Meet the Stars of NYMF: Sam Bolen of POPE! AN EPIC MUSICAL

New York Musical Theatre Festival is in full swing and BroadwayWorld has taken the time to sit down with some of the stars of this years NYMF musicals.

Like any great art form, musical theatre is shaped by the events and philosophies of the day. The strength and vitality of musical theatre lie in its ability to stay fresh and relevant. It was with that idea in mind, ten years ago, that the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) was created - to provide an effective platform to introduce new shows, new perspectives, and new blood into the musical theatre canon.

MEET THE STARS OF NYMF sits down with Sam Bolen of POPE! AN EPIC MUSICAL

What's your favorite thing about performing as part of NYMF?

Getting to do something this fun, in the summer, in the city! It's easy to spend the year working on all the dark, serious things and then escape the heat to do the marvelous fun things out of town. But with POPE! I get to spend the muggy days in a cool and wacky rehearsal room, and then when it's finished I'm still in New York City! It's a best-of-both-worlds situation.

Have you participated in NYMF before? If so, what's your favorite part and what drew you back to the festival?

I did a developmental reading as part of NYMF my first year in the city, but this is my first time in the festival doing a full production. I love the festival because it brings together such a wide range of new work. I was drawn to the festival this year because of our wild script - it's stylized in this comic-book-y, noir-ish way that I could not resist.

What other NYMF show are you most intrigued by or excited to see?

A good friend of mine from college co-wrote Claudio Quest, so I'm excited to see that!

Tell us about your show/your character?

The show is a comic book brimming with film noir drama all set to rock music. I play a young, idealist pope who faces off against a dastardly archbishop for control of the Vatican and in the process learns how to be a hero. It's like if the folks on Gilligan's Island were in a Dan Brown novel and David Bowie decided make it into a movie. Except no muppets. But there ARE plenty of other surprises...