2009 Festival Of New American Musicals Held April-July

The 2009 Festival of New American Musicals, a four-month musical theatre festival, will be held in April through July, 2009, throughout Southern California. Marcia Seligson, Bob Klein, and Linda Shusett are the Executive Producers of the second annual Festival.

The Festival of New American Musicals is home to full productions, staged readings, workshops of musicals in progress, cabaret events, concerts, master classes and other events. The producers are working in partnership with over thirty Southern California area performing arts organizations, each of which will produce a new American musical during the Festival time period.

The venues include Orange County Performing Arts Center, Pantages Theatre, Alex Theatre, South Coast Repertory, Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara, El Portal Theatre, La Mirada Theatre, Colony Theater, Rubicon Theatre, Boston Court Theatre, and Blank Theatre. The University of Southern California, Fullerton College, and Marquez Elementary School are also participating.

Seligson, Klein and Shusett are working closely with two primary creative advisors, celebrated Broadway composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz, composer-lyricist of "Wicked," "Pippin," and "Godspell," and Michael Kerker, Director of Musical Theatre of ASCAP, the major organization which represents American theater composers.

The honorary co-chairs of the Festival are Schwartz, Stephen Sondheim, Jerry Herman, Jason Alexander and Angela Lansbury.

Marcia Seligson said, "We learned a lot from the first Festival last year - including the fact that we began working with theatres on their 2009 offerings before the 2008 Festival was completed.

Linda Shusett said, "This year, we have purposely broadly defined ‘new musicals,' in order to draw as much attention as possible to this art form. For the Festival, a new musical can be anything from a show having its very first public reading, to a recent Broadway show that didn't receive the attention it fully deserved. And we are working hard to enlarge the scope of the support that we lend to the theatres that participate in the Festival."

Bob Klein said, "When you look through the offerings, you will find world premieres, recent musicals, and even the 25th anniversary of the longest running off-Broadway revue in American musical theatre, ‘Forbidden Broadway.' All of it attests to the liveliness and variety of the telling of stories through words and songs. There are some of the greatest American musical theatre talents represented here, as well as grade school students who are learning to sing their stories."

Last year, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was quoted in the Christian Science Monitor as saying, "Los Angeles is pushing this country's cultural envelope across the arts spectrum - from experimental architecture to our unabashed pursuit of edgy, young composers - and I could not be prouder to add performing arts to the list. I hope this ambitious festival blossoms into a magnet for new talent for years to come."

The impetus for this Festival was born out of observing how many new musicals are launched from Southern California's regional theatres. Some of Broadway's biggest hits, "Wicked," "Jersey Boys," "Drowsy Chaperone," and "Curtains," and the upcoming "9 to 5," and "Minsky's" were developed in Southern California.

Festival advisor Stephen Schwartz said, "In my capacity as artistic director of the ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop and as one of the judges for the Jonathan Larson Foundation grant, I have heard the work of so many promising and talented young musical theatre composers and lyricists. The fact that this Festival will give many of them a chance to be showcased and celebrated very publicly here on the West Coast is a truly fantastic gift."

A major element of the Festival is the education component - to bring new musicals into the schools and students into the theatres. Honorary chair Stephen Sondheim said, "What impresses me most about the Festival is its producers' vision for developing new and young musical theatre audiences all around Southern California. By working directly with ethnically diverse high schools and colleges and helping them produce new musicals in their schools, the organizers of the Festival hope to ignite a passion for theater in these young people."

Seligson founded and was Producing Artistic Director of Reprise! Broadway's Best, which has become the leading Southern California musical theatre presenting classic American musicals, from its inception in 1995 until 2005. Bob Klein was a founding board member of Reprise!, and headed the company's successful effort to market rarely revived Broadway musicals. Shusett was a producer on last year's Festival, has worked in the film business and is also a performer.

The Festival of New American Musicals is presented by Bank of New York Mellon. Main sponsors are the ASCAP Foundation, KUSC, BACKSTAGE, Greenberg & Glusker, and The Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

The Festival's website is now online at www.lafestival.org.

The events of the 2009 Festival of New American Musicals:

Pre-Festival event -- "The Wild Party" Book, Music and Lyrics by Andrew Lippa. In one night of sex, love, betrayal, and booze, anything can happen when everyone joins the party. Andrew Lippa's contemporary score thrills in "The Wild Party," based on a 1920s poem by Joseph Moncure March. UCLA's Northwest Campus Auditorium. March 12 - 13. Tickets are free. Act III Theatre Ensemble donations are encouraged. Ticket reservations by emailing actiiite@gmail.com with the email subject WILD PARTY TICKETS. Please include your first and last name, the number of tickets, and a contact number.

Pre-Festival event -- Fullerton College High School Theatre Festival. Estimated participants - 1,500 high schools students from all over Southern California. For the first time in the 20-year history of this major high school theatre festival, over 150 schools have the opportunity to create an original short musical and enter it for awards. This new "original musical" category is sponsored and supported by the Festival of New American Musicals. NAMIS (New American Musicals in the Schools) is a major focus of the festival's educational outreach program. March 13 - 14.

Pre-Festival event -- RATED RSO: The Music And Lyrics Of Ryan Scott Oliver. Richard Rodgers and Jonathan Larson award-winning composer and lyricist Ryan Scott Oliver will bring sexy schoolteachers, Bostonian rent-boys, obsessive homicidal teenagers, and fairy dust to The Theatre at Boston Court, featuring a talented cast from Broadway to LA, singing their faces off to his wide-ranging work. The Theatre at Boston Court March 27 at 7pm and 9:30pm; www.brownpapertickets.com; 626-683-6883.

"That Beautiful Laugh" Conceived and Directed by Orlando Pabotoy. This is a raucous exploration of when laughter becomes beautiful -- rhythmically driven and a high-energy comedy with original songs and music by the cast and some new renditions of the old.
CSULB Theatre Arts - The Players Theater March 27-April 18. (562) 985-5526 www.csulb.edu/depts/theatre/.

"No Way To Treat A Lady" (Los Angeles Premiere) by Douglas J. Cohen -- A serial killer is on the loose, and detective Morris Brummell is on the case. Can he find the killer, get the girl, and appease his disappointed mother -- all before the next chorus? It's a game of cat and mouse -- a tour de force with 4 actors playing 17 roles -- and a murderously fun time! Winner of the Richard Rodgers Award, this musical is based on the novel by William Goldman ("The Princess Bride," "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"), which was adapted as a movie of the same name, this hilarious, sexy musical gives new meaning to "knock 'em dead." Colony Theatre; April 15 - May 17. Ticket Information: (818) 558-7000 x15; www.colonytheatre.org. [Media Contacts Colony Theatre -- David Elzer elzerd@aol.com; (Academy for New American Musical Theatre - Scott Guy academy@anmt.org].

"The Girl, The Grouch and The Goat" (West Coast Premiere) Book by Jack Helbig, music and Lyrics by Mark Hollmann. A farcical, musical romp through ancient Greece from Mark Hollmann, the co-creator of "Urinetown." Journey with the Chance into a parched village on the outskirts of Athens that has been in a drought for decades. The only working well in town is controlled by a nasty old grouch named Clemnon, who delights in price-gouging his neighbors. His obsession with maintaining his water monopoly is only matched by his determination to keep his daughter away from all the men in town -- however, what will happen when she falls in love with the son of Clemnon's sworn nemesis, a wealthy and strong-willed widow? Will the gods create mischief? Will it finally rain? Will someone catch one of those wild goats?
Chance Theatre; April 17 - May 24. Ticket Information: (714) 777-3033/ (866) 811-4111; www.chancetheater.com. [Media Contact: Casey Long casey@chancetheater.com ].

"The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown" (Developmental production of new musical) From the award-winning team of Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk, "The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown" is the highly charged story of a high school valedictorian struggling with life-changing decisions about sex, love, college and the impact the paths that she chooses will have on the rest of her life. It's all about Sam, a girl who has what everyone always wanted: brains, a boyfriend, functional parents, and an acceptance letter to the college of her choice. When you're young and at a crossroads, the answers are not always easy. This new musical is being developed by Broadway Across America, Laurel Oztemel and Beth Williams and is directed by Daniel Goldstein.
Orange County Performing Arts Center; April 21 - May 3. Tickets 714.556.2787, OCPAC.org, Center's Box Office at 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa [Media Contact: Heather Cho HCho@ocpac.org].

"Set Up And Punch" (World Premiere) Book by Mark Saltzman, original songs by Berton Averre and Rob Meurer. The Blank Theatre Company joins the Festival for the first time with this musical about a clever songwriting duo, whose promising relationship is blown to bits when they must collaborate with the sex-god singer-composer of a cutting edge rock band. Love gets sung in the wrong key, proving the old adage: there are two sides to every triangle. It features original songs by rockers Berton ("My Sharona") Averre and Rob Meurer. Set Up And Punch is written by 7-time Emmy Award winning writer Mark Saltzman whose play "Mr Shaw Goes to Hollywood" was developed in The Blank's Living Room Series and later given its World Premiere at Laguna Playhouse under the direction of Daniel Henning. Saltzman has served as a mentor in the Young Playwrights Festival for many years.
Blank Theatre Company; April 24 - May 31, 2009. Tickets: 323-661-9827; www.theblank.com [Media contact: Ed Murphy Murphy@theblanktheatre.com].

"The Water" (First Public Reading) by Tim Werenko, Jeff Hylton, and Georgia Stitt. Concert reading of the winner of the Academy for New Musical Theatre's '08 Search for New Musicals.
Colony Theatre; April 27. Tickets: (818) 558-7000 x15; www.colonytheatre.org. [Media Contacts Colony Theatre -- David Elzer elzerd@aol.com; Academy for New American Musical Theatre - Scott Guy academy@anmt.org].

"Everyman - The Musical" by Bill DeLuca; directed by Naomi Buckley. The South Bay Bridge Project was developed by the Dominguez Bridge Theatre Company. "Everyman-The Musical" is a modern morality play, where God sends Death to summon Everyman to a reckoning of his life, breathing hilarious new life into a somber form, taking the audience on an unforgettable journey both inside and outside the theatre. The Dominguez Bridge Theatre Company is a community-based theater group formed in 2007 by the California State University Dominguez Hills Department of Theatre Arts. Inspired by Cornerstone Theatre Company in Los Angeles, Dominguez Bridge members interview students, faculty and staff of the university and local residents to identify issues, people, and events that define this community. They then turn those interviews into community-relevant theater for the South Bay.
Cal State Dominguez Hills Theatre; April 17 - 26. Tickets 310-243-3589.

"Make Me A Song" (West Coast premiere) Music and lyrics by William Finn. "Make Me a Song" is a compilation of more than twenty hits from Tony award winning composer-lyricist William Finn's exceptional career in musical theatre. These songs are personal, haunting and often hilarious tales from Finn's rich and touching songbook. His storied career spans four decades and includes such honored shows as "In Trousers," "March of the Falsettos," "Falsettoland," "A New Brain," "Elegies: A Song Cycle" and the recent, Tony Award winning, "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee."
Covina Center for the Arts; May 6-10. Tickets: 626-331-8133, www.covinacenter.com.

"Fools In Love" Conquer your Shakes FEAR! A 1950's Doo-Wop Re-imagining of "A Midsummer Night's Dream For Kids" ages 6 to 96. Performed and created by students from the PUC Charter Schools (plus a few adults).
El Portal Theatre. Tickets: 818-508-4200, www.elportaltheatre.com.

"Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage." The famous 1987 film of the same name has been re-imagined for the stage by the original screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein, directed by James Powell, and choreographed by Kate Champion. "Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story on Stage" comes to the Pantages Theatre for its pre-Broadway, West Coast premiere! Featuring 35 hit songs - including "Hungry Eyes," "Hey Baby," "Do You Love Me?" and the heart-stopping "I've Had The Time of My Life - it explodes with heart-pounding music, breathtaking emotion, and sensationally sexy dancing.
Pantages Theatre; May 8-June 28. Tickets: 213-365-3500, ticketmaster.com. [Press contact: Wayne McWorter wayne@nederlander.com].

"Peter Pan: A New Musical" (World Premiere) Written by Jordan Beck with music by Jonathan May and orchestration by Nolan Livesay. This new musical brings the classic story of Neverland to life for a whole new generation! Wendy and her brothers embark on an amazing tour of Neverland sparked by the irrepressible Peter Pan. With the help of unpredictable Tinkerbell, mysterious Tiger Lily, the impish Lost Boys, and the croc with a clock, Peter and Wendy lead a battle to thwart the evil plans of Captain Hook and his hilarious henchmen.
LifeHouse Theater; May 9-June 14. Tickets: 909-335-3037, www.lifehousetheater.com.

"The Green Room" (World Premiere) The story of four college students trying to find lives; edgy, sometimes irreverent, and always fun lyrics and music ranging from "Folk Rock" to "Sondheimesque" to "Blues." Among the songs in its highly acclaimed score is the comedy song "It's All About Me" which was the winner of the 2005 Songwriter's Guild of America - Musical Song of the Year.
Hermosa Beach Playhouse; May 19 - May 31. Tickets 310-372-4477; www.hermosabeachplayhouse.com. [Press Contact: Pegge Forrest & Associates
rnfrst@aol.com].

"Plymouth 2.0" (Premiere) Book and Lyrics by Jeff Lantos; music by Bill Augustine. William Bradford and his pious followers are mortified when a nice Pilgrim girl falls for a bad boy from the raucous Merry Mount Colony. It's the Religious Right meets Woodstock Nation in Massachusetts Bay. "Plymouth 2.0" is an original musical performed by 60 members of the Marquez Elementary School 5th grade history class. This is a remarkable example of musical theater used to enhance learning and is a prime education/outreach project of the festival.
Marquez Charter School in Pacific Palisades; May 20 7 pm. Tickets: 310-454-4019.

"The Brand New Kid" (Premiere) Music by Michael Friedman, book by Melanie Marnich, lyrics by Michael Friedman and Melanie Marnich, directed by Shelley Butler. Say "yes" to tolerance and "no" to meanness! That's a good rule, but it's not always easy. When Ellie stands up for Lazlo S. Gasky, the new kid at school, everyone turns against her. But Ellie and Lazlo find a way to teach an important lesson (be yourself-it's the best way to be!) in this sweet, goofy and upbeat musical from the book by CBS news anchor Katie Couric. Theatre for Young Audiences ... and Their Families is just that, a multi-generational experience for all ages (except children under the age of 4).
South Coast Repertory Company Theatre For Young Audiences; May 29 - June 14. Tickets: (714) 708-5555; www.scr.org. [Media Contact: Jeff Weiser jeffw@scr.org].

"Forbidden Broadway" 25th Anniversary Special Edition Created and written by Gerard Alessandrini. "Forbidden Broadway," starring members of the Award-winning New York cast, brings its poking, prodding, teasing, pleasing, jeering and cheering roast of the top Broadway hits from yesterday and today -- "one of the funniest evenings on or Off-Broadway!" "Forbidden Broadway" was first seen at Palsson's Supper Club on New York's Upper West Side in January 1982. An unemployed actor, Gerard Alessandrini, wanted a showcase for his talents. He decided to assemble some of the musical parodies of Broadway shows he had written since childhood into a nightclub act. Critics and audiences were wowed and it has since become New York's longest running musical comedy revue.
The Granada - Santa Barbara; June 4 - 14. Tickets 805-899-2222; www.granadasb.org. [Media Contact: Vince Coronado vcoronado@granadasb.org].

"The Grapes of Wrath" music by Ricky Ian Gordon; libretto by Michael Korie. The first broadcast of the complete recording of Ricky Ian Gordon-Michael Korie musical adaptation of John Steinbeck's masterpiece. Last year at Disney Hall, the Festival presented the premiere of the concert highlights of the great new American musical drama, "The Grapes Of Wrath" performed by Grant Gershon and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. Gershon conducts the Minnesota Opera in this recording. Although "Grapes" is technically an opera, its composer and librettist, Ricky Ian Gordon and Michael Korie are very much part of the musical theater world.
KUSC Broadcast 91.5 FM; June 5th at 10 AM.

"Ring of Fire" Created by Richard Maltby, Jr.; conceived by William Meade. From the heart of the songs of Johnny Cash comes a unique musical show about love and faith, struggle and success, rowdiness and redemption, home and family. A cast of fourteen multi-talented performers takes you on a journey into the world Cash created in his songs.
La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts and McCoy Rigby Entertainment; June 5 - June 21. Tickets 562-944-9801/714-994-6310; www.lamiradatheatre.com. [Press Contact: Brian Kite 562-944-7977 ext.2901, bkite@lamiradatheatre.com].

"Water And Power" (Premiere) Book and lyrics by Jeff Lantos, music by Bill Augustine. The amazing 5th graders are back, 120 of them, with a musical set in the cotton mills of a New England town. "Water and Power" dramatizes the birth of the American labor movement in Lowell, Massachusetts, 1835. At the outset of the American Industrial Revolution, the mill girls of Lowell worked 13 hours a day for $2 a week. This is the story of their fight for better wages and the 10-hour work day. This original musical is performed by 60 members of the Marquez Elementary School 5th grade history class.
Marquez Charter School in Pacific Palisades; May 20 7 pm. Tickets: 310-454-4019.

"Violet" Book & Lyrics by Brian Crawley, music by Jeanine Tesori, based on the short story "The Ugliest Pilgrim" by Doris Betts, presented by Musical Theatre Guild. Developed at New York's Playwrights Horizons Theater, "Violet" covers the emotional road trip of a scarred young woman - and two handsome soldiers - traveling towards a T.V. preacher who supposedly will make her beautiful. The score is clever and heartfelt, with gospel, R&B and country influences.
The Alex Theatre; June 15. Tickets: 818-243-ALEX (2539); www.alextheatre.org, www.musicaltheatreguild.com. [Press contact: press@musicaltheatreguild.com].

"Prodigy" (First Reading) Book, Lyrics and Direction by Ken Cazan; music and additional lyrics by Billy Pace. "Prodigy" is the story of the fast past paced, live hard and die young professional life of Jean-Michel Basquiat, the superstar African-American artist. Basquiat rose to notoriety while living in a cardboard box on the grounds of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. He was initially known as SAMO, the philosopher/graffiti artist whose work was seen on the walls of buildings in Chelsea, Soho, and Greenwich Village. Haunted by the paranoid schizophrenia of his Puerto Rican mother and his aggressive, domineering, disapproving father, Basquiat was infamous for the volume of drugs he could consume, his vast self-taught intellect, and his associations with Andy Warhol and The Factory, Madonna, and the international arts' elite of the hedonistic, self-serving 1980s. A superstar at the age of 20 in 1980 and dead from a heroine overdose in 1988, this fast moving evening set to rock and roll, latin, and alternative rock music is a moving, wild ride that will keep you talking long after the final blackout.
USC Campus - First Reading; June 20.

The Annual 15 Minute Musicals Performances of seven brand new 15 minute musicals by writers from the Academy for New Musical Theatre Core Curriculum program.
Colony Theatre. June 22 - 25. Ticket Information: (818) 558-7000 x15; www.colonytheatre.org. [Media Contacts Colony Theatre - David Elzer elzerd@aol.com; (Academy for New American Musical Theatre - Scott Guy academy@anmt.org].

"iGhost" Book by Doug Haverty, music by Adryan Russ, lyrics by Adryan Russ & Doug Haverty. Spirits soar in this contemporary, musicalized spin on Oscar Wilde's classic "The Canterville Ghost." A young artist unleashes bluetooth, wireless wizardry into a haunted castle with bombastic, humorous and surprisingly romantic results.
NoHo Arts Center, June 29-30. Tickets: nohoartsdistrict.com; 818-508-7101.

"The Best Is Yet To Come" (World Premiere) The music of Cy Coleman adapted and directed by David Zippel, musical direction by Billy Stritch, choreography by Christopher Gatelli, with Lillias White. In a career spanning seven decades, Cy Coleman created a glittering string of standards and popular music classics, in shows that include "City of Angels," "Sweet Charity," "Barnum," "The Life," "Little Me," "On the Twentieth Century" and "The Will Rogers Follies." Tony Award winning writer and director David Zippel pays homage to Coleman with an elegant new musical revue performed by five singers accompanied by an eight-piece swing band. The sparkling score includes as yet unpublishEd Coleman works, as well as songs made famous by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Barbara Streisand.
Rubicon Theatre, Ventura; July 9 - August 2. rubicontheatre.org; 805-667-2900 [Press contact: Cindy Frankey cfrankey@rubicontheatre.org].

"We Still Can't Stand Still" For the second year, the kids (2-12) at the William Grant Still Center stage their own original musical for the Festival. Workshops take place July 21-25, public performance on the 26th. Last year the star of the show was a 2-year-old making his first stage appearance. The William Grant Still Arts Center is LA's leading cultural center for African-American arts. They teach vocal, instrumental and stage performance year-round.
William Grant Still Center Workshops July 21-25; public performance July 26.