NAMT Announces Additional Casting for 21st annual Festival of New Musicals

The National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) and Executive Director Kathy Evans announced the writers for the Songwriters Showcase, which will be Co-hosted by David Zippel & Dee Hoty as well as additional casting for the eight musicals in the 21st Annual Festival of New Musicals at New World Stages (340 West 50th St) on Monday, October 19 and Tuesday, October 20, 2009. The Festival is the premiere industry-only event which introduces theatre professionals to emerging writers, presenting eight 45-minute showcases over two days. www.namt.org

SONGWRITERS SHOWCASE

Co-Hosted by David Zippel (Tony Winner- City of Angels) and Dee Hoty (Bye Bye Birdie)

Shows featured:
THE AVERAGEACHIEVERS CLUB music & lyrics by Benji Goldsmith, book & lyrics by Jonathan Karpinos

THE BLACK SUITS music & lyrics by Joe Iconis, book by Robert Maddock

CRAZY, JUST LIKE ME by Drew Gasparini
THE GREAT AMERICAN RACE by Patrick Barry

POP! book and lyrics by Maggie-Kate Coleman, music by Anna K. Jacobs

SOUTHERN COMFORT book & lyrics by Dan Collins, music by Julianne Wick Davis, based on the documentary by Kate Davis

VENICE by Eric Rosen & Matt Sax, with additional music by Curtis Moore

WHILE I WAIT music by Deborah Abramson, book & lyrics by Amanda Yesnowitz

The showcase will be directed by NAMT's New Works Director Branden Huldeen.

For the Festival, the directors and casts confirmed to date are:

BAND GEEKS!

Book by Tommy Newman & Gordon Greenberg, Lyrics by Gaby Alter & Tommy Newman
Music by Mark Allen, Gaby Alter & Tommy Newman, Concept by Tommy Newman
Director: Gordon Greenberg (Happy Days, Working)

Music Director: David Loud (Ragtime, Curtains)

Cast: Jill Abramovitz (Fame Becomes Me)

Aaron J. Albano (Mary Poppins)

Marie-France Arcilla (Lizzie Borden)

Jenni Barber (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee)

John Bolton (Curtains)

Alex Brightman (Wicked)

Adam Chanler-Berat (Next To Normal)

Dwayne Clark (In The Heights)

Jared Gertner (Ordinary Days)

Griffin Matthews (Papermill's 1776)
Patti Murin (Xanadu)

Kat Palardy (First Wives Club)

FACTORY GIRLS

By Creighton Irons and Sean Mahoney

Director: Victoria Bussert

Music Director: Matt Hinkley (Rooms)

Cast: Steel Burkhardt (Hair)
Kayce Cummings
Kate Ferber
Anika Larsen (Avenue Q)
David Larsen (Billy Elliot)
Carrie Manolakos (Mamma Mia!)
Lindsay Mendez (Everyday Rapture)
Kate Rockwell (Legally Blonde)
Dana Steingold (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee)
Nicole Weiss

HOSTAGE SONG

Book by Clay McLeod Chapman, Music & Lyrics by Kyle Jarrow

Director: Oliver Butler (co-founder of The Debate Society)

Music Director: Nathan Leigh (Big Money)

Cast: Jeb Brown (Grease)

Susan Goodwillie (Mourning Becomes Electra)

John Hickok (Aida)

Maria-Christina Oliveras (Night Sky)

Caesar Samoya (Under Fire)

HOW CAN YOU RUN WITH A SHELL ON YOUR BACK?

By Michael Mahler and Alan Schmuckler

Director: Kent Nicholson (Long Story Short at San Diego Rep)

Music Director: Deborah Abramson (Bernada Alba at Lincoln Center Theater)

Cast: Carey Anderson (Mamma Mia!)

Gideon Glick (Spring Awakening)

Emma Hunton (Spring Awakening)

Preston Sadleir

Derrick Trumbly

IRON CURTAIN

Book by Susan DiLallo, Music by Stephen Weiner, Lyrics by Peter Mills

Director: Cara Reichel (Illyria)

Music Director: Remy Kurs (The Dome)

Cast: Fred Applegate (The Producers)

Maria Couch (

Gregg Edelman (Wonderful Town)

David Foley, Jr.

Liz Larsen (A New Brain)

Lisa Mindelle

Dara Seitzman

Doug Shapiro (Jekyll and Hyde in Concert)

Robby Sharpe (The Pursuit of Persephone)

Jim Stanek (Little Women)

Betsey Wolfe (Everyday Rapture)

IT SHOULDA BEEN YOU

Book & Lyrics by Brian Hargrove, Music by Barbara Anselmi

Director: Michael Bush (Stormy Weather)

Music Director: T.O. Sterrett (Wicked)

Cast: Becca Ayers (Sarah, Plain and Tall)

Jeremy Ellison Gladstone (The Fantasticks)
Nathan Lee Graham (Wig Out!)

Joe Grifasi (The Mystery of Edwin Drood)

Colin Hanlon (I Love You Because)

Harriet Harris (Thoroughly Modern Millie)

Lisa Howard (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee)

Marla Mindelle (The Drowsy Chaperone Nat'l Tour)

Debra Monk (Curtains)

Michael Tucker (Enter Laughing)

Nick Wyman (Catch Me If You Can)

MEMORY IS THE MOTHER OF ALL WISDOM

Book & Lyrics by Sara Cooper, Music by Zach Redler

Director: Joe Colarco (Sarah, Plain and Tall)

Music Director: Vadim Feichner (Ordinary Days)

Cast: Catherine Cox (Baby)

Leslie Kritzer (A Catered Affair)

RIPPER

By Duane Nelsen

Director: John Simpkins (The Black Suits)

Music Director: Brian Usifer (Fantasty Football)

Cast: Jen Babiak (Fiddler on the Roof)

Cyrilla Baer (The Adding Machine)

Neal Benari (Aida)

Joan Hess (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels)

Liz McCartney (South Pacific)

Eric William Morris (Mamma Mia!)

Elena Shaddow (The Light in the Piazza Nat'l Tour)

Kate Shindle (Legally Blonde)
Bruce Winant (Ragtime)

Admission to the FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS is open to Industry Professionals only. Industry professionals may register now on www.namt.org.

A stand by line is open to the general public. Historically all stand by patrons have been able to see the Festival shows.

Since 1989, NAMT's FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS has introduced theatre producers to more than 220 musicals and 350 writers. More than three-fourths of these shows have had further development, tours and licensing agreements, leading to thousands of subsequent productions. Past festival highlights have included the multiple Tony Award winning The Drowsy Chaperone and Thoroughly Modern Millie, as well as Children of Eden, Honk!, Ordinary Days, Songs for a New World, Striking 12, Summer of '42 and Vanities, A New Musical.

The 21st annual Festival of New Musicals is overseen by Festival Artistic Director and NAMT New Works Director Branden Huldeen and General Manager Lisa Dozier.

NAMT is very grateful to the following foundations and government agencies for supporting the mission to nurture the production of new musicals and classics:

The ASCAP Foundation Irving Caesar Fund, The BW Foundation, The Dramatists Guild Fund, Friars Foundation, Gilman & Gonzalez-Falla Theater Foundation, The Mackintosh Foundation, The Mindich Family Foundation, The Rodgers and Hammerstein Foundation, The Shen Family Foundation, and The Shubert Foundation.

The Festival of New Musicals is supported in part by a generous award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency.

We also thank the following sponsors for supporting our Festival of New Musicals. Without them we couldn't present these talented artists to the theatre industry:
Gold Sponsors: The 5th Avenue Theatre, Broadway/L.A. Nederlander, Dallas Summer Musicals, Goodspeed Musicals, The Muny, Pittsburgh CLO, Samuel French, SenovvA, TheaterMania.com, and Theatre Under The Stars.

Silver Sponsors: Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Fox Theatre of St. Louis, and Walnut Street Theatre.