NAMT Report: Ben Crawford, Brad Oscar in IMAGINE HARRY: Life's Realities and Imaginary Friends

BroadwayWorld's Michael Dale reports on seven musicals being presented in 45 minute readings at the National Alliance for Musical Theatre's Annual Festival of New Musicals. These musicals are being presented before an audience of over 600 industry professionals and are in different stages of development, not to be reviewed. For more information on all of the musicals, visit namt.org.

IMAGINE HARRY

Music and Lyrics by Will Van Dyke
Book and Lyrics by Jeff Talbott

The NAMT presentation of IMAGINE HARRY begins with young Tucker (Zell Steele Morrow) singing a duet of adventures with his imaginary grown-up friend, Harry (Ben Crawford), but then we're introduced to Tucker as a young man (Taylor Trensch) who is shy about romance even though he and fellow nerd Matt (Preston Sadleir) are certainly attracted to each other.

Taylor remembers the sad day when Harry said goodbye, having left the imaginary friend business for real life. But he may not be all that well-suited for reality, his difficulty in maintaining responsibilities frustrating his pregnant wife (Stephanie Umoh).

So Harry consults with his boss (Brad Oscar) about reentering the imaginary friend business and as the presentation ends it looks like a reunion between him and grown-up Tucker is going to be a learning experience for both of them.

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. 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 228 musicals launched by NAMT's annual Festival of New Musicals are Thoroughly Modern Millie, Children of Eden, Honk!, The Drowsy Chaperone, It Shoulda Been You, Songs for a New World, I Love You Because, Striking 12, Vanities, Ordinary Days and many others, representing 420 writers.

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 highlights 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.

The 27th 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.