NYMF's OPEN THE DARK DOOR Completes Casting

Full casting has been announced for OPEN THE DARK DOOR, an indie rock musical by David Lefort Nugent that confronts the modern American justice systeM. Starring in the production at the 2009 New York Musical Theatre Festival are Broadway's Mary Ellen Ashley (Annie Get Your Gun), Paul Kandel (Tommy, Titanic, Jesus Christ Superstar), Laura Jordan (Cry Baby), and Andrew McGinn (Coast of Utopia). The production will feature direction from Susanna Gellert (Fugue States at PS 122) and runs from October 8th to October 17th at the American Theatre of Actors.

OPEN THE DARK DOOR takes place in fictional Mortland, USA, the perfect picture of small town America. Though it is quiet, clean, and virtually crimeless, Mortland has an unusual but highly effective way of keeping its streets clean, causing the townspeople to lead careful and quiet lives. Illicit drug use, premarital sex, abortion, and speaking out against the state, are among the many crimes in town that are punishable by death, leaving the residents forever fearful of the town executioner, who sends all public offenders to their doom. But when an unusual side-show performer runs away from the circus and unexpectedly arrives in Mortland, the townspeople are suddenly forced to question their long-held morals, beliefs and laws. Combining fascinating characters in an allegorical world with an energetic "garage band" score, OPEN THE DARK DOOR is a unique, mysterious, and beautiful story of social catharsis.

Acclaimed indie rock band The Middle Eight will serve as orchestra, and rounding out the cast are Alex Emanuel, KendAl Hartse, Ryan Hilliard, Patrick Jude, Paul Louis Lessard, Jake Loewenthal, & Bennett Pologe.

The creative team is comprised of Zane Philistrom (Set Designer), Scott Bolmon (Lighting Designer), Emily Robhelz (Costume Designer), Ted Pallas (Sound Designer), Mary Madsen (Choreographer), Kris Kukul (Musical Director), Lisa Timmel (Dramaturg), Bailie Slevin (General Manager), and Gloria Yetterberg (Production Stage Manager).

OPEN THE DARK DOOR runs from October 8th to October 17th at the American Theatre of Actors, playing the following performance schedule: Thursday, 10/8 at 8pm, Saturday, 10/10 at 1pm, Monday, 10/12 at 5pm and 9pm, Thursday 10/15 at 8pm, and Saturday 10/17 at 9pm.

Tickets for OPEN THE DARK DOOR can be purchased online at www.NYMF.org

The New York Musical Theatre Festival, now in its sixth year, has premiered more than 175 new musicals since 2004. The largest musical theatre event in America, NYMF has been hailed as "the Sundance of Musical Theatre," and is widely regarded as the key source for new material and talent discovery. NYMF is the flagship program of National Music Theater Network, Inc., a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization. NYMF 2009 is presented in association with BroadwayWorld.com, Production Resource Group and TheaterMania.com, and is supported by Back Stage, Barnes & Noble Booksellers, BroadwayBox.com, BroadwayInsider.com, Broadway.TV, Clear Channel Spectacolor, DFD-TV, Frank & Camille's Fine Pianos, King Displays, Manhattan Movement & Arts Center, New World Stages, NASDAQ OMX, Next Magazine, PMD Promotions, Queerty.com, Reuters, Sweet Caroline's, Tekserve, TheMenEvent.com, The Tank, and Times Square Squared. Major supporters include The ASCAP Foundation, BMI Foundation, Inc., The Broadway League, The BWF Foundation, The Nathan Cummings Foundation with the support and encouragement of Jamie Mayer, The Charlie & Jane Fink Charitable Fund, The Rodgers & Hammerstein Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, and The Theater League. NYMF is supported, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council. NYMF's programs are made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency. NYMF Memberships, which combine charitable contributions with valuable, flexible ticket packages and perks like early seating, and tickets to individual events are available for purchase at (212) 352-3101 or www.nymf.org.