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Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2008 > October > 29 > Entry
Rude Mechs bag NEA grant
Congrats to playwright Kirk Lynn of the Rude Mechs who just bagged a $20,000 grant from the NEA’s Distinguished New Play Development Project.
The monies Lynn and the Rudes will receive will go for the early development of Lynn’s latest script, “I’ve Never Been So Happy.” The project is one of only five in the nation to receive the NEA New Play Development grant.
With music and lyrics by composer Peter Stopschinski, “I’ve Never Been So Happy” is sort of a carnival of the great American West and an exploration of the wild frontier of parenthood. “A single mother ties her son to the last mountain lion in Texas to toughen him up,” reads the Rudes’ description. “A single father tries to keep his daughter from leaving home.”
The Rudes will present “I’ve Never Been So Happy” in a serial workshop format with the father/daughter story, Scenes 2, 4 and 7, will be presented in Dec. 4-13 at the Off Center. The mother/son story, Scenes 1, 3, and 6, will be presented in April. And then all of the scenes plus the climactic last scene will be presented at the world premiere in September 2009.
See the Rude Mechs Web site for more info.
Get to work Kirk!
Playwright Kirk Lynn
Comments
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By Betsyann Faiella
November 13, 2008 2:07 PM | Link to this
Dear Jeanne Claire I’m writing to let you know that Austin resident (and patron of the arts, you no doubt know) Andrew Heller has embarked on a singing career after establishing himself for the last several decades as a world renowned scientific engineer.He currently has two singles on the Power Source 100 charts above #30, and he just returned from being featured at the ICM Awards in Hendersonville. His new inspirational CD, “I Believe In Angels” is pushing the envelope of the genre with danceable songs of faith. Strange but true, and wonderful.
By Kirk Lynn
October 30, 2008 10:14 AM | Link to this
Taking my cue from America’s most popular governor, $10,000 of the grant will be spent on a more attractive author photo.