Contact: Brad Heegel, Director of College Relations
Phone: (605) 351-3602
Fax: (605) 274-4903
www.augie.edu

December 22, 2004

Children's Theatre Company's NEA Grant a First for South Dakota

SIOUX FALLS - The Children's Theatre Company of Sioux Falls (CTCSF) has made incredible strides since its inception in 2001.

Now in partnership with Augustana College, the company has performed for more than 80,000 young people and their families in South Dakota, Minnesota, and Nebraska.

Emperor, Incorporated, the company's latest creation, is the first locally produced production to be included in the Washington Pavilion's main stage Performance Series. And, the company has been awarded the first ever National Endowment for the Arts grant to a theatre company in South Dakota.

Augustana has received a $10,000 NEA grant on behalf of CTCSF in the musical theater category for "artistic creativity and presentation" in the production of Emperor, Incorporated. The musical, inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes, plays the Washington Pavilion at 1:00 p.m. Saturday, January 22. Tickets are $18 for adults and $12 for children.

"Receiving the NEA grant is exciting, and being the first theatre company in South Dakota selected is an honor," said Nancy Halverson, executive director of CTCSF.

Accolades for the infant theatre company continue as it was invited to include Emperor, Incorporated at the Seattle Fringe Act Festival and the World Festival in Demark.

Halverson conceived the production of Emperor, Incorporated, and is serving as director and producer. Michael Keck composed the music and collaborated with Wesley Middleton on the lyrics. Keck is the recipient of Oppenheimer and American Critics awards for his music and creativity. Middleton, whose children's plays, Tomato Plant Girl and Degas' Little Dancer have been produced by theatre groups across the nation, is the playwright. The set was designed by Jim Kronzer, who has served as a scenic designer for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and costumes were designed by Steven Howard and Bob Miller, who have earned a combined total of nine Emmy Awards for their work in television.

CTCSF is a nonprofit professional theatre company committed to creating work that will delight, inspire, and educate audiences of all ages. Through local partnerships, the company seeks to create a community of artists providing quality professional theatre for families.