In addition to its 24 full productions, dance series, developmental series and concerts, The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) celebrates its fifth year by partnering with Ailey Citigroup Theater, Nuyorican Poets Café, The Philip Coltoff Greenwich Village Center, The Loft at Professor Thom's, The Cutting Room, and Paley Center (formally The Museum of Television & Radio) to bring more diverse special events to this years Festival, running September 15th to October 5th.
Highlights include:
* The family friendly "Generations," The All-Kids Rock Musical Workshop which show features a pop/rock band and a high-energy cast of fourteen Broadway-bound kids between the ages nine to nineteen.
* The Paley Center "Musicals on Television" screening of four musicals that were adapted for television including the new acquisitioned "The Colgate Comedy Hour: Anything Goes" starring
Ethel Merman,
Frank Sinatra, and Bert Lahr and the newly "Discovered Dupont Show the Month: Junior Miss" composed by Burton Lane and lyrics by Dorothy Fields as well as rare screenings of TV productions of Brigadoon and Of Thee I Sing – not seen since their original broadcast!
* 10 Minutes of Happine$$ by Roi "Bubi" Escudero is a site-specific installation-cinema™ and will be projected on the alley's wall at The Philip Coltoff Greenwich Village Center. ETdC Projects' Lab Bubi's distinctive dream-like super sized virtual murals bring together images, from her performance-art pieces presented at The New York Musical Theatre Festival: After Charlie (2004), La Playa (2005), what@trip! (2006), Antonin…mon Artaud (2007) and Bubi's new performance-art-cinema™ piece, 10 Minutes of Happiness. Admission is Free
Complete details on all Partner Events follows.
Memberships and tickets for NYMF members are currently on sale; tickets for the general public go on sale September 1st. Ticket prices vary; see
www.nymf.org for more details.
Hailed as "the Sundance of Musical Theatre," NYMF is widely regarded as the essential source for new work and emerging artists, and is the largest musical theatre event in America. NYMF exists to revitalize one of America's greatest art forms by discovering, supporting and promoting new musical theater artists, and by introducing audiences to the vibrancy and diversity of contemporary musical theater.
NYMF is the flagship program of The National Music Theater Network, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, and is presented in association with BroadwayWorld.com and TheaterMania.com, and is supported by amNewYork, Barnes & Noble Booksellers, BroadwayBox.com, BroadwayInsider.com, Frank & Camille's Fine Pianos, HX Magazine, Jossip.com, King Displays, Queerty.com, Manhattan Movement & Arts Center, Metromix.com, The New York Blade, Next Magazine, Panasonic Astrovision, Queerty.com, Tekserve, TheMENEvent, VOGA Italia, and The Zipper Factory. NYMF is supported, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.
NYMF is the flagship program of The National Music Theater Network, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, and is presented in association with BroadwayWorld.com and TheaterMania.com, and is supported by amNewYork, Barnes & Noble Booksellers, BroadwayBox.com, BroadwayInsider.com, Frank & Camille's Fine Pianos, HX Magazine, Jossip.com, King Displays, Queerty.com, Manhattan Movement & Arts Center, Metromix.com, The New York Blade, Next Magazine, Panasonic Astrovision, Queerty.com, Tekserve, TheMENEvent, VOGA Italia, and The Zipper Factory. NYMF is supported, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.
Partner Events
Midnight Madness
Book, lyrics and music by Jack Bender
In this modern musical fable based on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, the Republican mayor of New York announces his engagement to his Democratic opponent. Meanwhile, two pairs of lost lovers and a troupe of amateur actors are manipulated by the Fairies of Central Park. The result: a rollicking tale of comic confusion set to a beautiful, original score.
Where: Ailey Citigroup Theater, 405 West 55th Street
When: Sept 18, 3pm; Sept 19, 8pm; Sept 20, 8pm; Sept 21, 3pm
Tickets: $18-25 - visit www.smarttix.com
Generations, The All-Kids Rock Musical Workshop
Music & Lyrics by Avi Kunstler
Book, Music & Lyrics, and Direction by Matt Okin
Generations explores the relationship between a fourteen year-old girl and her ailing grandfather, who learn to embrace differences with the mystical interference of their family members' young and old incarnations. Developed at BergenPAC, the show features a pop/rock band and a high-energy cast of fourteen Broadway-bound kids between the ages nine to nineteen.
Where: Nuyorican Poets Café, 236 East 3rd Street
When: Sept 15, 7pm; Sept 21, 7pm; Sept 22, 7pm
For ticket details, visit www.nymf.org
Soul Searching: The New Rock Musical
Music & Lyrics by Avi Kunstler
Story, Additional Music & Lyrics, and Direction by Matt Okin
Brenda, a thirty year-old single Upper West Side New Yorker, finds herself on a comedic and poignant search for her soul-mate with help from her three married friends, all engulfed in relationship troubles of their own.. Her journey has just begun...
Where: Nuyorican Poets Café, 236 East 3rd Street
When: Sept 15, 9pm; Sept 21, 9pm; Sept 22, 9pm; Sept 23, 8pm
For ticket details, visit www.nymf.org
10 Minutes of Happine$$
ETdC Projects' Lab presents 10 Minutes of Happiness by Roi "Bubi" Escudero, a site-specific installation-cinema™, projected on the alley's wall at The Philip Coltoff Greenwich Village Center. Bubi's distinctive dream-like super sized virtual murals bring together images, from her performance-art pieces presented at The New York Musical Theatre Festival: After Charlie (2004), La Playa (2005), what@trip! (2006), Antonin…mon Artaud (2007) and Bubi's new performance-art-cinema™ piece, 10 Minutes of Happine$$.
Where: The Philip Coltoff Greenwich Village Center, 219 Sullivan Street
When: Sept 19, 9pm; Sept 20, 9pm; Sept 26; 9pm, Sept 27, 9pm; Oct 3, 9pm; Oct 4, 9pm
Tickets: Free! No reservations necessary.
8 WOMEN: A KARAOKE MURDER MYSTERY
Based on the screenplay by Francois Ozon
Adapted by Leigh Hile and Sarah Levine
Eight women gather for the holidays and discover that the master of the house has been murdered. What's more, the telephone wires have been cut, the car's been thrown out of gear, they're trapped inside, and the killer is among them! Watch the ladies discover the murderer (and themselves!) in this live adaptation of the popular film, teeming with twists, turns, and pop music!
Where: The Loft at Professor Thom's, 219 2nd Avenue, 2nd floor
When: Every 2nd Wednesday, every month, 7:30 PM
Tickets: $15 at the door (two drinks included).
For tickets, email 8womenreservations@gmail.com
You Can Take the Girl Outta Brooklyn
Book by Susan Collins and Andy Capole
Music and lyrics by Ellie Greenwich and Susan Collins
The humorous and touching true story of how, blessed with a remarkable streetwise voice, Susan Collins sang her way out of the Glenwood Projects to work with a galaxy of stars including Jimi Hendrix, Todd Rundgren, KISS, ELO, John Lennon, SNL and more, all in their heyday. "Susan Collins is my favorite singer . . . period!" -Paul Shaffer, Late Night with David Letterman"
Where: The Cutting Room, 19 West 24th Street
When: Sept 26; 8pm
For ticket details, visit www.nymf.org
Paley Center "Musicals on Television"
Where: The Paley Center for Media (formerly The Museum of Television & Radio)
25 West 52nd Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues)
Suggested donation: $10, $8 for seniors and students, $5 for children under 14
(212) 621-6800; www.paleycenter.org
A sampler of rare live telecasts from the 1950s (preserved on black and white kinescopes) and color telecasts of two classic musicals.
Saturday, September 20
2 p.m.
ARMSTRONG CIRCLE THEATRE: BRIGADOON
A television adaptation of the Lerner and Loewe classic about two Americans who chance upon a Scottish town that comes to life once every hundred years. With
Robert Goulet, Peter Falk,
Sally Ann Howes, and
Edward Villella. (1966; 90 minutes)
OF THEE I SING
3:30 p.m.
A lavish television adaptation of the 1931 show (the first musical to win a Pulitzer Prize) with songs by George and Ira Gershwin. The satiric plot concerns the presidential candidacy of John P. Wintergreen. With Carroll O'Connor,
Cloris Leachman,
Michele Lee, Jack Gilford, and Jim Backus. (1972; 90 minutes)
Sunday, September 21
2 p.m.
THE COLGATE COMEDY HOUR: ANYTHING GOES
New acquisition! A highly truncated yet highly enjoyable presentation of the classic
Cole Porter musical, with an all-star trio of headliners:
Ethel Merman (reprising her Broadway role as Reno Sweeney),
Frank Sinatra, and Bert Lahr. (1954; 60 minutes)
3 p.m.
DUPONT SHOW OF THE MONTH: JUNIOR MISS
Newly discovered! This long-lost original television musical (adapted from the Broadway comedy) about teenager Judy Graves and her family is the only collaboration between composer Burton Lane and lyricist Dorothy Fields. With Carol Lynley, Don Ameche, Joan Bennett, Jill St. John, David Wayne, Diana Lynn, and
Paul Ford. (1957; 90 minutes)