Photo Flash: NYMF Presents TESS

With a cast of sixteen and entirely sung thru, in TESS - A New Rock Opera, the title character's spirited and innocent life unravels when her impoverished family's desperate need to connect to a once mighty bloodline results in an act of violence and shame. Desired by two men, forsaken by Victorian society, and burdened by secrets and duty, Hardy's dark heroine struggles to remain pure in a stained world and through a maze of intense love and tragic loss, she fights for her moment of happiness which in turn, pulls her towards her ultimate fate. The show blends folk, pop, and classical music within a contemporary rock score, and some of the songs in the production include "Falling," "Resurrection, and "My Angel."

Starring alongside Pasqua is Nick Cartell and former Hairspray on Broadway Tracy Turnblad Michelle Dowdy, and joining them in the cast are Felicia Blum, Brian Gallagher, Jillian Giacchi, Alan Gillespie, Chris Gleim, Joanna Krupnick, Mary Jo Mecca, Keith Panzarella, Joe Popson, Bruce Rebold, Bradford Rosenbloom, Hilaire C. Smith, and Megan Stern. The creative team for TESS will also include Elisabetta Spuria (choreography), Sam Froeschle (scenic design), Andrea Hood (costume design), Zach Blane (lighting design), Tony Melfa (sound design), Annie Pasqua (musical direction), John Clancy (musical supervision), John Murdock (production stage manager) and Aaron Diehl Productions (general management).

TESS - A New Rock Opera will run at the Theatre at St. Clements at 423 West 46th Street (between 9th and 10th Ave), with performances on Wednesday, September 29th at 8pm, Friday, October 1st at 9pm, Saturday, October 2nd at 1pm, Sunday, October 3rd at 3pm, Monday, October 4th at 5pm, and Saturday, October 9th at 9pm. Tickets, priced at $20, are available for purchase by phone at (212) 352-3101 or online at www.nymf.org.

For more information please visit www.TessTheNewMusical.com

Now in its seventh year, the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) is the largest annual musical theatre event in America and is widely regarded as the essential source for new material and talent discovery. NYMF provides a launching pad for the next generation of musicals and their creators to ensure the continued vitality of one of America's greatest art forms. Hailed as the "Sundance of Musical Theatre," NYMF discovers, nurtures, and promotes promising musical theatre artists and producers at all stages of development, and inspires a diverse audience through vibrant, accessible, powerful new work. NYMF is the flagship program of National Music Theater Network, Inc., a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization. NYMF 2010 is presented in association with BroadwayWorld.com, Production Resource Group, TheaterMania.com, and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and is supported by AP-Red.com, Back Stage, Barnes and Noble, BroadwayBox.com, BroadwayInsider.com, Broadway.TV, Clear Channel Spectacolor, DFD-TV, King Displays, NASDAQ OMX, New World Stages, Next Magazine, PMD Promotions, The Port Authority of NY & NJ, Queerty.com, Season of Savings, Tekserve, Terra Fossil, Thomson Reuters, TheMenEvent.com, Times Square Squared, and Yelp. 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 Ariel Phinney, The Charlie & Jane Fink Charitable Fund, Cameron Mackintosh Foundation, The Jerome Robbins Foundation, The Rodgers & Hammerstein Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Spiritus Gladius Foundation, and The Theater League. 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.