NYMF Announces 2007 Festival Award Winners

The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) proudly announces the winners of its NYMF Awards for Excellence, selected by an independent jury from the 34 new musicals presented at the 2007 Festival.

NYMF will honor the award-winning shows and artists, along with three young Broadway producers – Robert Ahrens (Xanadu), Pun Bandhu (Spring Awakening) and Jennifer Maloney (Spring Awakening, Legally Blonde) – at its November 4 Awards Gala, which will be held at the Hudson Theatre, 145 West 44th Street.

The NYMF Awards Gala will begin at 6PM with a champagne reception, and will include a sit-down dinner and select performances from the NYMF award-winning productions and the honorees' Broadway shows.  Single seats are $400 and VIP seats are $600, with supporter tables being $4000 and VIP tables $6000, with VIP tables getting premium locations and invitation to a post-show gala reception.  The evening's will be directed by Steven Yuhasz.  NYMF Awards Gala tickets and tables can be purchased at www.nymf.org or by calling (212) 664-0979.

The winners of the 2007 NYMF Awards for Excellence are:

Verizon BEST IN FEST Audience Prize: Unlock'd (Book and lyrics by Sam Carner, music by Derek Gregor)
Honorable Mention:  Bernice Bobs Her Mullet (Book, lyrics, and music by Joe Major); Back Home (Book by Ronald Sproat, lyrics by Frank Evans, music by Christopher Berg)

Microsoft HealthVault Most Promising New Musical: The Boy in the Bathroom (Book and lyrics by Michael Lluberes , music and additional lyrics by Joe Maloney)
Honorable Mention: Love Sucks (Book and lyrics by Stephen O'Rourke, music and lyrics by Brandon Patton); Unlock'd (Book and lyrics by Sam Carner, music by Derek Gregor).

Excellence in Music: Danny Larsen, The Yellow Wood
Honorable Mention: Marcus Hummon, The Piper; Stephanie Johnstone, Tully (in no particular order)

Excellence in Lyrics:  Noel Katz, Such Good Friends
Honorable Mention: Sam Carner, Unlock'd; Frank Evans, Back Home

Excellence in Book:  Michael Lluberes, The Boy in the Bathroom
Honorable Mention: Joan Cushing, Petite Rouge (A Cajun Red Riding Hood); Kate Ferguson & Robert Hudson, Sherlock Holmes (The Early Years)

Excellence in Direction: Marc Bruni, Such Good Friends
Honorable Mention: Michael Lluberes, The Boy in the Bathroom; BD Wong, The Yellow Wood

Excellence in Choreography: Ron De Jesus, Linda Goodrich, Jeff Shade, Nick Kenkel, and Matt Williams; Platforms
Honorable Mention: Kevin Remington, The Beastly Bombing; Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Mud Donahue and Son

Excellence in Overall Design: The Boy in the Bathroom (Seth Easter, set; Carrie Wood, lighting; Lisa Renee Jordan, costumes; Elizabeth Rhodes, sound)
Honorable Mention: The Good Fight (Alison Fraser, Bronwyn Mace & Lorraine Koh, costumes; Glen Hunter, lighting; Daniel Jongen, sound and additional production) and Sherlock Holmes (The Early Years) (Meghan Williams, props; Jason Lyons, lighting; Christie Carroll, costumes; Ken Travis, sound)

Outstanding Ensemble Performance:  Going Down Swingin' (Stacie Bono, Tom Deckman, Leo Ash Evens, George McDaniel, Meredith Patterson, Hardy Rawls, Marla Schaffel, Christopher Shyer, James Stovall)
Honorable Mention: The Boy in the Bathroom (Ana Noguiera, Mary Stout, Michael Zahler) and Unlock'd (Jackie Burns, Alison Cimmet, Maria Couch, William Thomas Evans, Sarah Jane Everman, Chris Gunn, Mary Catherine McDonald, Christopher Totten, Jim Weitzer, Darryl Winslow)

Outstanding Individual Performance:
Stephen Bel Davies, Austentatious
Linda Hart, Gemini the Musical
Liz Larsen, Such Good Friends
Kate Shindle, Sympathy Jones
Laura Shoop, Sherlock Holmes (The Early Years)
Mary Stout, The Boy in the Bathroom
Yuka Takara, The Yellow Wood
Shonn Wiley, Mud Donahue and Son

The jury for the 2007 NYMF Awards for Excellence included Dan Bacalzo and Brian Ferdman (TheaterMania), Beth Blatt (lyricist and bookwriter of The Mistress Cycle, NYMF '05), Michael Dale and Jena Tesse Fox (BroadwayWorld), Sharon Fallon (producer), Peter Filichia (Newark Star-Ledger), Anthony King (co-creator of Gutenberg! The Musical!, NYMF '06), Bobby Lopez (co-creator of Avenue Q), Anthony Rapp (Broadway performer), Mark Simon (casting director), Katie Riegel and Paul Wontorek (Broadway.com) and Susan Vargo (Director of live theatricals, Nickelodeon).

The New York Musical Theatre Festival is the enormously popular three-week celebration that features the works of the newest generation of musical theatre writers.  One of the fastest growing theatre festivals in the country today, the New York Musical Theatre Festival has, in three short years, presented a total of 99 new musicals, many of which have gone on to subsequent productions at Off-Broadway and regional theatres around the country.  Hailed as "the Sundance of Musical Theatre," NYMF is widely regarded as the essential source for new material and talent discovery, and in 2005 was awarded the $100,000 Jujamcyn Theaters Prize for its "extraordinary contribution to the development of creative talent in the theater."  NYMF is the flagship program of The National Music Theater Network, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, and is presented in partnership with BroadwayWorld.com and Microsoft HealthVault and 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 the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.  The 2007 NYMF Awards Gala has been generously supported by Lillian and Maurice Barbash, Susan Barbash, Blue Point Brewing Company, Chelsea Piers, Crunch, D'Agostino's, The Daily Show, The FIlm Forum, Foragers Market, Freeze 24/7, Gil Ferrer Salon, IFC Center, IZZE, Michael Lexton, The Long Island Ducks, Manhattan Fruitier, Mark Garrison Salon, New York Magazine, Playwrights Horizons, Second Stage Theatre, Smart Workout, Stonekelly Inc, Regal Cinemas, Tony's Di Napoli and Verizon.