Over the last three years, the Johnny Mercer Foundation has funded the creation of a new American musical theatre piece at the Sundance Institute Theatre Laboratory. Since 2002, the Mercer Foundation has supported Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas’ play, THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA and Ricky Ian Gordon’s new musical, FOR MY FAMILY. Following its Sundance Lab workshop, THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA premiered at the Intiman Theatre in Seattle in June 2003; It opened at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago January 2004.

The Sundance Theater Lab, now in its 24th season, is one of this country’s most prolific workshop programs for both emerging and established playwrights and composers. Each year nearly 600 applications are submitted to Sundance; eight to ten plays are selected by committee and are invited to spend a three week residency at the Sundance Resort each July. Sundance provides the writers and their collaborative artists with transportation, housing, meals, a first-rate acting company, and rehearsal spaces. Sundance also surrounds each project with a group of select creative advisors (dramaturgs and directors), who respond to the artists’ questions and concerns about their work. Occasionally, musical submissions are supported at the Theatre Lab’s satellite program which takes place at the White Oak Plantation, in Yulee, Florida. In addition, the Theatre Program also supports an annual playwright and composer retreat each February at the Ucross Foundation in Wyoming.

Over the last seven years, nearly fifty Sundance-supported plays have gone on to production at theatres from coast to coast, and in New York. Recent examples include: I AM MY OWN WIFE (Doug Wright), HOLLYWOOD ARMS (Carol Burnett and Carrie Hamilton), THE LARAMIE PROJECT (Moises Kaufman), YELLOWMAN (Dael Orlandersmith), CROWNS (Regina Taylor), WINTERTIME (Charles Mee), THE TRICKY PART (Martin Moran), LOVE AND TAXES (Josh Kornbluth), FABULATION (Lynn Nottage), IN REAL LIFE (Charlayne Woodard) and DOGEATERS (Jessica Hagedorn), among many others.

Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is dedicated to the development of artists of independent vision and the exhibition of their new work. Since its inception, the Institute has grown into an internationally recognized resource for filmmakers and other artists. Sundance Institute conducts national and international labs for filmmakers, screenwriters, composers, writers, and theatre artists. The annual Sundance Film Festival, a major program of Sundance Institute, is held each January and is considered the premier showcase for American and international independent film. The Institute supports non-fiction filmmakers through the Documentary Film Program by providing year-round support through the Sundance Documentary Fund and a series of programs that nurture their growth, encourage the exploration of innovative nonfiction storytelling, and promote the exhibition of documentary films to a broader audience. Through the Sundance Institute Theatre Program, the Institute is committed to invigorating the national theatre movement with original and creative work and to nurturing the diversity of artistic expression among theatre artists. The Institute also maintains The Sundance Collection at UCLA, a unique archive of independent film.