Kara Lindsay, Andy Karl & More Join NAMT's 25th Annual Festival of New Musicals

The National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) announced additional casting and creatives for the 25th Annual Festival of New Musicals on Thursday, October 17 and Friday, October 18 at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street).

Tony Award nominee Michael Berresse ([title of show]) is directing Analog and Vinyl, a quirky romantic comedy set in a vintage record shop with book, music & lyrics by Paul Gordon, and featuring Tony Award winner Harriet Harris (Cinderella) and Sarah Stiles. Jodie Moore is music director.

Andy Karl (Rocky), Tony Award nominee Douglas Sills (The Addams Family), Kara Lindsay (Newsies), AureLia Williams (Paper Mill's Once on This Island), Alice Lee (Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark) and Carlos L. Encinias (Scandalous) join Tony nominees Marc Kudisch and Christopher Sieber along with Tyler Maynard and Todd Alan Johnson in The Astonishing Return of...The Protagonists!, an action-packed superhero comedy with book & lyrics by Kevin Del Aguila, music by Michael Shaieb; Lynne Shankel is music director. Tony winner Christopher Gattelli directs.

Ruthie Ann Miles (Here Lies Love), KLea Blackhurst (Goodspeed's Hello, Dolly!), Lenny Wolpe (The Drowsy Chaperone), Spencer Moses (Goodspeed's Hello, Dolly!), Nick Choksi (Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812), Colin Hanlon (Submissions Only), Allison Case (Hands on A Hard Body), and Becca Ayers(The Addams Family) join Tony Award nominees Stephanie D'Abruzzo and Barbara Walsh, along with Jason SweetTooth Williams and Jason Michael Snowin Come From Away, a musical about the thousands of people diverted to Gander, Newfoundland on 9/11, which features book, music & lyrics by David Hein andIrene Sankoff. Brian Hill directs, with Dan Pardo as music director.

William Ryall (Chaplin) and Andi Alhadeff join Will Connolly, Randy Redd, Lauren Marcus, Katrina Lenk, Emily Walton, Derek Hasenstab and Erik Heilman in Eastland a musical about the S.S. Eastland boating disaster in Chicago, 1915, which features book & lyrics by Andrew White and music by Andre Pluess and Ben Sussman. Acclaimed director Amanda Dehnert, who directed the Lookingglass Theatre production in Chicago, returns. Rick Fox is music director.

Saycon Sengbloh (Motown), Krystal Joy Brown (Big Fish), Rebecca E. Covington (Motown), Nicole Lewis (Hair), John Eric Parker (The Book of Mormon),Danielle K. Thomas (Avenue Q.), Donald Weber (Motown) and Jarran Muse (Motown) join Tommar Wilson in My Heart is the Drum, a coming-of-age musical of a young girl fleeing her African village, with book by Jennie Redling, concept & music by Phillip Palmer and lyrics by Stacey Luftig. Schele Williams directs. Joseph Church is music director.

Heidi Blickenstaff ([title of show]), Tony Award nominee Douglas Sills (The Addams Family), Joshua Colley (Newsies), and Mavis Simpson-Ernst (Evita) join Robert Creighton, Kelly McCormick and Sadie Sink in The Sandman - a little nightmare musical, based on the disturbed scribblings of E.T.A. Hoffmann, featuring book, music & lyrics by Richard Oberacker & Robert Taylor. Tony nominee Sam Buntrock directs. Valerie Gebert is music director.

Ali Mauzey (Wicked), Clarke Thorell (Annie), Adam Heller (Elf), Amber Iman (Soul Doctor), Sydney James Harcourt (The Lion King), and Michael McCorry Rose (Wicked) join Farah Alvin, Jenny Powers, Gwen Hollander, Drama Desk nominee Steve Rosen and Susan Mosher in The Single Girls Guide, which sets Jane Austen's Emma in 1964 Manhattan and features music & lyrics by Tommy Newman, book by Gordon Greenberg, and directed by Dallas Theater Center Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty.

Giuseppe Bausilio (Billy Elliott), Anthony Lee Medina (Spring Awakening), Fajer Al-Kaisi, Sorab Wadia (Nymph Errant), and Jonathan Raviv (My Name is Asher Lev) are featured in The Boy Who Danced on Air, about an Afghanistan dancing ritual involving young boys, with book & lyrics by Charlie Sohne and music by Tim Rosser. Saheem Ali directs with music direction by Matt Castle.

Tony nominee Christopher Sieber, Ann Harada, George Salazar, Ciara Renée and David Larsen complete the cast of The Three Little Pigs, a musical from the team who wrote HONK! and new songs to Mary Poppins - George Stiles (music), Anthony Drewe (book & lyrics). Ryan Fielding Garrett is music director and Victoria Bussert directs.

Additional casting will be announced at a later date.

For the tenth consecutive year, NAMT's Festival of New Musicals will be presented at the premiere Off Broadway facility New World Stages, located at 340 West 50th Street. A limited number of free seats will be available to the public on a standby basis. Registration for Industry members is free and now open atwww.namt.org/festival.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride