Cast Announced for VOTE FOR ME at NYMF

The New York Musical Theater Festival in association with Really Obvious Productions and PACE New Musicals presents the world premiere of VOTE FOR ME: A Musical Debate, October 11 - 17 at Urban Stages in New York City.

The show stars Catherine Cox (Footloose; Oh Coward! - Tony Award Nom; Baby - Drama Desk Award; Shakespeare's Cabaret; One Night Stand; Barnum; Oklahoma!; Whoopee!; Music Is) and Ralph Byers (The Music Man; Big River; Goodbye Fidel; Herzl) as the presidential candidates.  Joining them in the cast are: Keith Buterbaugh (Company; The Phantom of the Opera); Kristy Cates (Wicked), Cheryl Freeman (The Civil War - Drama Desk Award Nom; Play On; The Who's Tommy); and Jay Russell (Our Town - Barrow Street; The Play What I WroteVOTE FOR ME: A Musical Debate is directed by Amy Rogers, director of the BFA Musical Theatre Program at Pace University, and features music direction by Zak Sandler, choreography by Jen Littlefield, casting by Matthew Maisto, lighting by Graham Kindred, and scenic design by Jeff Perri.  Production Stage Manager is Kristina Vnook.

VOTE FOR ME: A Musical Debate is a musicalized Presidential debate where you pick the winner.  Watch the candidates dance and sing their way through the three-ring circus of American politics, and then cast your vote to help determine the outcome of the show--and the future of America!  The musical was penned by Drew Fornarola and Scott Elmegreen, winners of a NYMF Award for Excellence for their 2008 show COLLEGE The Musical, and was developed at Aged in Wood Productions and the BMI Workshop.  Both authors are recent Princeton graduates, and their plays and musicals have been performed throughout New York City and across the country.  For more information please visit www.drewfornarola.com and www.scottelmegreen.com .

VOTE FOR ME: A Musical Debate will be performed at Urban Stages (259 W 30^th Street) and will play the following performance schedule: Monday, Oct 11^th (8pm); Tuesday, Oct 12^th (1:00pm); Thursday, Oct 14^th  (8pm); Friday, Oct 15^th (4:30pm); Saturday, Oct 16^th (4:30pm and 8pm); Sunday, Oct 17^th (1:00pm).  Tickets can be purchased at www.nymf.org.  More information about the show is available at www.debatemusical.com or by emailing AMusicalDebate@gmail.com. 

Now in its seventh year, the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) is the largest annual musical theatre event in America and is widely regarded as the essential source for new material and talent discovery. NYMF provides a launching pad for the next generation of musicals and their creators to ensure the continued vitality of one of America's greatest art forms. Hailed as the "Sundance of Musical Theatre," NYMF discovers, nurtures, and promotes promising musical theatre artists and producers at all stages of development, and inspires a diverse audience through vibrant, accessible, powerful new work.

NYMF is the flagship program of National Music Theater Network, Inc., a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization. NYMF 2010 is presented in association with BroadwayWorld.com, Production Resource Group, TheaterMania.com, and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and is supported by AP-Red.com, Back Stage, Barnes and Noble, BroadwayBox.com, BroadwayInsider.com, Broadway.TV, Clear Channel Spectacolor, DFD-TV, King Displays, NASDAQ OMX, New World Stages, Next Magazine, PMD Promotions, The Port Authority of NY & NJ, Queerty.com, Season of Savings, Tekserve, Terra Fossil, Thomson Reuters, TheMenEvent.com, Times Square Squared, and Yelp. Major supporters include The ASCAP Foundation, BMI Foundation, Inc., The Broadway League, The BWF Foundation, The Nathan Cummings Foundation with the support and encouragement of Jamie Ariel Phinney, The Charlie & Jane Fink Charitable Fund, Cameron Mackintosh Foundation, The Jerome Robbins Foundation, The Rodgers & Hammerstein Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Spiritus Gladius Foundation, and The Theater League.  NYMF is supported, 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 and from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.

NYMF Memberships, which combine charitable contributions with valuable, flexible ticket packages and perks like early seating, and tickets to individual events are currently available for purchase at (212) 352-3101 or www.nymf.org. Single tickets for Festival events will go on sale September 1.