SHOW ME REAL Plays NYMF, Now thru 7/14

The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) and Clare Cook Dance Theater present SHOW ME REAL, a dance-theater piece glorifying the everyday girl who dreams of "making it" as a performer - whether it's 1920 or 2012.

The lives of three present-day modern dancers intersect and collide with those of a coterie of 1920s Ziegfeld Follies-era chorus girls in this original production. From learning those tricky tap steps as a child to leaving her small town to move to the Big Apple, hustling from job to job, some things have not changed much for a girl trying to appear before the footlights. Contemporary dance, original song, narrative, and video projection combine to reveal how much past is in our present. SHOW ME REAL, the only dance theater production at NYMF this year, champions the everyday girl, no matter the decade, and celebrates the realities of life as a performer. Cast includes Lori Byargeon, Clare Cook, Claire Glassford, Dana Hunter, Julia Kelly, and Courtney Pruden, with lighting design by Mike Inwood, costume design by Liam O’Brien, and direction by Mason Beggs.

The choreography of Clare Cook has been part of productions at the New York Musical Theater Festival, Ars Nova's ANT Fest, HERE Arts Center, Fringe NYC, Berkshire Fringe Festival, Planet Connections Festival (Best Choreography Award), the Bohemian National Hall and JCC in Manhattan with productions for Opera Slavica, as well as productions at NYU (Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program), Columbia University, and The New School for Drama. She holds an MFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from NYU Tisch School of the Arts where she is now on faculty. Cook established Clare Cook Dance Theater in January 2012 and is an Associate Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

Composer Amy Burgess has an MFA from NYU’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program and a BM Composition from Pacific Lutheran University. Her work has been seen at Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, Berkshire Playwright’s Lab, Sharon Playhouse, and Goodspeed Musicals Selected musical works include: THE SNOW QUEEN, SWEET CASSANDRA: A GREEK ROCK OPERA, and WELCOME TO REALITY!: A MUSICAL SATIRE.

Gena Oppenheim is a lyricist/bookwriter/screenwriter and native New Yorker. Her work, including "Queen Bea: A Soapsical" has been presented by William Finn at Barrington Stages, at the Goodspeed Opera House and countless cabarets and theaters around New York, She recently completed a writing residency at the Cap21 Musical Theatre Conservatory with collaborator Karlan Judd. Gena received her BA in American History from Barnard College and her MFA from NYU’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program.

Clare Cook Dance Theater is committed to creating and producing original dance theater projects that merge multiple art forms through artistic collaboration, as well as fostering the aspirations and talent of young performers committed to pursuing a life in the arts by facilitating educational workshops and mentoring opportunities. Clare Cook Dance Theater is a fiscally sponsored member of New York Live Arts, Inc., a non-profit tax-exempt organization. Visit www.claremcook.com to learn more about the company.

Now in its ninth 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 2012 is presented in association with BroadwayWorld.com, Production Resource Group, and TheaterMania.com, and is supported by American Eagle Outfitters, Back Stage, BroadwayBox.com, BroadwayInsider.com, Clear Channel Spectacolor, Disney Store Times Square, Fox 5/ WNYW-TV, King Displays, NASDAQ OMX, New World Stages, Next Magazine, PMD Promotions, The Port Authority of NY & NJ, Queerty.com, Thomson Reuters, TheMenEvent.com, Times Square Squared, and Yelp. 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 is supported, in part, by funds from the New York City Theater Subdistrict Council, LDC, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council and 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 currently available for purchase at (212) 352-3101 or www.nymf.org.

SHOW ME REAL plays at the PTC Performance Space (555 W. 42nd St) as follows: Tonight, July 11, 8pm and Saturday July 14, 7pm & 10pm. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online at www.nymf.org or by calling (212) 352-3101. For more information, please visit www.NYMF.org.