NAMT Announces Director Observership

National Alliance for Musical Theatre (Betsy King Militello, Executive Director) is thrilled to announce the creation and inaugural year of NAMT's Festival Observership for Early-Career Directors. In line with NAMT's strategic plan, and in celebration of the 30th Annual Festival of New Musicals, NAMT will launch a directing observership program, dedicated to providing professional development and networking opportunities to early-career directors by exposing them to the Festival process and the NAMT membership.

To encourage and expand diversity in the musical theatre pipeline, a key priority in NAMT's strategic plan, this program will provide these opportunities specifically for: directors of color; directors with disabilities; women directors; and LGBTQ directors. All who self-identify with one or more of these categories and consider themselves early-career directors are encouraged to apply for the program.

The observership will invite eight early-career directors with a demonstrated interest in musical theatre to be a part of the NAMT Festival process from start to finish. The selected observers will gain first-hand exposure to the new musical development process, learning the techniques that established directors employ while working with writers to bring a musical to life. In addition to joining the Festival process, the selected observers will receive a Select Pass to the Festival, a single-day pass to NAMT's Fall Conference (typically open only to NAMT members), a small stipend, and an exclusive chance to be introduced to the NAMT membership, made up of some of the world's leading musical theatre producers, prior to the Festival. Additional networking opportunities will be announced at a later date.

Further information about the program, along with the application itself, can be found on the NAMT website. Applications will be accepted through June 15, 2018.

Programming details for the 30th Annual Festival of New Musicals will be announced in early summer.

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 worldwide.

The Festival has introduced musical theatre producers to 252 musicals and 478 writers from around the world. As a direct result of the FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS, more than 85% of the musicals presented have gone on to subsequent readings, workshops, productions and tours, been licensed, and/or recorded on cast albums. Some past Festival shows include Come From Away, The Drowsy Chaperone, It Shoulda Been You, Striking 12, Ordinary Days, Thoroughly Modern Millie, among many others.

In a statement, Betsy King Militello, Executive Director of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, said, "We are thrilled to announce this new program as we prepare to celebrate both the history of our Festival, and the future of musical theatre. Investing in the careers of underrepresented directors just entering the industry will expand the pipeline of directors working in musical theatre-a major priority for NAMT and our membership."

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 216 members, located throughout 29 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.

The 30th ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS is overseen by NAMT New Works Director Ciera Iveson and Festival General Manager Lisa Dozier King.

NAMT thanks the following foundations, government agencies and organizations for their ongoing support of our programs: The Alhadeff Charitable Foundation, The Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York Creative Spaces Grant, ASCAP Foundation Irving Caesar Fund, BMI Foundation, The Dubose and Dorothy Heyward Memorial Fund, The Hollywood Pantages, National Endowment for the Arts, The New York State Council on the Arts, The Rodgers and Hammerstein Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, The Ted Snowden Foundation, and Anonymous donors.