Amber Iman, Zachary Noah Piser, Vincent Rodriguez III and More Announced for 32nd Annual FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS

National Alliance for Musical Theatre has announced this year's directors, musical directors and casting for their 32nd Annual FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS, on Thursday, November 19 and Friday, November 20, 2020. Due to the pandemic, the Festival will be reimagined and shared online through Broadway On Demand. The NAMT Fall events will kick off on Tuesday, November 17, with the Fall Conference, followed by the Festival of New Musicals on November 19 & 20.

Registration for industry members is free and is open at www.namt.org/festival. The public can also receive passes to the Festival through a donation to NAMT, which will be available at a later date through Broadway on Demand.

This year's NAMT Festival of New Musicals features an impressive line-up of directors and musical directors including: Nicole Brooks (Film: The Orisha Suite, A Linc In Time), Marc Bruni (Broadway: Beautiful The Carole King Musical), Desdemona Chiang (Regional: Hold These Truths), Steven Cuevas (Broadway: Once On This Island), Melanie DeMore (Music: Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir), Andrea Grody (Broadway: The Band's Visit), James Nathan Hopkins (Broadway: Bandstand), Brandon Ivie (Regional: A Christmas Story, The Musical), Jamil Jude (Regional: Skeleton Crew), Raja Feather Kelly (NY: UGLY (Black Queer Zoo)), Jonathan McCrory (NY: Dead and Breathing), Noam Shapiro (Off-Broadway: On This Side of the World), Annie Tippe (Off-Broadway: Octet), Alex Thrailkill (NY: The Living Record Collection), Steven Tran (NY: Crazy Fierce Asians), P. Jason Yarcho (Broadway: Falsettos) and Meg Zervoulis (Broadway: The Prom).

This year's performers include Austin Dean Ashford (International: (I)sland T(rap)), Ryan Nicole Austin (Off-Broadway: #BARS), Cheo Bourne (NY: Church of Holy Glory), Karen Burthwright (Broadway: Jesus Christ Superstar), Nicole Brooks (Canada: Obeah Opera)), Jeb Brown (Broadway: Beautiful The Carole King Musical), Gerard Canonico (Broadway: Be More Chill), Krystle Chance (North American Tour: We Will Rock You), Ya Han Chang (Off-Broadway: Sayonara), John Clay III (Broadway: Choir Boy), Carrie Compere (Broadway: The Color Purple), Marc delaCruz (Broadway: Hamilton), Amanda DeFrietas (Broadway: Hairspray), Saphire Demitro (Canada: Into the Woods), Natascia Diaz (Broadway: Man of La Mancha), Ashley Pérez Flanagan (Broadway: Freestyle Love Supreme), Deidrey Francois (Music: Spirit in Bloom), Nickeshia Garrick (Dance: No Woman's Land), Kirsten Delohr Helland (Regional: The Sound of Music), Arinea Hermans (Canada: The Adventures of Pinocchio), Rodney Hicks (Broadway: Come from Away), Justin Huertas (Regional: Howl's Moving Castle), Amber Iman (Broadway: Shuffle Along), Jawan M. Jackson (Broadway: Ain't Too Proud), Gizel Jiménez (Broadway: Wicked), Raymond J. Lee (Broadway: Groundhog Day), Simon Longnight (National Tour: Hamilton), Jaygee Macapugay (Broadway: School of Rock), Aline Mayagoitia (Off-Broadway: Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation), Grace McLean (Broadway: Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet Of 1812), Cheeyang Ng (Music: Vocalosity), Tu Nokwe (TV: Ifalahke), Diane Phelan (Broadway: The King and I), Dana Jean Phoenix (Music: Pixeldust), Zachary Noah Piser (Broadway: Dear Evan Hansen), Michelle Polak (Canada: Avaricious), Michael Protacio (Regional: West Side Story), Tanner Quirk (National Tour: Matilda), Tringa Rexhepi (Canada: Ring of Fire), Vincent Rodriguez III (TV: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), Bronwyn Tarboton (Broadway: Frozen), Ryan Gregory Thurman (NY: Disney's The Little Mermaid), Daryl Tofa (Broadway: Mean Girls), Kay Trinidad (Broadway: Hadestown), William A. Williams (Regional: Of Mice and Men), Joy Nicole Woods (Off-Broadway: Little Shop of Horrors), Jessica Tyler Wright (Broadway: War Horse), Shuyan Yang (Off-Broadway: Comfort Women) and Jessy Yates (TV: Speechless). The casting director for the Festival is Michael Cassara, CSA.

NAMT has also announced this year's class of observers for the Festival Observership for Early-Career Directors. This program provides professional development and networking opportunities to early-career directors, while simultaneously expanding diversity in the musical theatre pipeline by providing these opportunities for underrepresented communities. This year, the program was open to applications from early-career directors who also identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). This year's observers are Karishma Bhagani, J Travis Cooper, Miranda J. Cornell, Tamanya Garza, Zhiyi Vanna Han, Emmanuel Kikoni, Lamar Perry and Leah Vicencio.

Now in its 32nd year, the National Alliance for Musical Theatre's FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS attracts theatre producers from around the world to discover eight new musicals over two days. Production costs are underwritten by NAMT. As a non-profit organization, NAMT funds the Festival entirely through donations and sponsorships.

The Festival has introduced musical theatre producers to 268 musicals and 512 writers from around the world. As a direct result of the FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS, more than 85% of the musicals presented have gone on to subsequent readings, workshops, productions, tours, been licensed, and/or recorded on cast albums. Some past Festival shows include The Ballad of Klook and Vinette, Benny & Joon, Come From Away, Darling Grenadine, The Drowsy Chaperone, Gun & Powder, Interstate, It Shoulda Been You, Lempicka, Ordinary Days, Striking 12 and Thoroughly Modern Millie, among many others.

This year, a committee of 20 theatre professionals selected eight new musicals out of a record-breaking 349 submissions. The musicals they chose for the 32nd Annual Festival are:

Co-Founders (Book & Lyrics by Beau Lewis, Adesha Adefela & Ryan Nicole; Music by Jodie Ellis, Brian Watters & Budo), Cowboy Bob (Co-Created by Molly Beach Murphy, Jeanna Phillips & Annie Tippe; Music & Lyrics by Phillips, Book & Additional Lyrics by Murphy, Additional Music by Alex Thrailkill), The Consoling Mechanism (Book, Music & Lyrics by Josh Franklin), Eastbound (Book & Music by Cheeyang Ng, Book & Lyrics by Khiyon Hursey), Hart Island (Book & Lyrics by Michelle Elliott, Music & Lyrics by Danny Haengil Larsen), Lizard Boy (Book, Music & Lyrics by Justin Huertas), Obeah Opera (Book, Music & Lyrics by Nicole Brooks) and On This Side of the World (Music and Lyrics by Paulo K Tiról, developed with Noam Shapiro).

Co-Founders

Book & Lyrics by Beau Lewis, Adesha Adefela & Ryan Nicole; Music by Jodie Ellis, Brian Watters & Budo

Director: Jamil Jude (Regional: Skeleton Crew)

Musical Director: Andrea Grody (Broadway: The Band's Visit)

Cast: Austin Dean Ashford (International: (I)sland T(rap)), Ryan Nicole Austin (NY: #BARS), Jeb Brown (Broadway: Beautiful the Carole King Musical), Gerard Canonico (Broadway: Be More Chill), Amber Iman (Broadway: Shuffle Along)

Co-Founders is the story of two unlikely partners chasing impossible entrepreneurial dreams. Esata, a black woman from Oakland, and Conway, a small town college dropout, take on the most competitive startup accelerator in Silicon Valley-where the privileged make a killing while the people across the bridge grind to survive.

Beau Lewis is an Emmy-winning writer, producer, viral media expert and entrepreneur from Seattle. Lewis' music videos have over 250-million views online and his work has been featured in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Fortune and on Good Morning America. He is the CEO of Rhyme Combinator, the media company dedicated to championing positive entrepreneurial culture. He co-founded and sits on the board of GoldieBlox, the award-winning children's multimedia company challenging gender stereotypes with the world's first girl engineer character. Lewis graduated from Stanford with a BS in Engineering and a focus in international relations from Oxford.

Ryan Nicole Austin is a Grammy-nominated polymath who finds her most fulfilling experiences at the intersection of art and activism. Her California State Assembly-recognized career in music and media empowers community. Ryan is featured on TEDx San Francisco, ESPN's NBA at Christmas with Daveed Diggs, and has performed for Google, Sony, LinkedIn, Apple and Barack Obama. Ryan has led workshops, directed and been the playwright-in-residence at New York's Public Theater (BARS workshop), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, California Shakespeare Theater and American Conservatory Theater. Ryan holds a BA in Sociology and Political Science from San Diego State University.

Adesha Adefela started acting in musical theater at age five, starring alongside her mother Deltrina Johnson, a Beach Blanket Babylon alum. She continued starring in musicals produced by community theaters in her hometown, Oakland, CA. As a teen, she was to sign with Atlantic records, but in an effort to uphold her personal values, she became an independent artist. That decision led to nominations, sold-out shows in the San Francisco Bay Area, co-starring in a reality TV show produced by Warner Brothers, becoming a Billboard-charted artist, and sharing the stage with famous acts Jazmine Sullivan, Carl Thomas, Ledisi, Goapele and more.

Cowboy Bob

Co-Created by Molly Beach Murphy, Jeanna Phillips & Annie Tippe; Music & Lyrics by Phillips; Book & Additional Lyrics by Murphy; Additional Music by Alex Thrailkill

Directed by Annie Tippe (Off-Broadway: Octet)

Music Directed by Alex Thrailkill (NYC: The Living Record Collection)

Cast: Grace McLean (Broadway: Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet Of 1812),

Ashley Pérez Flanagan (Broadway: Freestyle Love Supreme)

You wouldn't look twice at Peggy Jo. She was a good daughter, always tipped well at restaurants, but disguised as "Cowboy Bob" in a fake beard and a ten-gallon hat, she was the slickest bank robber Texas has ever known. Making her get-away in a sky blue 1975 Pontiac Grand Prix, she was a modern-day bandit stealing thousands and evading detection for more than a decade. With a score that's equal parts Riot Grrrl rage and Texas two-step twang, this tale of a small-town legend spurs a discontented chain-restaurant waitress to buck routine, take life by the reins and let it ride.

Molly Beach Murphy's plays include The Air Got Thick; IKE; Big Ben in the Red Dirt Desert. With core collaborators Annie Tippe and Jeanna Phillips, Molly co-creates experimental musicals such as Cowboy Bob, with two new pieces in early development. Molly's work has been developed with New York Theatre Workshop, New York Stage & Film, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Ars Nova, The Alley Theatre, Page 73, The Civilians' R&D Group, The Orchard Project, Ucross Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers' Fund, Yale Institute for Music Theatre, Village Theatre Festival of New Musicals, Pipeline Theatre Company. Page 73 Playwriting Fellowship Semi-finalist; Drama League Beatrice Terry Resident; New Georges Affiliated Artist. Published works in Vol. 1 Brooklyn, The Hairpin, Santa Ana River Review, and American Theatre Magazine. www.mollybeachmurphy.com

Jeanna Phillips makes and performs music and theatre for folks of all ages. Music for theatre: Cowboy Bob, with Molly Beach Murphy and Annie Tippe (Village Theatre, New York Stage and Film, Ars Nova, NYTW Adelphi Residency, Polyphone Festival); what's this called, this spirit? with Alex Thrailkill (Ars Nova, Dixon Place); Cooking to me is Poetry with New Saloon (Galapagos Art Space); POE (The Morgan Library). She was selected as a 2019/2020 New Victory Labworks artist and was a member of Fresh Ground Pepper's 2019/2020 Playground PlayGroup. Her clown-cabaret alter ego Andréa Lloyd Webber has wreaked havoc at Caveat, Ars Nova, La MaMa, Dixon Place, Littlefield, and Liberty Hall at the ACE Hotel. Alumna: The Civilians R&D Group, Yale Institute of Music Theatre. BFA NYU Experimental Theatre Wing. jeannaphillips.com

Annie Tippe is a director and creator of new work, film and music theatre. Recent: Premiere of Dave Malloy's Octet at the Signature Theatre (Lortel Award for Best Direction, SDC Callaway Award Finalist) and Ghost Quartet (Premiere, The Bushwick Starr, etc...), Leslye Headland's Cult of Love (Premiere, IAMA Theatre Company), Bess Wohl's Continuity (Goodman Theatre), Molly Beach Murphy + Jeanna Phillips' Cowboy Bob (Village Theatre; New York Stage and Film), James + Jerome's INK (w. Rachel Chavkin, Under the Radar/Met Museum) and The Conversationalists (Bushwick Starr). Former Ars Nova Director-in-Residence, Drama League Directing Fellow, Williamstown Directing Corps. www.annietippe.com

The Consoling Mechanism

Book, Music & Lyrics by Josh Franklin

Director: Marc Bruni (Broadway: Beautiful The Carole King Musical)

Musical Director: Meg Zervoulis (Broadway: The Prom)

Cast: John Clay III (Broadway: Choir Boy), Raymond J. Lee (Broadway: Groundhog Day), Tanner Quirk (National Tour: Matilda), Bronwyn Tarboton (Broadway: Frozen), Daryl Tofa (Broadway: Mean Girls), Joy Nicole Woods (Off-Broadway: Little Shop of Horrors), Jessy Yates (TV: Speechless)

Can our deepening commitment to technology also strengthen the bonds of human connection? In a world increasingly intertwined with artificial intelligence and virtual reality, The Consoling Mechanism's dynamic pop score, and the poignant-yet-humorous book pulls back the curtain on a family struggling to recover from unexpected loss.

Josh Franklin is an accomplished and well-rounded artist. He is the composer/lyricist for Royal Blood, a hip-hop Vampire musical comedy; Jack: A Moral Musical Tale, and is the sole writer of The Consoling Mechanism, a story about a girl struggling with her new reality as a person with disabilities. His acting credits include: Broadway: The Prom, Anything Goes, Ghost, Legally Blonde and Grease; Off Broadway: Cyrano with Peter Dinklage. Tours: Bob Gaudio (Jersey Boys), Danny Zuko (Grease), Chad (All Shook Up) and Billy Crocker (Anything Goes), which garnered him a Helen Hayes Award nomination. Albums: Josh Franklin and Spent.

Eastbound

Book & Music by Cheeyang Ng; Book & Lyrics by Khiyon Hursey

Director: Desdemona Chiang (Regional: Hold These Truths)

Musical Director: James Nathan Hopkins (Broadway: Bandstand)

Cast: Ya Han Chang (Off-Broadway: Sayonara), Cheeyang Ng (Music: Vocalosity), Zachary Noah Piser (Broadway: Dear Evan Hansen), Jessica Tyler Wright (Broadway: War Horse), Shuyan Yang (Off-Broadway: Comfort Women)

Eastbound is a new bilingual musical about the unexpected meeting of two brothers from opposite sides of the world, their quests for survival, and the power of choice. The musical is told through the soundscape of a contemporary score amalgamated with traditional Chinese folk music and Mandopop.

Born and raised in Singapore, Cheeyang Ng is an award-winning singer-songwriter who writes at the intersection of queer, Asian and immigrant stories. They have performed around the world and are the first Singaporean to headline a concert at Joe's Pub and Millennium Stage at Kennedy Center. Creator of The Lunar Collective and podcast East Side Story, they have won multiple vocal awards across Asia. Other works in development include MĀYĀ (Live & In Color, Hypokrit) with Eric Sorrels. Select credits: Eric H Weinberger Librettist Award, Eugene O'Neill National Musical Theater Conference Finalist, ASCAP Foundation Lucille & Jack Yellen Award. www.cheeyang.com. @cheeyangmusic

Khiyon Hursey is a writer and composer based in Los Angeles and New York. He is the recipient of the ASCAP Foundation's Irving Burgie Scholarship, Bart Howard Songwriting Scholarship, and the Lucille and Jack Yellen award, a 2016 NAMT Writers Residency Grant, a 2016-2017 Dramatists Guild Musical Theater Fellowship, 2017 Space on Ryder Farm Residency, 2018 Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project residency, 2019 ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop with Stephen Schwartz, 2019 Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, the 2020 Johnny Mercer Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals and the 2020 Stephen Schwartz Award.

Hart Island

Book & Lyrics by Michelle Elliott; Music & Lyrics by Danny Haengil Larsen

Director: Raja Feather Kelly (NY: UGLY (Black Queer Zoo))

Musical Director: Jason Yarcho (Broadway: Falsettos)

Cast: Cheo Bourne (NY: Church of Holy Glory), Carrie Compere (Broadway: The Color Purple), Natascia Diaz (Broadway: Man of La Mancha), Rodney Hicks (Broadway: Come from Away), Jawan M. Jackson (Broadway: Ain't Too Proud), Gizel Jiménez (Broadway: Wicked), Simon Longnight (National Tour: Hamilton), Aline Mayagoitia (Off-Broadway: Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation), Ryan Gregory Thurman (NY: Disney's The Little Mermaid)

Hart Island is an inspiring tale of an immigrant woman fighting for her child and the unexpected compassion of a disillusioned inmate who is the only person who can help her. This hauntingly beautiful musical observes two people on the edge of society as they change each other's lives forever.

Michelle Elliott has written seven musicals with collaborator, Danny Haengil Larsen, including Cloaked, for which she was the recipient of the Kleban Prize for Most Promising Librettist. Michelle and Danny also received a Jonathan Larson Award for Cloaked, as well as a Richard Rodgers Development Award for their first musical, The Yellow Wood, which was also featured in NAMT's 2009 Festival of New Musicals. Michelle is a graduate of NYU's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. www.elliottlarsenmusicals.com. Michelle and Danny are currently working on a new musical, Country Radio, with Emily Saliers, one of the Indigo Girls.

Danny Haengil Larsen is a composer, lyricist, librettist, and orchestrator. His musicals, co-written with Michelle Elliott, include Hart Island, Maiden Voyage, Cloaked, The Yellow Wood, and several musicals for young audiences. Awards include The Jonathan Larson Award, the Richard Rodgers Award, NYMF Best Music Award, the Daryl Roth Award, and the Kleban Prize. Their musical web series The Hinterlands was nominated for 4 IAWTV awards. Danny is currently working on a new semi-autobiographical show, The Pain in My Gay-Mormon, Half-Korean Ass. His orchestrations have been professionally produced. MFA from The Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at NYU. www.elliottlarsenmusicals.com

Lizard Boy

Book, Music & Lyrics by Justin Huertas

Director: Brandon Ivie (Regional: A Christmas Story, The Musical)

Music Director: Steven Tran (NYC: Crazy Fierce Asians)

Cast: Kirsten Delohr Helland (Regional: The Sound of Music), Justin Huertas (Regional: Howl's Moving Castle), William A. Williams (Regional: Of Mice and Men)

Trevor feels like a freak-which is not helped by the green lizard skin he grew after a bizarre childhood accident. When one fateful night sets him on a journey of mythic proportions, Trevor must decide if he'll become the hero of his own story in this thrillingly original musical.

Justin Huertas is an award-winning playwright, composer-lyricist and actor. His first original musical Lizard Boy world-premiered at Seattle Rep, toured to San Diego's Diversionary Theatre, and had two industry readings in NYC. Justin then wrote The Last World Octopus Wrestling Champion (additional music by Steven Tran) for ArtsWest Playhouse & Gallery and Lydia & the Troll (co-created by Ameenah Kaplan) for Seattle Rep. He composed music and lyrics for The Lamplighter (co-authored by Sara Porkalob and Kirsten "Kiki" deLohr Helland) and for Book-It Repertory Theatre's adaptation of Howl's Moving Castle. Justin is currently under commission at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Obeah Opera

Book, Music & Lyrics by Nicole Brooks

Co-Directors: Nicole Brooks, Jonathan McCrory (NY: Dead and Breathing)

Music Director: Melanie DeMore (Grammy nominated Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir)

Cast: Karen Burthwright (Broadway: Jesus Christ Superstar), Nicole Brooks (CanadaObeah Opera), Krystle Chance (North American Tour: We Will Rock You), Amanda DeFrietas (Broadway: Hairspray), Saphire Demitro (Canada: Into the Woods), Deidrey Francois (Music: Spirit in Bloom), Nickeshia Garrick (Dance: No Woman's Land), Arinea Hermans (Canada: The Adventures of Pinocchio), Tu Nokwe (TV: Ifalahke), Dana Jean Phoenix (Music: Pixeldust), Michelle Polak (Canada: Avaricious), Tringa Rexhepi (Canada: Ring of Fire)

Obeah Opera is a hand-clapping, foot-stomping, spirit-lifting, magical musical sensation unlike any other opera before. Steeped in Black music, sung entirely a cappella by a powerful all-female cast, Obeah Opera reveals the story of the legendary Salem witch trials from the fascinating perspective of Caribbean slave women.

In the performing arts world, Nicole Brooks is beyond a triple-threat. Her extensive accomplishments include: filmmaker, director, performer, singer, playwright, composer, curator, teacher and 'art-ivist.' Brooks has devoted over 20 years producing innovative content (for the stage and screen), with a focus on narratives that illuminate the peoples of the African Diaspora. In 2012, Brooks officially added playwright to her list of talents. Her debut theatrical work Obeah Opera-which she created, wrote, composed and performs in-has received critical acclaim and several award nominations throughout its various incarnations in Toronto, Canada between 2009 and 2019.

On This Side of the World

Music & Lyrics by Paulo K Tiról

Director: Noam Shapiro (Off-Broadway: On This Side of the World)

Music Director: Steven Cuevas (Broadway: Once On This Island)

Cast: Marc delaCruz (Broadway: Hamilton), Jaygee Macapugay (Broadway: School of Rock), Diane Phelan (Broadway: The King and I), Michael Protacio (Regional: West Side Story), Vincent Rodriguez III (TV: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), Kay Trinidad (Broadway: Hadestown)

Stories of overseas workers, young lovers, and gossipy church ladies. Snapshots of undocumented immigrants, millennial princesses, and first-generation Americans. In On This Side of the World, six actors give voice to Filipino immigrants navigating old lives and new beginnings, as a one-way ticket sends them on a journey 8,000 miles from home.

Paulo K Tiról is a composer, lyricist, and book writer from Manila, Philippines. He is currently a Dramatist Guild Foundation Fellow and was an artist-in-residence at Access Theater with director Noam Shapiro. His projects include music and lyrics for On This Side of the World (NAMT Festival 2020, Prospect Theater Company's IGNITE series, Access Theater); book, music and lyrics for Called; and orchestrations for Ma-Yi Theater Co.'s Felix Starro. His work has been presented at Joe's Pub, Barrington Stage and more. Training: Berklee, NYU's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program (full-tuition scholarship), BMI. www.paulophonic.com.

Noam Shapiro is a New York-based director and the Producing Artistic Director of Three Hares. He is the SDC Foundation's 2020 Kurt Weill/Harold Prince Directing Fellow, a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab, a former MTC Directing Fellow, a Drama League First Draft Resident Artist, and a winner of OPERA-America's Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer Prize. Noam has developed work with the Drama League, Ensemble Studio Theatre, the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, Access Theater, The Lark, New Dramatists and Fresh Ground Pepper. He also has guest directed at Yale, Johns Hopkins and Columbia. BA Yale. www.noamshapiro.com