Nicholas Kohn & Tanya Gagne to Lead THE AWAKENING OF ANGEL DELUNA at NYMF

The 2013 New York Musical Theatre Festival and Angel Wings NYC present the New York premiere of THE AWAKENING OF ANGEL DELUNA, an original new musical set against the backdrop of a Depression era family circus. THE AWAKENING OF ANGEL DELUNA is an official selection of the 2013 New York Musical Theatre Festival and will play The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street) in Manhattan beginning July 12th, 2013 for 5 performances only!

Ollie Blatsky, a hobo clown, returns to the DeLuna Family Circus after many years adrift. He finds the circus has been taken over by a shifty magician, and the love of his life, Angel DeLuna, living in a fragile memory of her past. When a stranger arrives to dismantle Angel's beloved family carousel, long buried secrets of Ollie and Angel's history emerge. With live trapeze acts and circus performers, THE AWAKENING OF ANGEL DELUNA will remind you why the human spirit is undefeatable and love is worth every risk.

The creative and design team behind THE AWAKENING OF ANGEL DELUNA is: West Hyler (Director), Larry Pressgrove (Musical Director, Orchestrations),Judylynn Schmidt (Book & Lyrics), Lee Ellis (Music & Lyrics), Kate Griffler (Choreography), Jess Glover (Music Supervisor, Arranger), Jason Quinn (Stage Manager), Kacie Hultgren (Set Design), Andrew Keister (Sound Design), Lee J. Austin (Costume Design) and Zach Blane (Lighting Design).

The cast of THE AWAKENING OF ANGEL DELUNA will feature Michael Thomas Holmes (Broadway: "Oklahoma!"), Paul C. Kelly, Zal Owen (National Tour: "Fiddler on the Roof"), Nicholas Kohn (Broadway/Current: "Avenue Q"), Matt Baker (Guthrie: "Roman Holiday"), trapeze star and half of the world-famous "Wau Wau Sisters" Tanya Gagne, Aidan O'Shea ("Humor Abuse"), Amy Rebecca Shure (current member "2 Ring Circus"), Jena VanElslander ("Zelda: An American Love Story"), Matt Wilson ("One Life to Live"), and featuring Patty Nieman in the title role of "Angel DeLuna."

West Hyler (Director) Broadway: "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and "Jersey Boys" (both Associate Director). As Associate Director of "Jersey Boys" he set up international productions of the show over 5 continents. New York: NYMF ("Flambé Dreams"), The Big Apple Circus ("Legendarium"), Ars Nova, The York Theater Company, Primary Stages, Playwrights Horizons. Regional: Colony Theater, Great River Shakespeare Festival, Upstate Shakespeare Festival, Warehouse Theater and the O'Neill Conference as the director of Gretchen Cryer and Nancy Ford's "I'm Still Getting My Act Together."

The Pershing Square Signature Center is the official hub of The New York Musical Theatre Festival.

The performance schedule for THE AWAKENING OF ANGEL DELUNA is as follows: Friday, July 12 at 8pm; Saturday, July 13 at 9pm; Tuesday, July 16 at 5pm; Tuesday, July 16 at 9pm; and Wednesday, July 17 at 1pm at The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street).

Tickets are general admission and can be purchased at www.NYMF.org. Membership packages to purchase tickets for multiple shows are also available.

The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) exists to revitalize musical theatre culture by discovering and promoting new musical theatre artists, producers and projects; nurturing a vibrant and innovative artistic community; and connecting one of America's greatest art forms with a diverse, contemporary audience.

Now in its tenth year, the Festival is the largest musical theatre event in America. The preeminent site for launching new musicals and discovering new talent, the Festival provides a affordable platform for artists to mount professional productions that reach their peers, industry leaders, and musical theater fans. More than 85 festival shows have gone on to productions on and off-Broadway, in 48 states, and more than 20 countries worldwide, and Festival alumni have received a wide array of awards including the Tony and the Pulitzer Prize. In 2013, NYMF received a special Drama Desk Award in recognition of its work "creating and nurturing new musical theater, ensuring the future of this essential art form."

NYMF is the flagship program of National Music Theater Network, Inc., a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization. NYMF 2013 is presented in association with Dunkin' Donuts, BroadwayWorld.com, Production Resource Group, and TheaterMania.com, and 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. Major supporters include The ASCAP Foundation, BMI Foundation, Inc., The BWF Foundation, Con Edison, The Nathan Cummings Foundation with the support and encouragement of Jamie Mayer Phinney, The New Musical Development Foundation, The Jerome Robbins Foundation, The Rodgers & Hammerstein Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, and The Theater League.

NYMF Memberships, which combine charitable contributions with valuable, flexible ticket packages and perks like early seating, and tickets to individual events, are currently available for purchase at (212) 352-3101 or www.nymf.org.

For more information, please visit: www.nymf.org