New Ground breaking new ground with national recognition
By Sean Leary, ARGUS/DISPATCH -- January 31, 2004

Since its inception two years ago, New Ground Theater has become one of the most respected and critically-acclaimed groups in the Quad-Cities.

Now it's starting to get that recognition on a national stage.

New Ground has been accepted as a constituent in the Theater Communications Group, a national organization for professional not-for-profit theaters.

Basically, that means NG has been granted access to a very exclusive club and as such will be eligible for various grants to help them financially. It also means they'll be privy to a bevy of insider wisdom, that they'll get listings in the national publication American Theater magazine and they'll have a whole lot of other stuff available that could be tremendously beneficial.

The news surprised and delighted NG artistic director Chris Jansen, who has been the workhorse and creative spark behind the birth and growth of the group.

"Obviously, it's a huge honor,'' she said. "For me, the important thing is that being connected to this group lets me see new trends for fundraising ideas and it gives me more of a national outlook. I'm hoping it will help us with our fundraising. It can't hurt having that extra legitimacy.''

There aren't a whole lot of theaters nationwide that are allowed into this august realm. In fact, Riverside Theater in Iowa City is the only other Iowa-side joint in the fold. If you look at New Ground in terms of its reach into the Illinois Quad-Cities, it's the only Illinois theater outside of the Chicago area to be invited.

The application process involved letting Theater Communications in on what New Ground was all about, spinning a brief history and showcasing the theater's importance to the community.

"They were really impressed with the local support,'' Jansen said. "The donations, the funding, the good reviews -- they liked all that stuff.

Jansen applied in October and heard about the acceptance just before the holidays. "It was all I wanted for Christmas,'' she laughed, "so it was a nice little early present.''

She admitted to being a little shocked. "This stuff is happening sooner than we thought it would, which is a real good sign of future growth,'' she said. "Something like this makes me feel like we're going in the right direction.''

There's no doubt about that to anyone with even a slight knowledge of the theater. New Ground has been one of the most welcome additions to the local arts scene during the last decade. It has brought a new level of theater to the area -- showcasing predominantly edgy, innovative, contemporary works.

As such, it's not only given theater fans the opportunity to see newer and more cutting edge fare, but it's given local actors the chance to really stretch their acting muscles. Let's face it -- I like "Grease'' and "West Side Story'' too, and a lot of folks enjoy taking in "Oklahoma'' and "Sound of Music,'' but after a while, it's nice to see something other than the old standbys. For area thespians, it's also refreshing to take on different roles.

Jansen, who acts as director and producer for the theater, is well in tune with the creative needs of artists. But she also has the business savvy to realize they have financial needs as well, which is one of the reasons she's excited about this honor.

"The grand idea is to get to the level where we can pay artists what they're worth, to try to convince the actors to stay here rather than leave the area right after grad school,'' Jansen said.

The thrill of acceptance comes with the realization that it means more responsibility and higher standards, Jansen said. But she welcomes the challenge.

"Something like this means the work gets harder and more time-consuming,'' she noted. "But we're learning through this that you never get anywhere if you don't aim high.''

I'd bet on New Ground continuing to hit the mark. It's done pretty well so far.

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