Erika Henningsen, Kristolyn Lloyd Among Initial Casting of FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS

National Alliance for Musical Theatre announces preliminary casting and additional programming for the 31st Annual FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS, which takes place on Thursday, October 24 and Friday, October 25, 2019 at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues). The Festival events will kick off on Wednesday, October 23, with the return of The 46th Minute Concert at The Green Room 42.

Festival registration for industry members is free and now open at www.namt.org/festival. The public can also receive passes to the Festival through a donation to NAMT. There is also a day-of standby line for the general public for free admission (based on availability). Tickets are available for The 46th Minute at www.namt.org/events/the-46th-minute-2019.

Casting for this 31st Annual FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS includes Gabrielle Carrubba (Broadway: Dear Evan Hansen), Tommy Crawford (NY: Only Yesterday, SeaWife), Laura Dadap (NY: VOCA PEOPLE), Marc De La Cruz (Broadway: Hamilton, If/Then), Eloise Eonnet (NY: SeaWife), Alex Grubbs (NY: SeaWife, These Seven Sicknesses), Jin Ha (Broadway: M. Butterfly; Chicago: Hamilton), Erika Henningsen (Broadway: Mean Girls), Richard Henry (Encores! Fiorello, Public's Two Gentlemen of Verona: The Musical), MaryAnn Hu (Broadway: Frozen, Sunday in the Park with George), Andrew Humann (National Tour: American Idiot), Danny Harris Kornfeld (Rent 20th Anniversary Tour), Kristolyn Lloyd (Broadway: Dear Evan Hansen; Public's Hamilton), Jared Loftin (NY: Gigantic), Alyse Alan Louis (Broadway: Amélie, A New Musical, Disaster), Melody Madarasz (NY: Mad Libs Live; Regional: Disney's Little Mermaid), Wade McCollum (Broadway: Wicked), Elexis Morton (Regional: Little Shop of Horrors), Samantha Rhea Parrish (Feinstein's/54 Below: Teeth), Jason Pintar (NY: Stage Fright), Joel Rooks (Broadway: Larry David's Fish in the Dark), Ben Roseberry (1st National Tour: A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder), Sushma Saha (NY: Interstate), Amanda Savan (Ars Nova's Wind-Up Girl), Johnny Shea (Regional: Deathless), Erica Spyres (Broadway: Carousel; National Tour: Once), Madeline Trumble (National Tour: The King and I; NY: Fifty Million Frenchmen), Will Turner (NY: SeaWife, After the Gold Rush), Tony Vo (NY: SeaWife; Regional: King of the Yees), Cathryn Wake (Broadway: Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812), Douglas Waterbury-Tieman (Roundabout's The Robber Bridegroom), Nick Wyman (Broadway: Network, Catch Me If You Can) and Sumi Yu (Encores! Call Me Madam). The casting director for the Festival is Michael Cassara, CSA.

NAMT's SONGWRITERS SHOWCASE features innovative music from four new musicals currently in development. This year's SONGWRITERS SHOWCASE will include:

• Beau by Douglas Lyons & Ethan D. Pakchar
• Distant Thunder by Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Shaun Taylor-Corbett & Chris Wiseman
• Next by Andrea Daly & Dominic Fallacaro
• The Remarkable Journey Of Prince Chen by Daniel Green & Lezlie Wade

Featuring performances by Elliot Aguilar, Spencer Battiest, Jeb Brown (Broadway: Beautiful, The Carol King Musical), Xander Chauncy (Regional: Mamma Mia!), Ryan Duncan (Broadway: Getting' the Band Back Together, Shrek the Musical), Chava Florendo, Marlene Ginader (National Tour: Once), Angela Gomez, Olivia Griffin, Taylor Iman Jones (Broadway: Head Over Heels), Shayna Jackson, April Ortiz (Broadway: In The Heights), Matt Rodin, Max Sangerman (Off Broadway: Smokey Joe's Café), Jeremy Sevelovitz, Shaun Taylor-Corbett (Broadway: In The Heights), Frank Zagottis andChelsea Zeno (National Tour: Priscilla Queen of the Desert) and more to be announced

The MIDDAY CABARETS give Festival attendees the chance to listen to their music in the relaxed setting of the Green Room Lounge. During the lunch break on both days, there will be two 20-minute Midday Cabarets, each featuring a different songwriting team. This year's Midday Cabaret writers include Cheeyang Ng, Britta Johnson, Will Van Dyke & Jeff Talbott, and Aya Aziz. The cabarets will feature performances by Cheeyang Ng, Zach Piser (Broadway: Dear Evan Hansen, Wicked), Kuhoo Verma (NY: Octet), Shuyan Yang, Britta Johnson, Anika Johnson, Mamie Parris (Broadway: School of Rock, Cats), Sophie Hearn (Regional: Life After), Aya Aziz (NY: Eh Dah? Questions for My Father) and more to be announced.

The Festival has introduced musical theatre producers to 260 musicals and 491 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, It Shoulda Been You, Lempicka, Ordinary Days, Striking 12 and Thoroughly Modern Millie, among many others.

Now in its 31st year, the National Alliance for Musical Theatre's FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS attracts theatre producers from around the world for this industry-only event to discover eight new musicals presented in 45-minute concert presentations over two days. All production costs are underwritten by NAMT, at no cost to the writing teams. As a non-profit organization, NAMT funds the Festival entirely through donations, sponsorships and contributions.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos