Jurors for The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) for the 2009 Next Link Project will include lyricist Susan Birkenhead, composer and lyricist Jason Robert Brown, producer Robyn Goodman, and director Francesca Zambello. The New York Musical Theater Festival is currently accepting open submissions for its Next Link Project for the sixth annual festival taking place September 28 - October 18, 2009.
Twelve of the Festival's full production slots are reserved for participants in The Next Link Project, NYMF's primary writer service program. The Next Link Project empowers emerging musical theatre writing teams as both artists and entrepreneurs by providing the training and relationships needed to help them move their musicals from mere readings to fully-realized productions and to advance their careers by maximizing the exposure they receive in the Festival.
A meet and greet to answer any questions from those interested in applying will be held Wednesday, January 28, 6-8pm at the Irish Rogue (356 West 44th Street, between 8th and 9th Ave). NYMF staff members will be on hand to answer questions about the Next Link Project submissions process and chat about other ways to get involved with the Festival.
Any work that has not been produced professionally in New York City may be submitted by authors with or without industry representation, but scripts should be ready for developmental production and the widespread exposure NYMF provides. All entries undergo double-blind evaluations by several members of NYMF's reading team, with finalists referred to a grand jury of celebrated industry professionals. Previous jury members have included such Tony winning talents as Victoria Clark, Raul Esparza, Robyn Goodman, Margo Lion, Robert Lopez & Jeff Marx, Kathleen Marshall, Kevin McCollum, Tom Meehan, Phylicia Rashad and BD Wong.
Authors submitting to The Next Link Project will need to provide a demo recording of their songs, a detailed synopsis of their show, a 15-page script sample (15 consecutive pages representing the heart of the show and including lyrics for at least one of the songs), a complete script, and, if applicable, proof of rights to adapt underlying material.
The Next Link Project will accept submissions through March 2, 2009, with a reduced application fee for any submissions received by the February 2 early bird deadline. For important additional information, including details about what it takes to produce your show in NYMF (and what you get in return), please visit www.nymf.org.
2009 Jury Bios
Susan Birkenhead received a Tony Nomination, a Grammy nomination, and a Drama Desk Award for her lyrics for Jelly's Last Jam. She was nominated for a Drama Desk for Triumph of Love. She was one of the writers nominated for a Tony award for Working, and won an Outer Critics Circle award for What About Luv? She wrote additional lyrics for High Society, with a book by Arthur Kopit and a score by Cole Porter, and was one of the contributors to A My Name Is Alice. She recently completed Minsky's with Charles Strouse, Bob Martin and Casey Nicholaw which will open at the Ahmanson on February 5th. She is currently working on The Flamingo Kid with Henry Krieger, James Magruder and Michael Mayer, and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, with Mr. Krieger and Daniel Goldfarb.
