"RATHSKELLER: A MUSICAL ELIXIR" Is One of 89 projects to receive funding through groundbreaking NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music, and Theatre
Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment Program Awards $2M in Funding to Support the Creation of Content that Reflects the Voices and Perspectives of All Who Identify as Women
NEW YORK, NY – RATHSKELLER: A MUSICAL ELIXIR, a Concept Album for the new rock musical, RATHSKELLER, with Music & Lyrics by Grant Recipient, Brianna Barnes, is one of 89 projects to receive funding through the NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre, a groundbreaking series of initiatives from The City of New York Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) that address the underrepresentation of women in film, music, television, and theatre.
The Fund, which is administered by New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), provides grants to encourage and support the creation of content that reflect the voices and perspectives of all who identify as women. The $2.2 million awarded in the 2021-2022 round brings the grand total of funding to $5.5 million, allocated to a total of 246 recipients (94 in 2020’s second round and 63 in 2019’s first round). The full lists of categories, awarded projects, and industry panelists who made the selections can be found at nyc.gov/nycwomensfund.
RATHSKELLER was commissioned in February of 2021 by Dame Productions. Collin Kessler (Book) and Brianna Barnes (Music & Lyrics) worked together with support from Dame Productions to create the full length musical based on the Concept by Chris Rudd in just 6-months. This first step of development culminated in a Workshop Production that premiered with a weekend of sold-out shows at the New Ohio Theatre in New York City on September 24-26, 2021. This concept album will be the next step in its ongoing development.
In total, 1,193 applications were evaluated by a panel of 42 industry experts including:
Paula Abreu, Associate Director of Programming at City Parks SummerStage, NYC
Lora-Faye Åshuvud, musician and band leader of Arthur Moon
Mahen Bonetti, Founder and Executive Director of African Film Festival
Migdalia Cruz, translator, librettist, lyricist and playwright for Another Part of The House
Emilia Ferreira, Filmmaker and Lead Programmer for the narrative section of the Brooklyn Film Festival
Shayoni Mitra, Senior lecturer in Theatre at Barnard College
Mendi Obadike, musician and interdisciplinary artist, Associate Professor at Pratt Institute
Akosua Adoma Owusu, Filmmaker and Lecturer at Harvard University and Pratt Institute
Den Quinsay, Managing Director, Bronx Documentary Center
Seret Scott, actor, playwright and director of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf
Chloë Walters-Wallace, Director of Regional Initiatives for Firelight Media
Nina C. Young, Electroacoustic composer of Tread Softly
Debra Zimmerman, Executive Director of Women Make Movies
