NYMF Adds Works by Zoe Sarnak, Richard Allen & More to 2016 Slate; Full Lineup Set!

The New York Musical Festival (NYMF), previously known as The New York Musical Theatre Festival, confirmed the complete slate of programming and venues for NYMF 2016, taking place from July 11 through August 7 in Midtown Manhattan.

NYMF has also announced the 2016 Festival venues: The Duke on 42nd Street, a NEW 42ND STREET Project (229 W 42nd Street, between 7th & 8th Avenues); The Pearl Theatre (555 West 42nd Street); 416 West 42nd Street, Playwrights Horizons Rehearsal Studios; June Havoc Theatre (312 West 36th Street, NY, NY 10018); 42 West (514 West 42 St); and The Laurie Beechman Theatre (407 West 42nd Street).

Performance schedules for all productions, readings, concerts and events are now available at NYMF.org.

NYMF Passes are now on sale and offer discounted tickets, early ticket booking, and priority seating. Individual tickets for NYMF 2016 go on sale on June 20. Visit nymf.org/tickets for more information.

The additional productions, readings, concerts and events are as follows:

NYMF 2016 INVITED PRODUCTION SELECTIONS:

ULTIMATE MAN!
Book by Charles Abbott & Jane Edith Wilson; Music By Alastair William King; Lyrics by Paul Gambaccini, Alastair William King & Jane Edith Wilson; Conceived by Paul Gambaccini

The Comic World is in a state of chaos. Joe, the artist who draws the politically savvy Ultimate Man has lost control of his characters and himself. Ultimate Man, in a desperate attempt to save his beloved Cathy Cookie, confronts the cartoonist in the Real World, and is followed by Rex Ringer, a villain! Buffy, Joe's publisher, has her own twisted agenda, so Joe is faced with the dilemma of creating edgy art or embracing mass appeal in a corporate world. For Joe, worlds collide in this comic adventure.

Learn more: nymf.org/ultimateman

NYMF 2016 DEVELOPMENTAL READING SELECTIONS:

THE BABY PROJECT
Book by Lori Ada Jaroslow; Music by Fonda Feingold & Noriko Olling; Lyrics by Fonda Feingold & Lori Ada Jaroslow; Additional Material by Michael Schiralli

Dana, a fortyish, single New Yorker leaves her colorful family and goes to California to start one of her own. As she careens through the world of assisted fertility she is faced with the question of what exactly constitutes a family. Dana finds herself tangled up in the red tape of the foster care system, public schools, and HMOs, all while constantly stuck in LA traffic. Her dreams come true in a way she had never envisioned. Ultimately, The Baby Project explores the changing face of the American family.

Learn more: nymf.org/thebabyproject

A LASTING IMPRESSION
Book by Emily Kaczmarek; Music and Lyrics by Zoe Sarnak

Kali and Simone are artists, sisters, and (lately) roommates. They live, work, and navigate their mother's chronic illness in close quarters and relative peace--until they meet Jo, a journalist wrestling with the cost of her recent assignment in Syria. As each sister becomes romantically and creatively entangled with Jo, all 3 women are forced to examine how they relate to their art, the world, and to one another. A Lasting Impression is a musical about love between artists, love between sisters, and the power of storytelling in all its forms.

Learn more: nymf.org/lastingimpression

NYMF 2016 CONCERT SERIES SELECTIONS:

OUTLIERS (Student Leadership Program)
Music and Lyrics by Various Student Artists

Today, when the ultimate goal is to fit in, it's difficult to embrace the traits that set us apart. NYMF's Student Leadership Program invites you to Outliers, a concert that celebrates what's brilliant and bold, hilarious and even heartbreaking, in what makes us unique. Outliers is a night of original musical theater works that express the perspectives of those who break the mold.

Learn more: nymf.org/outliers

STILL READY: ROB ROKICKI IN CONCERT

The award-winning composer of the Off-Broadway hit, The Lightning Thief, brings his brand of smart musical theater rock to NYMF for two special concerts only! Featuring special guest artists and Broadway friends, this will be a night to celebrate new works from Rokicki's upcoming album, Monstersongs, as well as old favorites. The New York Times praises Rokicki's work as "sassy" and "energetic", and Joe Iconis, musical theater writer and collaborator, calls it "intelligent, inspired, and incredibly relatable."

Learn more: nymf.org/stillready

NYMF 2016 EVENTS

FREEDOM RIDERS
Book by Richard Allen; Music and Lyrics by Richard Allen & Taran Gray

Set in 1961 Freedom Riders explores the racial tension in a penultimate time. Freedom Riders is an immersive musical that follows a mixed group of Civil Rights activists as they risk their lives riding interstate buses in the extremely segregated South. The end goal: to bring attention to the injustice of segregation; an action that would bring the world the image of a 'burning bus America' that most Americans wanted to ignore existed. Freedom Riders is a new musical that proclaims the voice of the American Civil Rights Movement.

Learn more: nymf.org/freedomriders

MIDNIGHT AT THE NEVER GET
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Mark Sonnenblick; Conceived by Sam Bolen & Mark Sonnenblick; Directed by Max Friedman

Trevor Copeland and Arthur Brightman have the perfect New York romance. That's swell. In 1965 it's also against the law. So in the back room of The Never Get, an illegal Greenwich Village gay bar, they put together a show called Midnight- a queer nightclub act where Arthur writes love songs for Trevor to sing to a man. But as they hurtle towards the end of the decade and tensions in the Village reach a breaking point, the lovers find themselves caught in a relationship they can't control and a movement they don't understand. Featuring a sultry score fashioned after the American Songbook, Midnight At The Never Get imagines two men who never existed at a time that very much did.

Learn more: nymf.org/midnight

ONE CHILD BORN: THE MUSIC OF LAURA NYRO
Written by Louis Greenstein & Kate Ferber

This acclaimed one-woman show, featuring Kate Ferber, celebrates the music and creative force of the late singer-songwriter and Rock and Roll Hall-of-Famer whose pop masterpieces - including "Eli's Comin'," "And When I Die," "Save the Country," and "Stoney End" - topped the charts in the '60s and '70s.

Learn more: nymf.org/onechildborn

OPEN JAR INSTITUTE - Featuring the Students of The Open Jar Institute 2016

Each year, 60 students are chosen from auditions in over 35 cities to spend one week in NYC working in intensive mater classes, workshops, and classes with Broadway's best professionals: actors, directors, choreographers, casting directors, and agents. At the culmination of The Open Jar Institute, students showcase their "work in progress" audition material and demonstrate the audition techniques and tips they have learned from working one-on-one with Broadway's best professionals throughout the week. Financial support provided by The Development Wing, Jonathan Brielle, Artistic Director.

Learn more: nymf.org/openjar2016

FOR THE LOVE OF ORIGINALITY: HOW TO INVENT NEW STORIES IN MUSICAL THEATER

With so many theatrical works based on existing material these days, truly original musicals are few and far between. This panel, sponsored by The ASCAP Foundation, will include some of today's most buzzed about musical theater writers discussing what it takes to turn their own inspiring ideas into successful shows.

Learn more: nymf.org/loveoforiginality

MADE IN NY TALKS: WRITING ACROSS MEDIA - STAGE, SCREEN & SONG

Join us for an engaging dialogue that explores how New York-based writers are able to develop and juggle lucrative careers across media platforms: as playwrights and screenwriters; playwrights and librettists; librettists and novelists; songwriters of show tunes and popular music, and beyond. Sponsored by The Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment.

Learn more: nymf.org/madeinny

SING AT CIRQUE DU SOLEIL

The Cirque du Soleil Casting team and its Talent Scout Severine Parent are offering to professional singers a workshop like no other! This is the opportunity to learn all the tricks and skills to be ready for a high-level show business audition and performance. Among others, it will include vocal technique, breathing exercises, movement in singing, and stage presence. And of course, on this occasion interpretation and technical work on Cirque du Soleil songs will be a must.

Learn more: nymf.org/cirque2016

FROM THE DIRECTOR'S PERSPECTIVE: COLLABORATING ON THE CREATION OF A NEW MUSICAL

You know what a director's role is once a show is ready for production, but what about while it's still being written? This panel, presented in partnership with the SDC Foundation, will examine how valuable a director's creative contributions can be during the development of a new musical, long before it is ready for the stage.

Learn more: nymf.org/directorsperspective

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The previously announced lineup of productions, readings, concerts and events for the 2016 NYMF includes BREAKING THE MOON; ILLA!, THE GOLD; SINGLE; CAMP ROLLING HILLS; LUDO'S BROKEN BRIDE; QUICK AND FUNNY MUSICALS; ARTEMIS IN THE PARKING LOT; CRUDE; MOLLY MURPHY & NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON ON OUR LAST DAY ON EARTH; DUST CAN'T KILL ME; FOREST BOY; NEWTON'S CRADLE; NICKEL MINES; NORMATIVITY; LISA AND LEONARDO; THE FIRST CHURCH OF MARY, THE REPENTANT PROSTITUTE'S FIFTH ANNUAL BENEFIT CONCERT, REVIVAL, AND POT LUCK DINNER; THE LAST WORD; TINK!; A SCYTHE OF TIME; CHILDREN OF SALT; ICON; EH DAH? - QUESTIONS FOR MY FATHER; PLAY LIKE A WINNER; COOKIES; REMISSION; TOUCHÉ; and BREAD AND ROSES.

For a full list of productions, readings, concerts and events visit NYMF.org.

Dan Markley serves as NYMF Executive Director & Producer. Curation of the 2016 Festival is led by Rachel Sussman, who joins NYMF this year as Director of Programming & Artist Services. A Grand Jury panel of industry experts helped to determine the musical lineup of the Festival.

This year's Grand Jury included Tony Award-winning actor Michael Cerveris, OBIE and Drama Desk Award-winning actress Donna Lynne Champlin, Two River Theater Literary Manager Anika Chapin, Creative Director, Fox Stage Productions Isaac Robert Hurwitz, Tony Award-winning producer Jane Dubin, Director of Theater Arts Program at The National Black Theater Jonathan McCrory, Tony Award and Drama Desk Award-nominated actor and writer Tony Sheldon, playwright, lyricist, and actress Gretchen Cryer, Drama Desk Award-winning actor Santino Fontana, Tony nominated, Drama Desk and OCC Award winning actress Montego Glover, Broadway director West Hyler, Tony Award-nominated director Leigh Silverman, and Laurence Olivier Award-winning choreographer Sergio Trujillo.

This year, the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment will be joining as an Elite Festival Sponsor. Also, for the first time, Show-Score.com, a new website for audiences to discover live theater in New York City, will partner with NYMF to present the Show-Score "Best of Fest" Audience Prize, an award determined by audience vote. Show-Score joins returning award sponsors Play-By-Play and Stage Rights.

For people who enjoy live theater, Show-Score.com simplifies the theater landscape to help you discover shows you'll love, from people you trust, at the right price for you. Inspired by how Rotten Tomatoes covers movies, Show-Score.com uses simple numeric rankings and useful categories to organize a powerful mix of theater reviews from our vibrant user community, all of the professional reviews for a given show, and direct links to ticket deals.

In addition, global brand experience agency Jack Morton Worldwide has partnered with NYMF this year to provide pro bono branding support for the organization.