Actors' Charitable Trust (TACT)

The Foundation's grant of £5,000 enabled us to give Christmas presents to all of the 180 children currently in TACT's care. Presents were generally given as £30 vouchers for Waterstone's, W H Smith, the Early Learning Centre, and other tailored stores (including on-line). Some older teenagers received a cheque, and some children with profound disabilities received gifts that they would specifically enjoy. Each family received a note of Sir Noël's involvement with TACT (as the Actors' Orphanage), which has brought an array of comment and interest. Delightfully, it has prompted some of the children who have musical or theatrical talent to discover more about our former President and his work. We remain in touch with most of the surviving orphans from Silverlands, and there was a tremendous response of "how apt" among those whom I've told of your generous grant. Life at the orphanage was transformed when Coward became President, with Christmas a time to remember.

Thank you so much for your support.

Robert Ashby

Noël Coward at Langley Hall where the Actors' Orphanage was situated in 1934 when he visited as President.

 

Arts-in-Education Program

On December 16th the National Arts Club celebrated Coward's birthday with a unique presentation. Conceived and directed by Mr. Jeffrey Stocker, head of the American Readers Theatre Program (seen above with the High school students), the audience was given a delicious treat called The Noël Coward Song Book. This evening was the final result of an intensive 10-week Arts-in-Education Program, funded by a grant from the Noël Coward Foundation. It was the first such grant in the United States.

High school students in Milford, Pennsylvania auditioned and twelve were selected to be a part of this program. Working with Mr. Stocker and their music teacher, the students, who knew nothing of Coward, became immersed in learning about his life and music. They performed many of Coward's popular songs, either as solos or with carefully done choral arrangements. The excitement of their discovery was a wonderful experience for the audience who gave them a standing ovation. The students and their teacher were clearly thrilled by the enthusiastic response to what for everyone was a memorable evening.

Goodspeed Festival Noel Coward Foundation Symposium
'Off the iPod and Into the Theatre: Creating Musicals for a New Generation'

Saturday, January 17, 2009 - The Noel Coward Foundation Symposium: Off the iPod and Into the Theatre: Creating Musicals for a New Generation. Moderated by Broadway producer Jeffrey Seller (In the Heights, Avenue Q, Rent) with panelists Hunter Bell (Obie Award, GLAAD Media, and Drama League nominee), director Gordon Greenberg who has directed such Goodspeed audience favorites as Pirates of Penzance and Happy Days, and bookwriter/lyricist Marcy Heisler (Junie B. Jones).

Goodspeed Opera House Festival Dinner 5:30 p.m., Gelston Houseincluded an informative discussion about musical theatre legend Noel Coward.

Festival participants joined the performers at the Opera House for Band Geeks!, an uproarious and exuberant celebration of youth, individuality and spirit with book by Tommy Newman and Gordon Greenberg, and music and lyrics by Gaby Alter, Mark Allen, and Tommy Newman.

On Sunday festival goers enjoyed the compelling production of Factory Girls. This musical inspired by the real life story of the factory girls of Lowell Mass. celebrates the revolutionary spirit of the American worker, with music, lyrics, and book by Sean Mahoney, and Creighton Irons. The finale of the festival weekend was the Meet the Writers Reception where guests had the chance to gain insight into the inspirations and processes of the writers while enjoying a generous sampling of culinary delights from the Gelston House kitchen. The Festival of New Artists was produced by Goodspeed as part of its Max Showalter Center for Education in Musical Theatre. Created in 2002, the Showalter Center inspires and nurtures musical theatre artists and students by providing a unique and comprehensive range of training and educational programs to serve both the national and local academic communities.

“The Fourth Annual Musical Theatre Institute with its expanded programs and wonderful new talents highlights our commitment to developing new musicals,” said Michael P. Price, Executive Director of Goodspeed Musicals. “It’s exciting for us to see the Goodspeed campus bustling in wintertime. During the Festival the community comes alive as host to the best and brightest new writers and students as they work together to create the future of musical theatre,” he added.

The 2009 Festival of New Artists is part of the Goodspeed Musical Theatre Institute which is generously sponsored by The Noel Coward Foundation and The Adolph & Ruth Schnurmacher Foundation.

MANY AWARDS HAVE BEEN MADE IN RECENT YEARS INCLUDING GRANTS TO THE FOLLOWING COMPANIES:

The Queens Theatre Hornchurch to fund an education project surrounding their work on HAY FEVER. Web. . .

The Theatrical Guild to enable them to carry out research work on their archive. Web. . .

The Shaw Theatre to support their masterclass events. Web. . .

LAMDA - for a student Coward Workshop taken by Thea Sharrock on Nov 15/16 2008. Web. . .

Shaw Festival Canada to support the creation of a dedicated website to support their production of TONIGHT AT 8.30. Web. . .

Hampstead Theatre to fund an education project surrounding their work on PRIVATE LIVES. Web. . .

Donmar Warehouse to support their student matinee programme. Web. . .

Chichester Festival Theatre to support a Technical Education project. Web. . .

The Old Vic Theatre to support their UK/US Exchange programme. Web. . .

The Goodspeed Opera - to support their young musical talent weekend. Geoffrey Johnson will be taking part in taking about Noel's legacy to musical theatre. Web. . .

The York Theatre, New York to fund a competition seeking out a talented young person who can write book, music and lyrics. Web. . .