NYMF Announces Readings and Partner Events

The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) has announced their full slate of partner events and readings for their ninth annual festival. This year's Festival will begin July 9th and continue through July 29th.

NYMF will again partner with the Paley Center to present television musical screenings which will run in conjunction with the Festival. The Paley Center has been associated with NYMF since 2004.

The NYMF reading series is also back at NYMF and each reading will take place three times: twice on one day where audience feedback will be gathered. Following this, there will 24-48 hours for the participants to rewrite based on audience feedback. The third reading of each show will reflect revisions and each of the readings will be resubmitting their shows to NYMF's Next Link Project in the fall. The NYMF reading series takes place at The 45th Street Theatre (upstairs) – 354 W. 45th Street.

“We are excited for our reading series and partner events this year and for the first time, our readings will get audience feedback and dramaturgical support,“ said NYMF Executive Director and Producer Isaac Robert Hurwitz. “We are really interested in the long term success of the these musicals in development as well as all of the NYMF shows and hope that this is another way to support emerging artists.”

Since its inception in 2004, The New York Musical Theatre Festival has premiered more than 270 new musicals - more than 60 of which have gone on to award-winning productions in New York, in regional theaters and in almost every state and in 16 countries worldwide. NYMF alum Next to Normal opened on Broadway last year, where it won 3 Tony Awards (along with 8 other nominations) and was awarded the 2010 Pulitzer Prize. The Broadway production of NYMF alum [title of show] earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Book of a Musical. NYMF 2004 hit Altar Boyz played well over 1,500 performances Off-Broadway and spawned two National Tours.

This year's Festival will run July 9th – July 29th. Memberships and single tickets for the 2012 New York Musical Theatre Festival are available at www.nymf.org, the NYMF Hub (330 W. 42nd Street) or by calling (212) 352-3101.

READINGS

All readings take place at The 45th Street Theatre (Upstairs) – 354 W. 45th Street

7:32

Book and Lyrics by KT Peterson

Music by KT Peterson and Cedric D. Lyles

Murder! Scandal! Fraud! When the Pacific Express crashed through a poorly built railroad bridge, the questionable practices of the Robber Barons first gripped the public’s imagination. A tale of America’s original Big Business catastrophe – the Ashtabula Disaster – set to a gospel, folk, and bluegrass score!

WHEN: July 10, 7pm and 9:30pm

July 12, 7pm

AFFAIR OF HONOUR

Book, Music, and Lyrics by William F. Reed

Politics and ambition collide with deadly consequences for two Founding Fathers in the true story of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. With the future of America at stake, their revered code of honour places the two rivals on an unalterable course toward death, or worse – political obscurity!

WHERE:WHEN: July 15, 2pm and 6pm

July 17, 8:30pm

COLOR BLIND

Book, Music, and Lyrics by

Laura Cunningham and Lynn Szigeti

Music by Ken Martinak

How do you feel when someone puts you in a box? Six Black Americans confront this issue when a high school senior refuses to check the box marked “Black American” on his college application.

WHEN: July 23, 12pm and 3:30pm

July 25, 7:30pm

CRUEL SHOES

Book and Lyrics by David Simpatico

Music by Ross Patterson

Follow the rise and fall of Glen Bob, a freshfaced country boy who climbs the ladder of Broadway success rung by bloody rung, with the slicing, dicing, and grinding help of his four homicidal female split personalities: a Broadway star who gives new meaning to the phrase Triple Threat!

WHEN: July 17, 12pm and 4pm

July 19, 12pm

HAPPY ENDINGS

Book and Lyrics by Jennifer Shorstein

Music by Benjamin Shorstein

Kathryn Wilder’s perfect New York life is turned upside down when a surprise inheritance leaves her with a quaint, independent bookshop in small-town New England – a place where the locals are peculiar, the books aren’t digital, and she is forced to reassess the meaning of happily ever after.

WHEN: July 10, 12pm and 3:30pm

July 13, 12pm

HOWE & HUMMEL

Book and Lyrics by Steve Frank

Music by Kim Duncan

Additional Lyrics by Laurie Eliscu

Additional Music by Richard Gelbstein

Welcome to the red-light district of lower Manhattan at the turn of the last century, where lawyers Howe and Hummel create the tangled web of modern American justice before your very eyes! Laugh and cheer for two musical comedy lawyers willing to go to any lengths to fight for the underdog and find true love.

WHEN: July 18, 12pm and 4pm

July 21, 2pm

HUNGARIAN NIGHTS

Book and Lyrics by Mariner Pezza

Music and Lyrics by Cheryl Kemeny

In a tale of love, rebirth, and redemption, passion erupts into song as the reincarnated Illona remembers her mission: to save the soul of her husband, the tortured Count Dako – who has waited 500 years for her return and has his own plans for eternal life with his “beloved.”

WHEN: July 24, 12pm and 4pm

July 26, 12pm

MADAME: THE MUSICAL

Book, Music, and Lyrics by Larry Hamilton

Additional Music and Lyrics by David Levinson

Sex, secrets, and spells can all be found within the walls of Madame Jarreau’s, a brothel buried deep in the Louisiana Bayou – where the ladies were all born male…and where Poe, a troubled teen who tries to pick a patron’s pocket, stumbles onto a journey of love, sisterhood, and self-discovery.

WHEN: July 16, 12pm and 4pm

July 18, 8:30pm

MARINA

Book by Sandy Wolf

Music by Justin Melland

Lyrics by Sandy Wolf and Justin Melland

Additional Music by Barney McClure

Adrift in a world of brawny fishermen, violent union thugs, and fanatical temperance advocates, Marina struggles with the turbulent racial, family, and social conflicts of 1908…conflicts which haven’t changed very much in the last hundred years. A buoyant, original celebration of the redemptive power of love.

WHEN: July 26, 4pm

July 29, 12pm and 4pm

REPORTING LIVE

Book, Music, and Lyrics by Michael Finke

In 1974, Christine Chubbuck created one of the most disturbing broadcasts ever seen on television. Based on an astonishing true story, follow Christine as she journeys not only in our world, but into a dark and fantastical world the rest of us have yet to discover.

WHEN: July 25, 12pm and 4pm; July 28, 2pm

SIDEKICKS

Book by Michael Kutner

Music and Lyrics by Alexander Sage Oyen

Two former superhero sidekicks try to save their struggling comic book shop…as they simultaneously try to save the world. A dangerous musical comedy comic book adventure with a kickin’ rock score for fan boys and novices alike!

WHEN: July 12, 12pm and 3:30pm

July 14, 4:30pm

THE SUGAR HILL SISTERS

Book and Lyrics by Bil Wright

Music by Joseph Vernon-Banks

When her father’s violence becomes too much to live with, Jeannette Curtis flees the family’s crumbling Harlem brownstone to battle racism in the South – until years later, when her younger sister Rena sends for her, hoping they can somehow repair what has been damaged while Rena still has time.

WHEN: July 20, 12pm and 3:30pm

July 22, 7pm

THE WEAVER OF RAVELOE

Book, Music, and Lyrics by Erica Glenn

Tales of love, loss, and healing intertwine in this musical retelling of George Eliot’s beloved classic, Silas Marner. Accused of murder and abandoned by the woman he loves, Silas becomes a reclusive weaver in a village with secrets of its own – secrets which will ultimately drive him to confront the ghosts of his past.

WHEN: July 11, 3pm and 7pm

July 14, 12pm

ZELDA

Book, Music, and Lyrics by Colette Silvestri

Additional Music by Arthur Turner

It’s his side of Paradise that the world remembers…but it’s her side of the story that you won’t forget. In spite of a world war, mental illness, celebrity, and loss – the tale of F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wonderful muse, Zelda, is nothing less than the greatest of American love stories.

WHEN: July 24, 7:30pm

July 27, 12pm and 3:30pm

PARTNER EVENTS

MUSICALS ON TELEVISION:

AN AFTERNOON WITH Sheldon Harnick

The Paley Center for Media (25 West 52nd Street)

As part of the annual New York Musical Theatre Festival, the Paley Center is pleased to honor the three-time Tony Award®-winning lyricist Sheldon Harnick – who collaborated with composer Jerry Bock on landmark musicals including the Pulitzer Prize winner Fiorello!, Fiddler on the Roof, and The Rothschilds. During the interval, Bill Rudman, host of Sirius XM Satellite Radio’s Broadway Channel program “On the Aisle,” will be on-hand to interview Mr. Harnick about his work.

THE CANTERVILLE GHOST (1966)

ABC; 60 minutes; color

This updated musical version of Oscar Wilde’s short story concerns an American ambassador and his family who move into a castle haunted by a ghost, Sir Simon de Canterville (Michael Redgrave). With Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Natalie Schafer, Tippy Walker, and Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits as the “mod” Duke of Cheshire. Bock and Harnick songs include “Undertow,” “I Worry,” “If You Never Try,” “Vengeance,” and “You’re Super.” Directed by Burt Shevelove, who also wrote the book.

WHEN: July 28, 2pm

SHE LOVES ME (1978)

BBC; 105 minutes; color

This much-lauded television adaptation of the Broadway show (with a book by Joe Masteroff, based on the Miklós László play Parfumerie) includes such classic Bock and Harnick songs as “Ice Cream,” “12 Days to Christmas,” and the charming title number. With Robin Ellis, Gemma Craven, Peter Sallis, David Kernan, Diane Langton, Derek Smith, and Nigel Rathbone. Directed by Michael Simpson. After the screening there will be a short Q&A and closing remarks by Sheldon Harnick and Bill Rudman.

WHEN: July 28, 4pm

PROSPECT THEATER COMPANY PRESENTS:
Cole Porter’S NYMPH ERRANT
Music & Lyrics by Cole Porter
Adapted and with new libretto by Rob Urbinati
Based on the novel by James Laver
and the original libretto by Romney Brent
Directed and Choreographed by Will Pomerantz

Take an example from Eve…Experiment! One of Porter’s most sexy and sophisticated scores – originally censored in its 1933 London debut – will be premiered in this sleek new adaptation. From a Swiss boarding school, to an Austrian nudist colony, to a Turkish harem…follow the unlikely adventures of young Evangeline Edwards as she enters the world and seeks her true passion. A fresh take on a rarely-heard gem, with a hilarious cast including Tony Award® winner Cady Huffman (The Producers)!

WHERE: Clurman Theatre at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd St.)
WHEN: July 7 - 29 (visit www.prospectheater.org for tickets and show times)