Hannah Elless, Nikki M. James, Brynn O'Malley & More Set for NAMT's Festival Opener THE 46TH MINUTE Tonight

National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) kicks off the 28th Annual FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS with The 46th Minute. Hosted by Joe Iconis, The 46th Minute concert will take place at New World Stages (340 West 50 Street) tonight, October 26, 2016 at 6:30pm.

The one-hour concert is open to the public and the ticket price ranges from $27 - $32. They can be purchased by visiting namt.org/concert, Telecharge.com or by calling (212) 239- 6200.

With eight full-length musicals condensed to 45 minutes for the Festival, there are bound to be terrific songs left on the cutting room floor. The 46th Minute features these songs from the musicals in this year's Festival by Kirsten Guenther, Nolan Gasser & Mindi Dickstein; Brett Ryback; Carson Kreitzer & Matt Gould; Gordon Leary & Julia Meinwald; Alana Jacoby & Scotty Arnold; George Stiles, Anthony Drewe & Elliot Davis; Kait Kerrigan & Brian Lowdermilk; and Daniel & Patrick Lazour.

Performers currently include: Hannah Elless (Bright Star), Nikki M. James (Book of Mormon, Tony nomination), Izzy Hanson Johnston (Billy Elliot), Brynn O'Malley (Honeymoon in Vegas), Chris McCarrell (Les Miserables), Krystal Joy Brown (Big Fish, Motown The Musical), Ana Marcu (Regional: The Music Man), Sam Heldt (Regional: Hair, Next To Normal), Johnny Shea (Regional: Spring Awakening), Delaney Amatrudo, Gerard Salvador (Mamma Mia!) and more to be announced.

The 46th Minute will be directed by Kate Galvin, stage managed by E Sara Barnes and produced for NAMT by Ciera Iveson with Karin Nilo.

The National Alliance for Musical Theatre, founded in 1985, is a national service organization dedicated exclusively to musical theatre. Their mission is to advance musical theatre by nurturing the creation, development, production and presentation of new musicals, and to provide a forum for musical theatre professionals to share resources and exchange information. Their 200 members, located throughout 32 states and abroad, are some of the leading producers of musical theatre in the world and include theatres, presenting organizations, higher education programs and individual producers. Among the 236 musicals launched by NAMT's annual Festival of New Musicals are Broadway-bound Come From Away (Spring 2017), Thoroughly Modern Millie, Children of Eden, Honk!, The Drowsy Chaperone, It Shoulda Been You, Songs for a New World, I Love You Because, Striking 12, Vanities, Ordinary Days and many others, representing 448 writers.

NAMT's FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS is the cornerstone of NAMT's mission to nurture the creation, development and production of new musicals. The Festival presents eight musicals in 45-minute presentations before an audience of over 600 industry professionals. In the short run, the Festival's goal is to connect producers with writers, so that their shows can continue their development trajectory. The long-term goal is to expand the musical theatre repertoire, bringing new musical theatre to thousands of audience members around the world.

The 28th ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS is overseen by NAMT New Works Director Ciera Iveson and Festival General Manager is Lisa Dozier King.

The 2016 Festival Committee is co-chaired by Paige Price, Theatre Aspen (CO) and Robert Lee, NYU Tisch School of the Arts-Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program (NY) and NAMT Festival Alumnus Writer. Committee members include: Pamela Adams, Atlantic Theater Co. (NY); Bob Alwine, Goodspeed Musicals (CT); Carlos Armesto, Theatre C (NY); Victoria Bussert, Baldwin Wallace University (OH); Amy Corcoran, Aria Entertainment (UK); Keith Cromwell, Red Mountain Theatre Co. (AL); Ian Eisendrath, The 5th Avenue Theatre (WA); Lori Fineman, The Transport Group (NY); Kate Galvin, 11th Hour Theatre Co. (PA); Lucas McMahon, Alchemation (NY); Michael Rubinoff, Canadian Music Theatre Project at Sheridan College (ON); Alumni Writer Representative, Janice Lowe (Composer of Lil Budda, Fest '02); and chair emerita Mara Isaacs, Octopus Theatricals (NJ).

For more information on the Festival and National Alliance for Musical Theatre, visit namt.org.