Birkhead, Brown, Goodman & Zambello Announced as NYMF '09 Next Link Jurors

Jurors for The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) for the 2009 Next Link Project will include lyricist Susan Birkenhead, composer and lyricist Jason Robert Brown, producer Robyn Goodman, and director Francesca Zambello. The New York Musical Theater Festival is currently accepting open submissions for its Next Link Project for the sixth annual festival taking place September 28 - October 18, 2009.

Twelve of the Festival's full production slots are reserved for participants in The Next Link Project, NYMF's primary writer service program. The Next Link Project empowers emerging musical theatre writing teams as both artists and entrepreneurs by providing the training and relationships needed to help them move their musicals from mere readings to fully-realized productions and to advance their careers by maximizing the exposure they receive in the Festival.

A meet and greet to answer any questions from those interested in applying will be held Wednesday, January 28, 6-8pm at the Irish Rogue (356 West 44th Street, between 8th and 9th Ave). NYMF staff members will be on hand to answer questions about the Next Link Project submissions process and chat about other ways to get involved with the Festival.

Any work that has not been produced professionally in New York City may be submitted by authors with or without industry representation, but scripts should be ready for developmental production and the widespread exposure NYMF provides. All entries undergo double-blind evaluations by several members of NYMF's reading team, with finalists referred to a grand jury of celebrated industry professionals. Previous jury members have included such Tony winning talents as Victoria Clark, Raul Esparza, Robyn Goodman, Margo Lion, Robert Lopez & Jeff Marx, Kathleen Marshall, Kevin McCollum, Tom Meehan, Phylicia Rashad and BD Wong.

Authors submitting to The Next Link Project will need to provide a demo recording of their songs, a detailed synopsis of their show, a 15-page script sample (15 consecutive pages representing the heart of the show and including lyrics for at least one of the songs), a complete script, and, if applicable, proof of rights to adapt underlying material.

The Next Link Project will accept submissions through March 2, 2009, with a reduced application fee for any submissions received by the February 2 early bird deadline. For important additional information, including details about what it takes to produce your show in NYMF (and what you get in return), please visit www.nymf.org.

2009 Jury Bios

Susan Birkenhead received a Tony Nomination, a Grammy nomination, and a Drama Desk Award for her lyrics for Jelly's Last Jam. She was nominated for a Drama Desk for Triumph of Love. She was one of the writers nominated for a Tony award for Working, and won an Outer Critics Circle award for What About Luv? She wrote additional lyrics for High Society, with a book by Arthur Kopit and a score by Cole Porter, and was one of the contributors to A My Name Is Alice. She recently completed Minsky's with Charles Strouse, Bob Martin and Casey Nicholaw which will open at the Ahmanson on February 5th. She is currently working on The Flamingo Kid with Henry Krieger, James Magruder and Michael Mayer, and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, with Mr. Krieger and Daniel Goldfarb.

Jason Robert Brown wrote the music and lyrics for 13, The Last Five Years, Parade (for which he won the Tony), and Songs for a New World, and contributed songs to Urban Cowboy the Musical. Recordings include "Wearing Someone Else's Clothes" and Lauren Kennedy's "Songs of Jason Robert Brown". Upcoming shows include Honeymoon In Vegas (with Andrew Bergman), The Trumpet of the Swan (with Marsha Norman), and "Tickety-Tock", a picture book created with Mary GrandPré. jasonrobertbrown.com

Robyn Goodman produced Avenue Q, which received the Tony Award for Best Musical of 2004 and In The Heights, winner of the Tony Award for Best Musical of 2008. Other Broadway credits include Metamophoses (Drama Desk Award), A Class Act (Tony nomination), Steel Magnolias, Barefoot in the Park, High Fidelity, and the upcoming revival of West Side Story. Off-Broadway, she produced Bat Boy, tick, tick Boom, Our Lady of 121st Street, Red Light Winter and the award winning Altar Boyz. She was Co-founder and Artistic Director of the Second Stage Theatre for 13 years, Supervising Producer of ABC's "One Life To Live" for 4 years and is currently the Artistic Consultant to The Roundabout Theatre Company. She is also a producer of the Counts Media/Blue Man Group multimedia tour bus/vaudeville, which will launch in the Spring of ‘09.

Innovative director Francesca Zambello has staged productions at major theaters and opera houses around the world. She has received the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres award from the French government and the Medal for Service to Culture award from the Russian Federation, in addition to numerous other international awards. She directed the world premiere of the opera An American Tragedy and Cyrano de Bergerac for the Metropolitan Opera. Other works she has directed include Porgy and Bess and Die Walküre for the Washington Opera; La Bohème at the Royal Albert Hall and Fiery Angel for the Bolshoi. Currently running shows include The Little Mermaid for Disney on Broadway; the musical of The Little House on the Prairie at the Guthrie Theater; Rebecca, for Vienna's Raimund Theater; and Aladdin in Disneyland. Other recent theater projects have included Showboat in London at the Royal Albert Hall; Tibet Through the Red Box, a new play by David Henry Hwang for the Seattle Children's Theatre and The Little Prince with Oscar-winning composer Rachel Portman.