Margo Seibert, Jenni Barber, Lesli Margherita, Mitchell Jarvis and More Join NAMT's 26th Annual Festival of New Musicals; Full Cast Announced!

The National Alliance For Musical Theatre (NAMT) is proud to announce final casting for the 26th Annual Festival of New Musicals. Michael Cassara Casting serves as the resident casting office for the 26th Annual Festival of New Musicals, taking place on Thursday, October 23, 2014 and Friday, October 24, 2014 at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street). Online Festival registration ends Friday, October 17.

Beautiful Poison will feature Laura Griffith (South Pacific), Allen Fitzpatrick (Memphis), and Chelsea Packard (Hands On A Hardbody). They join previously announced cast members Terence Archie (Rocky), Natalie Venetia Belcon (Avenue Q), Sarah Rose Davis (The Reckoning of Kit), Michelle Duffy (Heathers), Michael Lanning (Bonnie & Clyde), Brandon O'Neill (Aladdin), and Jesse Nager (Motown). Beautiful Poison will be directed by David Armstrong (Executive Producer and Artistic Director, The 5th Avenue Theatre), with Ian Eisendrath (A Christmas Story, Madison Square Garden) serving as musical director. Beautiful Poison features music by Brendan Milburn, lyrics by Valerie Vigoda, and a book by Duane Poole.

Cubamor will feature Adesola Osakalumi (Fela!) and Eugene Barry-Hill (Kinky Boots). They join previously announced cast members Janet Dacal (Wonderland), Doreen Montalvo (In The Heights), Javier Munoz (In The Heights), and Amirah Vann (Trouble In Mind). Cubamor will be directed by Kent Nicholson (9 Circles, Marin Theatre Company), with Jerome Korman (Music Director, National Dance Institute) serving as musical director. Cubamor features a book and lyrics by James D. Sasser and music and lyrics by Charles Vincent Burwell.

Great Wall will feature Hansel Tan (Unlock'd), Josh Dela Cruz (Aladdin), Moses Villarama (Warrior Class), Jaygee Macapugay (Here Lies Love), Jared Joseph (Holler If Ya Hear Me), and Jimmy Kieffer (Peter and the Starcatcher). They join previously announced cast members Cindy Cheung (The Civilians' The Great Immensity), Carrie Cimma (Lizzie Borden), Danielle Herbert (After Midnight), and Francis Jue (Kung Fu). Great Wall will be directed by Sarna Lapine and Tony Award winner Christopher Gattelli (Broadway's Newsies, South Pacific), with Marco Paguia (Peter and the Starcatcher) serving as musical director. Great Wall features music and lyrics by Kevin So, a book by Kevin Merritt, and creative consulting by David Henry Hwang.

How To Break will feature Kacie Sheik (HAIR), Vladimir Versailles (Through The Yellow Hour), and Jon Rua (Hands On A Hardbody). They join previously announced cast members Adam Matta and Amber Reauchean Williams. How To Break will be directed by Tamilla Woodard (La Ruta, The Working Theatre) with a book by Aaron Jafferis, lyrics by Aaron Jafferis and Rebecca Hart, and music by Rebecca Hart and Yako 440. The musical director will be Jon Spurney (Passing Strange).

Mary Marie will feature Ruth Gottschall (Mary Poppins) and Mamie Parris (Ragtime). They join previously announced cast members Kevin Earley (A Tale Of Two Cities), Colin Hanlon (Rags), and Emerson Steele (Violet). Mary Marie will be directed by Daniella Topol (When January Feels Like Summer, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Women's Project Theater) with Nathan Dame (Fly By Night) serving as musical director. Mary Marie features a book and lyrics by Chana Wise and music by Carl Johnson.

The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes will feature Jenni Barber (The Nance), Lesli Margherita (Matilda), Mitchell Jarvis (Rock of Ages) and Joel Perez (In The Heights). They join previously announced cast members Andi Alhadeff (Jasper In Deadland), Courtney Balan (Finding Neverland), Todd Buonopane (R+H Cinderella), Natalie Charle Ellis (Les Miserables), Josh Grisetti (Red Eye Of Love), and Sergi Robles (Cardboard Castles). The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes will be directed by Tony Award nominee Lonny Price (Broadway's Lady Day At Emerson's Bar and Grill, 110 In The Shade). Andy Einhorn (Broadway's Bullets Over Broadway, R+H Cinderella) will serve as musical director. The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes has a book and lyrics by Christopher Dimond and music by Michael Kooman.

String will feature Margo Seibert (Rocky) and Adam Overett (Murder For Two). They join previously announced cast members Heidi Blickenstaff ([title of show]), Mallory Hawks (The White City), Kenita Miller (Merrily We Roll Along), Orville Mendoza (Found), Geoff Packard (Matilda), Q Smith (Barcelona), Katie Thompson (Giant), and Eugenio Vargas (The Wild Party). String will be directed by Marc Bruni (Broadway's Beautiful: The Carole King Musical) with Matt Castle (Found, Atlantic Theatre Company) as musical director. String features music and lyrics by Adam Gwon and a book by Sarah Hammond.

Stu For Silverton will feature Lewis Cleale (The Book of Mormon), Melanie Vaughan (Parade), Celisse Henderson (Godspell) and Nick Wyman (Catch Me If You Can). They join previously announced cast members Annaleigh Ashford (You Can't Take It With You), Kevin Kern (The Bridges of Madison County), Russell Arden Koplin (James Joyce's The Dead), Jeigh Madjus (Prison Dancer), Mary Testa (Xanadu), and Don Darryl Rivera (Aladdin). Stu For Silverton will be directed by Andrew Russell (Artistic Director, Intiman Theatre) with Meg Zervoulis (Rated P...For Parenthood) as musical director. Stu For Silverton has a book by Peter Duchan, music and lyrics by Breedlove, and is based on the story of Stu Rasmussen and the town of Silverton, Oregon.

In addition to the eight new musicals being presented at the Festival, there will be numerous concerts and events, including The 46th Minute, directed by Victoria Bussert. The concert will feature songs cut from each selected show's 45-minute presentations at the Festival and be hosted by Lindsay Mendez (Godspell, Wicked). Performing songs from the writers behind the 26th Festival of New Musicals will be Heidi Blickenstaff ([title of show]), Kevin Earley (A Tale of Two Cities), Rebecca Hart (The Civilians' The Great Immensity), Aaron Jafferis (How to Break), Doreen Montalvo (Giant), Mamie Parris (Ragtime), Bryce Ryness (First Date), Kevin So (Great Wall), Emerson Steele (Violet), Yako 440 (How to Break), Corey Mach (Godspell) and more. The 46th Minute will take place on October 22, 2014 at 6pm and is open to the public, with tickets starting at $25 and available for purchase at www.namt.org/46minute or telecharge.com.

The 2014 Songwriters Showcase, directed by Branden Huldeen and hosted by Kate Shindle (Legally Blonde), will highlight four exciting new musicals at varying stages of development and feature performances from Tony Award Winner Nikki James (The Book of Mormon), Daniel Breaker (Shrek), Marc delaCruz (If/Then), Katrina Lenk (Once), Liz McCartney (Annie), Hansel Tan (Unlock'd), Courtney Wolfson (Kinky Boots), EJ Zimmerman (Avenue Q), Corey Mach (Godspell), Jeremy Morse (Bloodsong of Love), Emily Walton (The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World), Shannon O'Boyle (Once), PigPen Theatre Co. (The Old Man and The Old Moon) and more to be announced. Each writing team will present two new songs and talk a bit about the project. The lineup for the 2014 Songwriters Showcase includes COSTS OF LIVING by Timothy Huang, THE HUNTER AND THE BEAR by PigPen Theatre Company, OCTOBER SKY by Michael Mahler and Aaron Thielen, and STORYVILLE by Lisa DeSpain, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, and Julia Jordan. The 2014 Songwriters Showcase is part of the 26th Festival of New Musicals and is open to the public via a standby line. For more information, visit www.namt.org/festival.

The Songwriters Sessions will be presented at New World Stages from October 23rd through the 24th. Directed by Brandon Ivie and featuring four different songwriting teams, The Songwriters Sessions will feature performances by Daniel Berryman (Rent), Brian Gallagher (Jekyll & Hyde), Molly Hager (Heathers the Musical), Katie Thompson (Giant), Mykal Kilgore (Motown), Ashley Blanchet (Beautiful - The Carole King Musical), Anastasia McClesky (Violet), Sarah Beth Pfeifer (The Lightning Thief), Ashley Moniz (Sister Act), and more to be announced. The songwriting talent, who will be presenting new material from various projects, includes Michelle Elliott and Danny Larsen, Rob Rokicki, Will Aronson, Douglas Lyons and Ethan Pakchar. The Songwriters Sessions are open only to Festival Pass holders. For more information visit www.namt.org/festival.

The 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 reading 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.

For the 11th 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. The public can also receive passes to the Festival through a donation to NAMT. Registration for Industry members is free and now open at www.namt.org/festival.

The 26th Annual Festival of New Musicals is overseen by NAMT New Works Director and Festival Producing Director Branden Huldeen and Festival General Manager Lisa Dozier King.

ABOUT NATIONAL ALLIANCE FOR MUSICAL THEATRE - The National Alliance for Musical Theatre, founded in 1985, is a national service organization dedicated exclusively to musical theatre. Our 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. Our 200 members, located throughout 34 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 220 musicals launched by NAMT's annual Festival of New Musicals are Thoroughly Modern Millie, Children of Eden, Honk!, The Drowsy Chaperone, Songs for a New World, I Love You Because, Striking 12, Vanities, Ordinary Days and many others, representing 420 writers.

NAMT thanks the following foundations, government agencies and organizations for their ongoing support of our programs: ABE Charitable Foundation, The Alhadeff Family Charitable Foundation, The Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York Creative Space Grant, ASCAP Foundation Irving Caesar Fund, BMI Foundation, The Dramatists Guild Fund, The Frederick Loewe Foundation, Friars Foundation, the Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, the Purple Plume Foundation, The Rodgers and Hammerstein Foundation, Stacey Mindich Productions and The Shubert Foundation.

ABOUT NAMT'S ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS - NAMT's Festival of New Musicals is the cornerstone of NAMT's mission to nurture the creation, development and production of new musicals. We present 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. For more information, visit WWW.NAMT.ORG.