POPE! AN EPIC MUSICAL Returns to NYMF Tonight

The New York Musical Theatre Festival and Papal Productions/ Michael Chase Gosselin are pleased to announce the return to New York City of POPE! An Epic Musical as an Official Selection of the 2015 New York Musical Theatre Festival's Next Link Project. The production with book and lyrics by Justin Moran, music and additional Lyrics by Christopher Pappas and Direction by Peter Flynn is scheduled to run tonight, July 15 at 8pm, Thursday July 16 at 9pm, Sunday, July 19 at 4pm and 8pm and Tuesday, July 21 at 5pm at the PTC Performance Space.

The NYMF PASS is currently on sale at nymf.org/tickets. Individual tickets are $27.50 and go on sale June 15th at 11:00 am. The PTC Performance Space is located at 555 West 42nd Street (between 10th and 11th Avenues on the South Side of 42nd Street). For tickets and information call (212) 352-3101 visit nymf.org/pope.

POPE! An Epic Musical is an award-winning musical comedy of superhero proportions. It tells the tale of a young, idealistic, rock-star, Pope, and his ambitious nemesis, the Archbishop, who will stop at nothing to wear Pope's Mitre. In this comic book world, the papal masses are charmed at first, but Pope soon learns that a few well placed enemies can overpower a few million fans. When the tyrannical Archbishop sweeps in and seizes power the world cries out for a hero... and only Pope can answer the call! Good and evil collide in this rambunctious, Shakespearean power struggle where lines must be drawn, sides must be taken, and confrontations must be musical!

The production first played at the Magnet Theater in New York City in 2009. Originally intended as a one-night event, the production went on to play almost a year. In August 2010, it opened at the Lucille Lortel Theater as part of the New York International Fringe Festival, where it became the fastest-selling ticket of the festival that year. The production was included in the FrinceNYC Encore Series and received "Overall Excellence Awards" for Music/Lyrics. POPE! An Epic Musical went on to be presented at the Belfry Stage in Los Angeles in 2014. For more information, visit www.popethemusical.com.

The Production team includes Choreography by Wendy Seyb, Set Design by Rob Bissinger, Costume Design by Vanessa Leuck, Sound Design by Patrick Weaver and musical direction by Adam Podd. Michael Cassara is the Casting Director.

Justin Moran (Book and Lyrics) is a comedian and award-winning lyricist and playwright in NYC. He performs comedy weekly at the Magnet Theater. Justin directed and co-wrote the book/lyrics to Nightfall On Miranga Island which ran at the Players Theater in the 2012 New York International Fringe Festival, and was extended to the Fringe Encore Series. His musical The Spidey Project, that he directed, produced and co-wrote the book/lyrics for, was a critical hit in NYC and LA. The New York Times called Justin a "Comedic Mastermind." The cast recording is available on iTunes.

Christopher Pappas (Music and Additional Lyrics) is a composer/songwriter, conductor, performer, and multi-instrumentalist. He graduated Cum Laude from the Hartt School of Music with a B.A. in Music Education. Apart from his work in theatre, he also writes and performs with his award-winning indie-rock band The Everyday Visuals, which has toured nationally, playing with many venerable indie artists, including Members of Wilco, Rilo Kiley, and Josh Ritter. Among many other honors, he was charted by Media Guide as one of the "Top 3" most played unsigned artist, and he is a multi Boston Music Award-winner. His music has also been featured on many television shows on ABC, Disney, and CBS.

Peter Flynn (Director) New York: Our Town with BD Wong, & S. Epatha Merkerson; On the 20th Century with Douglas Sills & Marin Mazzie; Chess with Josh Groban & Adam Pascal; and Funny Girl with Whoopi Goldberg, Andrea Martin, & Jane Krakowski; Lee Blessing's Two Rooms; Junie B. Jones (nominated: Lucille Lortel Award, Best Musical); and Rhapsody in Seth starring Seth Rudetsky. Regional: The Mountaintop, Pittsburgh's City Theatre; Other Desert Cities, Maltz Jupiter Theatre; 1776, Ford's Theater, D.C; the Guthrie Theater, Kennedy Center, etc; Artistic Director of the Hangar Theatre: five seasons. Director - Musical Theatre Program, Stella Adler Studio; on faculty at N.Y.U. www.peterflynndirector.com

Wendy Seyb (Choreographer) credits include: Carnegie Hall with Sting, Kevin Spacey, James Taylor, Oscar Isaac, and Renee Fleming, The Pee Wee Herman Show Broadway/HBO, The Toxic Avenger Musical Off-Broadway/International (Lortel, Dora, Callaway nominations), Click Clack Moo Off-Broadway (Lortel nomination), Murder For Two Off-Broadway/National Tour. www.wendyseyb.com

Michael Chase Gosselin (Producer) served as the Artistic Director and Executive Producer of Act Three Theatricals from 2006 to 2012. In 2013, he co-produced and directed a developmental reading of Moby Dick - A Whale of a Tale for Cameron Mackintosh. As a Director/Choreographer, recent credits include Disney's Tarzan (Vermont Premiere), The Wedding Singer, Rock Nativity (Regional Premiere), Hairspray, Chicago , a Vermont tour of The Complete History of America (Abridged), Next to Normal (Vermont Premiere), You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown and A Christmas Carol at the Helen Hayes Youth Theatre, and Legally Blonde the Musical for Clark University. Last spring, he helmed the New England premiere of Justin Moran's The Spidey Project. www.michaelchasegosselin.com

Adam Podd (Music Director) is currently Music Director at First Unitarian Church in Brooklyn, NY. Recent projects include original works commissioned and performed by The Young People's Chorus of New York City, (under Francisco Nuñez), as well as musical arrangements and orchestrations for theatrical productions at Carnegie Hall, New World Stages, and The York Theatre. Recent credits include Fiction in Photographs at New World Stages and The York Theatre Co. (MD/arranger), The Spidey Project (MD/composer) Swing Wings at Amy Dee Music and The York Theatre Co. (MD/arranger), and Nightfall On Miranga Island at NYC Fringe Festival & NYC Fringe Encore Series (MD/composer). Hartt School of Music. More at adampodd.com and compasstheatrical.com

The New York Musical Theatre Festival nurtures the creation, production, and public presentation of stylistically, thematically, and culturally diverse new musicals to ensure the future vitality of musical theatre. Now in its twelfth 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 an affordable platform for artists to mount professional productions that reach their peers, industry leaders, and musical theatre fans. More than 90 Festival shows have gone on to productions on and Off-Broadway, in regional theaters in all 50 states, and in more than 20 countries worldwide. Festival alumni have received a wide array of awards including the Tony Award© and the Pulitzer Prize. In 2013, NYMF received a special Drama Desk Award in recognition of its work "creating and nurturing new musical theatre, 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 is supported, in part, 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. For more information, visit www.nymf.org.