New Australian Musical ERROL AND FIDEL to Open NYMF 2017

It has been announced in New York that ERROL AND FIDEL, a new musical written by four Sydneysiders, will open this year's New York Musical Festival, the most prestigious showcase for new work in the music theatre world.

The musical was selected for the Festival (NYMF) from hundreds of submissions from around the world, and is the only overseas production to make the cut.

It has now been chosen for the prestigious July 10 opening night on 42nd Street, and will be performed five times during the Festival.

It tells the story of the bizarre (but true) relationship between iconic movie star, Errol Flynn, and Cuba's numero uno rebel, Fidel Castro, at the height of that country's revolution. Born in Hobart, Flynn was one of Hollywood's biggest stars during its Golden Age, and also one of the most internationally famous Australians who ever lived.

ERROL AND FIDEL was written by Boyd Anderson and Guy Anderson, music by Peter Kaldor and John Kaldor, lyrics by Boyd Anderson. It is the team's first attempt at a musical, and is based on Boyd Anderson's 2010 novel, Errol, Fidel and the Cuban Rebel Girls. It includes 21 original songs in a mix of styles, from Cuban mambo to MGM showtune to Doo-Wop.

The musical captures a restless Flynn in the fading twilight of his film career as he chases a lost dream to be a genuine, real-life hero. Being Flynn, it all starts with a woman. He follows the mysterious Lola, who lures him into the wild Cuban mountains to meet rebel leader, el Gigante. As revolution rages around them, the stage is set for an explosive encounter.

Co-writer Boyd Anderson said, "ERROL AND FIDEL blends the mythology of Flynn and Castro with a dash of Hollywood romance and adventure, a good slug of CIA skulduggery, and a swordfight for good measure. It's a story with two heroes, but of course there is only ever room for one."

The New York Musical Festival nurtures the creation, production, and public presentation of stylistically, thematically, and culturally diverse new musicals to ensure the future vitality of musical theater.

Now in its fourteenth year, the Festival is the premier musical theater event in the world. The preeminent site for launching new musicals and discovering new talent, the Festival provides an affordable platform for artists to mount professional productions that reach their peers, industry leaders, and musical theater fans. More than 90 Festival shows have gone on to productions on and Off-Broadway, in regional theaters in all 50 states, and in more than 24 countries worldwide. Festival alumni have received a wide array of awards including the Tony Award® and the Pulitzer Prize. In 2013, NYMF received a special Drama Desk Award in recognition of its work "creating and nurturing new musical theater, ensuring the future of this essential art form."

NYMF is the flagship program of National Music Theater Network, Inc., a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization. 2017 NYMF is sponsored by The City of New York Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, Fuzzrocket, PRG, TheaterMania, and Clear Channel Outdoor, and is supported, in part, 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.

For more information about the New York Musical Festival, please visit www.nymf.org

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