'The Yellow Wood' to Grow at NYMF; Wong Directs

The Award-winning The Yellow Wood written by Michelle Elliott and Daniel Larsen, marks the directorial debut of B.D. Wong at the New York Musical Theatre Festival with performances at The Acorn Theatre beginning September 19.

"The Yellow Wood is a musical kaleidoscope where not-so-normal 17-year old Adam takes a fantastic, unpredictable journey as he struggles to accept all the parts of himself: his A.D.D., his Korean heritage and his complex relationships with friends and family," describe press notes, "The Yellow Wood explores the angst, joy and highly imaginative state of one teen's amazing brain."

Michelle Elliott (bookwriter, co-lyricist) graduated from NYU's Graduate Musical Theatre Program in May, 2005 and earned the Tisch Achievement Award for her program. Elliott was the co-founder and Artistic Director of Frontier Theatre in Minneapolis, where she wrote, directed and produced six original musicals, including the critically and commercially successful Fringe Festival show, When Pop Stars Attack!

Danny Larsen (composer, co-lyricist) recently graduated from NYU's Graduate Musical Theatre Program where he studied as a composer/lyricist. In addition to holding a Masters in Fine Arts from NYU, he holds Bachelors of Arts degrees in Music and Theatre Education from Brigham Young University. He won the ACTF Kennedy Center Composition award for his music and lyrics for Soft Shoe, which premiered at BYU in 2002.

B.D. Wong (director) was born and raised in San Francisco. He made his  Broadway debut in M. Butterfly and is the only actor to be honored with the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Clarence Derwent Award and Theater World Award for the same performance. He was on the off-Broadway musical revival of As Thousands Cheer, and followed with a critically acclaimed performance as Linus in the revival of You're a Good Man Charlie Brown. Wong also starred in the Roundabout Theatre's production of Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures for which he received a Drama League nomination for distinguished performance. Wong recently published his first book "Following Foo: (the electronic adventures of the Chestnut Man)."

The Yellow Wood performances at The Acorn Theatre are: Wednesday, September 19 at 8PM; Saturday, September 22 at 4:30PM; Tuesday, September 25 at 4:30PM; Friday, September 28 at 8PM; Saturday, September 29 at 1PM; and Monday, October 1 at 4:30PM.

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 and takes over midtown each fall with a slate of more than 30 full productions and some 100 special events, including readings, workshops, concerts, parties, seminars and master classes.  The largest musical theatre event in the world, the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) 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. 

The New York Musical Theatre Festival runs September 17 through October 7.  For more information or tickets, calls 212-352-3101 or visit www.nymf.org or visit the TheatreMania booth at the Virgin Megastore in Times Square.

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