In addition to the previously announced 27 full productions, The New York Musical Theatre Festival (Isaac Robert Hurwitz, Executive Director & Producer) today announced two dance productions, nine special events and concerts, and three developmental readings that will all take place during this year’s three-week festival.
This year’s dance musicals include the 2009 “Born At NYMF” commission, Andy Warhol Was Right. Established in 2006 to bridge the gap between the worlds of dance and theater artists, the “Born At NYMF” commissioning program encourages innovation and cross-disciplinary exploration. Because original full-length narrative dance works are so rarely developed and produced today, “Born At NYMF” fosters choreographers’ creative development in the theater, resulting in adventurous new works not generally developed in more “commercial” theater settings. The exploration of this new genre of musical theatre brings the dance and theatre community together in a fresh and exciting new way and marks the continued growth of NYMF's dance programming. Past “Born At NYMF” commissions include “Wild About Harry” and the critically acclaimed “Platforms.”
Dance Musicals
Andy Warhol Was Right
Concept by Melinda Atwood, Sammy Buck, Dan Acquisto, Daryl Gray, and Shea Sullivan
Book by Sammy Buck; Music by Dan Acquisto
Directed by Giovanna Sardelli; Choreographed by Daryl Gray and Shea Sullivan
September 30th to October 3rd at MMAC, the Manhattan Movement and Arts Center, 248 West 60th Street
Fame. Some want it. Some get it. Some don’t. And some refuse it. Between Youtube, reality television and countless media outlets, everyone will get their fifteen minutes of fame. But what happens in the sixteenth minute? Four different stories "dance around" the question of celebrity in a party hosted by Warhol himself.
Encore
Concept by Daniel Gwirtzman; Music by Various Artists
Directed and Choreographed by Daniel Gwirtzman
October 1st to 3rd at MMAC, the Manhattan Movement and Arts Center, 248 West 60th Street
A troupe of Broadway dancers prepares to go on the road under the pressure of a fastidious and demanding choreographer. During their final rehearsal, the cast goes through the paces of one show-stopping number after another – set to classic jazz recordings – working through the uncertainty, headaches and hilarity of the intense process of making art, and raising the age-old question: will the show come together?
Special Events
Count To Ten
Book by Michael Blevins; Lyrics by Michael Blevins and Beth Clary;
Music by Michael Blevins, Scott Knipe, Bruce Sacks and David Wollenberger
October 15th – 17th at the Theatre at St. Clement’s
A tap-dancing writer’s Broadway ambitions are thwarted because his new musical lacks a real love story. Forced to develop the show at a performing arts camp full of spoiled, rich, and (in some cases) neglected stars of tomorrow, he finds he can no longer dance around his issues and succumbs to the true call of his heart. A cross-generational, all-dancing, upbeat musical everyone can “tap” into!
Deep Cover
Book, Music and Lyrics by Michael Wolk
Cabaret space & date TBA
There's love, laughter, rock ‘n’ roll and murder on Bleecker Street! Rex Ryan is a has-been rocker with a struggling bar and a volatile romance with Broadway and cabaret veteran Melody Reinhart. One night, a young, talented singer walks in, igniting long dead hopes and passions. But with her comes a hustler who sees Rex as his ticket to the big time. For the scheme to succeed, though, Rex must die…
The Greenwood Tree
Music and concept by Will Reynolds; Text by Shakespeare
September 30th & October 2nd at 45th Street Theater
Sparks fly when a brilliant young poet falls victim to Puck's notorious flower and enters a love triangle with his songwriting best friend and a beautiful woman named Sylvia. With the passion and poetry of Shakespeare's sonnets and a soaring, acoustic score, bask under The Greenwood Tree and savor a modern love story laced with classical seduction.
Letters To Daddy, Jr.
Book by Jill Jaysen; Music and Lyrics by Mark Shepard; Conceived and Developed by 4e Productions
October 4th at MMAC, the Manhattan Movement and Arts Center, 248 West 60th Street
Mr. Turner, an English teacher at Lincoln Elementary, has given his students an assignment to write letters about something unfair in their lives. When his 10-year-old daughter, Caroline gets into a fight with Billy the bully, she receives the ultimate "unfair" treatment – she's grounded! Sent to her father’s study as punishment, she discovers the folder of letters. As they come to life in this whimsical musical, everyone grows and learns to get along, transforming an awful day into an awesome one!
Liberty
Book and Lyrics by Dana Leslie Goldstein; Music by Jonathan Goldstein
September 29th at the Acorn Theatre at Theatre Row
A beautiful, French immigrant arrives in New York Harbor. There's something different about her, something larger than life. It's the age of optimism, but there's a recession going on, and immigration is a hot-button issue. Can the arrival of Liberty really solve anything? There are powerful political forces working against her, and a precious few who see her potential. Can Liberty's friends keep her from being deported? Maybe even put her on a pedestal? See for yourself. You'll never look at Liberty the same way again.
Moisty the Snowman Saves Christmas
Book and Lyrics by Bradford Scobie, Music by Bradford Scobie and Christian Dyas
October 8th, 9th & 10th at 45th Street Theater
This kiddy show for adults is the naughty little fairy tale of how one filthy and flamboyant New York snowman saves Christmas. Join Moisty and all his friends – a homeboy elf, a lesbian rag-doll, and the Baby Jesus – as they struggle to save Christmas from the witchy and glamorous Mayor Bloomburger-Meisterburger.
One Night Stand
By Quinn Beswick, Adam Cochran, Kobi Libii, Samantha Martin, Josh Margolin,
Jonah Platt, Mollie Taxe, and Andrew Resnick
October 9th & 11th at ATA Chernuchin Theater
A completely improvised hour-long musical! Using an audience-suggested title, everything is made up on the spot without ANY writing or planning, including the music, the lyrics, the singing melodies, the characters, the choreography, the plot, the dialogue and anything else you can think of. Fun for all ages!
Rated RSO: The Songs of Ryan Scott Oliver
October 5th at ATA Chernuchin Theater
Multi-award winning composer and lyricist Ryan Scott Oliver brings sexy schoolteachers, provocative rent-boys, obsessive homicidal teenagers, and fairy dust to rock out at NYMF! Directed by Travis Greisler, this concert features a ridiculous cast of talent from Broadway to L.A., singing their faces off to Ryan’s eclectic work. Ryan is the recipient of the 2008 Richard Rodgers Award and the 2009 Jonathan Larson Grant, a 2009 MAC nominee and the composer of Mrs. Sharp (soon to be featured at Playwrights Horizons, starring Jane Krakowski). Rated RSO sold out when it played Joe’s Pub in May so don’t miss it this time around!
R.R.R.E.D: A Secret Musical
Book by Adam Jackman, Katie Thompson and Patrick Livingston;
Music and Lyrics by Katie Thompson
October 1st, 2nd, & 3rd at 45th Street Theater
In the Year 2005, the Oxford Hair Foundation predicted that due to the rampant intermixing of the population, the recessive gene which causes red hair would be extinct by the year 2100. Today, redheads have taken matters into their own hands. A world without redheads is no kind of world they are going to let happen, and if heads have to roll, well, they sure as hell won't be red... heads.
Developmental Readings
Live! Nude! Girl!
Book and Lyrics by Donna Kaz; Music by Wayne Barker
October 15th at 45th Street Theater
What if a 1950’s Midwestern housewife got so sick of making meatloaf every Tuesday night that she snapped and ran away to Las Vegas? What if her mother could drink like Dean and her daughter could entertain like Sammy? And what if this housewife went from the silent and submissive bottom to the tough, impulsive and calculated top of the heap? Live! Nude! Girl! tells the story of a once-in-a-lifetime chance to break out of a rut into something original and cool.
The Nightingale and the Satin Woman
Book by William Kotzwinkle and Elizabeth Gundy; Music and Lyrics by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
Based on the book Herr Nightingale and the Satin Woman
October 2 at the Theatre at St. Clement’s
Pursued by Scotland Yard, the WWI hero-turned-smuggler Nightingale and his alluring companion, The Satin Woman, hunt for an elusive Golden Caterpillar which brings its possessor untold wealth. But they are not the only ones seeking it – so are the master criminals Gospodinoff and Chang! From London to Cairo, Istanbul to India, China to Buenos Aires, intrigue, double-crosses, romance, and anthropomorphic creatures abound. This sensual and surreal tale features a score by the legendary Leiber and Stoller.
Punk Princess
Book and Lyrics by Yasmine Lever; Music by Stew and Heidi Rodewald
October 14th at the Theatre at St. Clement’s
When rebellious blue blood Clare can't get accepted into the early ‘80s London post-punk music scene, she escapes to Manhattan with American hustler Andy. Together, they reinvent her past as a “Watford slumdog” and launch Clare into musical stardom. But as things spiral out of control, she risks losing everything when Andy finally threatens to expose the Punk Princess’s true roots.
Since its inception in 2004, The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) has premiered more than 175 new musicals – many of which have gone on to award-winning productions on and off-Broadway, in nearly every state, and in over a dozen countries. NYMF alumni include the Tony Award-winning musical Next to Normal, currently playing on Broadway at the Booth Theater; NYMF 2004 hit [title of show] enjoyed a Tony Award-nominated run last season; and Altar Boyz is now in its fifth year Off-Broadway at New World Stages.
Hailed as "the Sundance of Musical Theatre," the three-week annual festival works to revitalize one of America’s greatest art forms by discovering, supporting and promoting new musical theater artists, producers, and projects, and by introducing a diverse audience to the vibrancy of contemporary musical theater. Widely regarded as the essential source for new material and talent discovery, NYMF is the flagship program of National Music Theater Network, Inc., a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization.
NYMF 2009 is presented in association with BroadwayWorld.com, Production Resource Group and TheaterMania.com, and is supported by Barnes & Noble Booksellers, BroadwayBox.com, BroadwayInsider.com, Frank & Camille's Fine Pianos, King Displays, Manhattan Movement & Arts Center, Next Magazine, Panasonic Astrovision, Queerty.com, Tekserve, and TheMENEvent. Major supporters include ASCAP Foundation, BMI Foundation, Inc., The Nathan Cummings Foundation with the support and encouragement of Jaimie Mayer, The Charlie & Jane Fink Charitable Fund, The Rodgers & Hammerstein Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, and The Theater League. NYMF is supported, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.
Tickets to individual festival events will go on sale to NYMF Members on August 1 and to the general public on September 1. NYMF Memberships, which combine charitable contributions with valuable, flexible ticket packages and perks like early seating, are currently available for purchase at (212) 352-3101 or www.nymf.org.
