Music by Kait Kerrigan, Georgia Stitt & More Featured in NEO 9 Concert, 5/20

The York Theatre Company (James Morgan, Producing Artistic Director; Andrew Levine, Executive Director), will present a one-night only benefit concert celebrating up and coming musical theatre writers, with the NEO 9 on Monday, May 20, 2013 at The York Theatre (Citicorp Building, entrance on East 54th Street, just east of Lexington Avenue). Festivities begin at 7:30 p.m. followed by a champagne and dessert reception to toast the evening.

NEO (an acronym for "New, Emerging, Outstanding") celebrates songwriters primed to pen the next generation of musicals. Since the first NEO concert 9 years ago -- recorded by England's JAY Records-- musical theatre fans and York supporters eagerly anticipate each incarnation. The York Theatre Company has recently embarked on a new yearlong mentoring program that brings together established writers and upcoming producing partners to help encourage the growth of new works.

The NEO 9 concert will include songs by the following musical theatre writers: Julianne Wick Davis, Carmel Dean, Kait Kerrigan, Rebekah Greer Melocik and Georgia Stitt. The evening will be directed by Annette Jolles, with music direction by Matt Castle. Program mentors making special appearances include Stephen Flaherty, Jeanine Tesori, Lynn Ahrens, Rachel Sheinkin and Michael John LaChiusa. The Honorary Committee includes Gretchen Cryer, Nancy Ford, Carol Hall, Mildred Kayden, Mary Rodgers, and Mira Spektor.

In this new NEO format, which began in 2012, the concert kicks off a year of activity for each writer. Each one will receive a fully funded developmental reading in the course of the year and is assigned an established producing mentor.

Tickets for NEO 9 can be purchased by calling 212-935-5824 (x215) or via the York's website: www.yorktheatre.org.

For more information, please visit www.yorktheatre.org.

The York Theatre Company is the only theater in New York City-and one of very few in the world-dedicated to developing and fully producing new musicals and preserving neglected, notable shows from the past. For over four decades, York's intimate, imaginative style of producing both original and neglected classic musicals has resulted in critical acclaim and recognition from artists and audiences alike. Under the guidance of Producing Artistic Director James Morgan since 1997, the York has focused exclusively on new musicals in its Mainstage Series-most of them world, American, or New York premieres-by some of the field's most esteemed creators, and has also helped launch the careers of many talented new writers. Over 35 cast recordings from The York Theatre Company productions are now available on CD, and commercial transfers of such York premieres as The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!), Souvenir, Jolson & Company, and its acclaimed revivals of Closer Than Ever, Sweeney Todd and Pacific Overtures have all showcased the importance of the York and its programs.