Emerging Artists Theatre Company

You can make a difference by donating today to Emerging Artists Theatre Company.

Emerging Artists Theatre (EAT) is a 501c3 not-for-profit theatre company based in New York City. EAT acts as an incubator for new voices from the page to the stage.

This is a general donation page for the theatre. To learn more about what we do, please visit emergingartiststheatre.org

Help Keep EAT's Spark Alive! Please Support Our 2,000 @ $20 Campaign

We need your support more than ever. Emerging Artists Theatre (EAT), in its 31st year, is launching this vital 2000 @ $20 campaign to secure our future and continue nurturing the vibrant artistic community we all cherish. We’re asking 2,000 passionate audience attendees and arts supporters to donate just $20 each. Only together and with your generous assistance can we reach our goal and keep the spark of new and innovative theatre and dance alive. Otherwise, our artistic director will have to bake and sell 8,000 cookies from scratch :)

Why Now? The Urgency is Real

Last fall, EAT was on the brink of something spectacular with our Triple Off-Broadway premieres: Anne Being Frank, Doris Day: My Secret Love, and Sex Work, Sex Play all blossoming from our beloved NWS/SparkFest. Tragically, a generous donor who pledged $100,000 passed away unexpectedly, leaving us with an urgent funding gap. We must raise a minimum of $40,000 by the end of June to stay financially healthy and secure essential grants. The donor had previously seen our work and had pledged $100,000 for our Off-Broadway Triple Premiere and we were expecting the money to come in by May/June (the end of our fiscal year). With his sad and sudden passing, we now face a deficit of the pledge amount.

EAT has ended the last 10 years with no deficit, even through COVID-19 we managed to stay afloat. Staying “out of the red” is an essential requirement for the major grants that we receive each year which fund our Spring and Fall Spark Theatre Festivals NYC.

Why EAT Matters

The Emerging Artists Theatre's mission for 31 years is to bring new voices from the page to the stage in the areas of dance, musicals, plays, and solo performances. We produce a Spring and Fall Spark Theatre Festival NYC to develop new work, in which we charge no submission or participation fees for the artists, and the artists receive half the box office. More than 7,000 diverse artists have been given the opportunity to develop and premiere their work through this festival. Additionally, we produce critically acclaimed Off-Broadway productions, including three plays in repertory in the Fall of 2023: Anne Being Frank, Doris Day: My Secret Love, and Sex Work, Sex Play, as well as a Drama Desk-nominated production in 2007.

For over a decade, EAT has proudly ended each year with a balanced budget, even surviving the financial strain of COVID-19. Maintaining a deficit-free status is crucial for continuing our mission.

EAT has been a launching pad for thousands of artists, giving life to new plays, musicals, solo shows, and dance pieces. Your support now helps us keep this creative home thriving.

How You Can Help Right Now

Every Contribution Counts

Your $20 might seem small, but together, it’s a mighty force that can ensure the continuation of the Emerging Artists Theatre and the Spark Theatre Festival NYC. Your generosity fuels the dreams of countless artists and keeps our community’s spirit burning bright.

From the Bottom of Our Hearts, Thank You

We are deeply grateful for your past support and belief in our mission of providing a home for diverse artists to present their creativity for the first time. And we welcome new donors who may have attended and experienced our work.

Donate Now and Keep the Spark Alive!

Only you can make a difference! Your support today ensures a vibrant tomorrow for countless artists and theatre lovers. Let’s keep the stage alive and the spotlight shining on new, innovative work for another 31 years! Thank you for being a vital part of our community. Together, we can achieve greatness.

If you'd prefer to mail a check, or pay via Amex (which for some reason isn't accepted on Gofundme) click here.

With a freshly home baked cookie and a smile,

Paul Adams, Artistic Director and Founder

Emerging Artists Theatre

In 2009, I collaborated with composer Michael Sirotta on a translation of Aeschylus' Agamemnon with an original score. All sections of the play that would have been sung in the original Athenian performances (which included not only songs performed by the chorus but songs performed by principal characters together with the chorus) were set to music. This is rare in modern productions. 

We premiered the translation at the legendary La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club. Audiences for that production had difficulty understanding the lyrics. In 2011, we revised the translation and music for the first 20-minute chorus of the play and presented a workshop performance at the 14th St. Y. We succeeded in making the lyrics clear.

In 2020, Emerging Artists Theatre (EAT) gave us a slot to present a concert reading of the whole play in its Spring New Works Series. In preparation for this reading, we revised all the sung sections as we had revised the opening chorus in 2011.

We all know what happened in the spring of 2020. After being rescheduled for the 2022 Spring New Works Series and canceling the performance due to a covid outbreak among the cast and staff, we presented a concert reading at Theater for the New City in June 2022.

Based on the feedback we have received, Michael and I have cut down and, in one case, eliminated, several of the sung sections in order to put the focus on the three most exciting choral passages. I have cut down the spoken scenes and speeches and revised them as adaptations rather than straight translations in order to make them more dramatic, fluid, and crisp.

We also realized that, for an audience to understand what is going on in the play, at least two sections need to be staged for our next reading.

EAT has given us a slot in its fall, 2023 series, now retitled the Spark Theatre Festival NYC.

Staging two sections of the play will require having the actors off-book, which will require more rehearsal, which will mean paying higher stipends and renting more rehearsal space. I estimate the fall performance will cost $20,000. We have applied for several grants and fellowships and are hoping to raise $10,000 from individual donors.

We would be grateful for whatever contribution you can make toward achieving this goal.

With affection and gratitude,

Alexander Harrington

Emerging Artists (EAT) is a 501 (c) (3 ) not-for-profit theater company, and all contributions are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law.

More information about Emerging Artists Theatre Company: Emerging Artists (EAT) is a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit theatre company. New York City based company that acts as an incubator for new voices from the page to the stage.