Ace Young to Join Valisia LeKae & More in SINGLE at NYMF

Executive Producer Aaron Grant has announced that American Idol Finalist Ace Young will star in the new musical SINGLE as part of the New York Musical Festival.

Ace Young leads a cast of theatre veterans including, Avenue Q's Staci Bono, Rent's Colin Hanlon, Tony and Grammy nominee Valisia LeKae and Fiddler on the Roof's Jessica Vosk. Performances will take place at the June Havoc Theatre on Friday July 29 at 8:00 PM, Wednesday August 3 at 1:00 PM, Thursday August 4 at 5:00 PM, Friday August 6 at 1:00 PM and Saturday August 6 at 5:00 PM.

"I have been approached for years to direct a show at NYMF, but I wanted to wait until it felt right," explains director Will Nunziata. "SINGLE is the most interesting, entertaining and moving piece of musical theatre I have ever seen as part of NYMF."

"I personally view this NYMF production of SINGLE as sort of a lab or workshop," Executive Producer Aaron Grant further explains. "We have the opportunity to explore and fine-tune the piece in front of an audience before we move forward with a commercial production."

Ace Young stars as Gabriel Weston, a faded pop star who hasn't written a hit single in years. With royalty payments dwindling by the day - and at the urging of his wife (Stacie Bono) - Gabriel is forced to supplement his income as a vocal coach.

Leah Levine (Jessica Vosk) is a "one-hit-wonder" who left the music industry entirely when she was just twenty years old. Now Leah is thirty-six and while she is a surprisingly successful divorce attorney, the process of shepherding women through contentious divorces has caused her to be suspicious of all the men in her life (all played by Colin Hanlon). At the behest of her best friend, Jessica (played by Tony and Grammy nominee Valisia LeKae) Leah decides to make a return to music and finds herself being coached by none other than Gabriel Weston.

Will Leah find the courage to sing again? Will Gabriel ever find the inspiration to write again? Will they draw strength from each other - and if they do - will Leah ever get over her issues with men, or will she forever remain single?

Tickets can be purchased at the NYMF website (http://www.nymf.org/single/). Professional inquiries about SINGLE can be sent to SINGLE@theatrical.ag.

The new musical SINGLE features music and lyrics by Karen Bishko with a book by Nat Bennett and Karen Bishko.

SINGLE features direction by Will Nunziata, Musical Direction by Evan Jay Newman with Choreography by Erin Thompson. Mariana Benjamin, Zach Blane, Matt Stine and David Winthrow will provide scenic, lighting, sound and costume design, respectively. Casting for this NYMF production of SINGLE is by Daryl Eisenerg, CSA of Daryl Eisenberg Casting. Adam Boncz serves as the Project Coordinator for the General Manager, Aaron Grant Theatrical.

Will Nunziata is a NYC-based director who recently conceived & directed the critically-acclaimed theatre revue Our Guy, Cy: The Songs of Cy Coleman starring four Tony Award winners who all worked with the late-great composer Cy Coleman - LiLlias White, Cady Huffman, Randy Graff, and Judy Kaye. Will graduated from Boston College with a B.A. in Theatre, and is also a professional singer & entertainer who will be headlining Carnegie Hall in December with the NY POPS alongside his twin brother, Anthony, and Broadway stars Liz Callaway & Ann Hampton Callaway. Will is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC). For more, please visit www.WillNunziata.com

Karen Bishko (Book, Music and Lyrics) worked as a portrait painter until 2005. Around this time she went through a bad break up and wrote a couple of songs expressing her pain. Gary Kemp and Jess Bailey of Spandau Ballet heard the songs and encouraged her to continue to write. Karen then recorded an album "Singles for Singles" and worked with producers such as Yoad Nevo (Jem, Golfrapp) and Steven Lironi (Jon Bon Jovi, Hanson) as well as Gary Kemp. In 2007 Karen opened for "Take That" on the "Beautiful World" tour performing at London's 18,000 capacity O2 Arena and Manchester MEN. Karen was recently commissioned to write songs for a new musical "Shadows" directed and co-created by the award winning choreographer Joey McKneely.

Nat Bennett (Book) is the co-writer, with Sam Rosen, of the feature film Stuck Between Stations as well as the forthcoming feature Trophy Husband, which he and Rosen also co-directed, and the stage play Ham Lake (Soho Playhouse 2007). He teaches writing at NYU.

Aaron Grant (Executive Producer) is an independent General Manager and Producer who has been active in the theatre for over a decade. Favorite projects include 2010's White's Lies at New World Stages (which finished a successful run in Michigan in 2013), 2014's critically acclaimed off-Broadway production of The Anthem, the national tour of Almost Heaven: Songs of Jon Denver, The Screwtape Letters, Grumpy Old Men: The Musical, Minimum Wage, Stormy Weather: The Lena Horne Musical and Elizabeth Swados' Rachel and Leah. Aaron is also the General Manager for the Ensemble for the Romantic Century. Projects in development include Brave New World: The Musical, Breaking Bobby Stone, Ghostlight: The Musical, Songbird and Who's Holiday. In 2013 Aaron opened Aaron Grant THEATRICAL prior to which he was General Manager at Kelvin Productions with the late Vincent DeMarco.

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 thirteenth 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 theatre, 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. NYMF 2016 is sponsored by The City of New York Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, Fuzzrocket, PRG, TheaterMania, and Clear Channel Spectacolor, and is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.

The NYMF PASS is a great way to experience The New York Musical Festival. With a NYMF PASS, you can get into the theater before individual ticket holders. Passes also offer the exclusive ability to book tickets before they go on sale to the public. Individual tickets are now on sale!

The 2016 New York Musical Festival will take place July 11 - August 7. For more information, please visit: www.nymf.org

SINGLE is an official selection of the 2016 New York Musical Festival.

SINGLE plays at the June Havoc THEATRE as follows: July 29 @ 8pm, August 3 @ 1pm, August 4 @ 5pm, August 5 @ 1pm and August 6 @ 5pm. Tickets are $27.50 and can be purchased online at NYMF.org or by calling (212) 352-3101. For more information, please visit NYMF.org.