Shereen Pimentel, Darius Jordan Lee & More Join 34th Annual FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS

National Alliance for Musical Theatre has announced additional casting for their 34th Annual FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS, which returns in person and takes place on Thursday, October 20 and Friday, October 21, 2022 at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues).

Registration for industry members is now open at www.namt.org/festival. The public can also receive passes to the Festival through a donation to NAMT. There is also a day-of standby line for the general public for free admission (based on availability).

Complete casting for this 34th Annual FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS includes Liana Sta. Ana (Broadway: Miss Saigon), Will Blum (Broadway: Beetlejuice), Benai Alicia Boyd (LA: Bronco Billy), Nick Bruno, Benjamin Camenzuli (Regional: As You Like It), Michel Castillo (Regional: Swimming While Drowning), Kai An Chee (Regional: Mr. Holland's Opus), Genesis Adelia Collado (NY: Notes from Now), Nadia Dandashi (NY: Love/Sick), Kayla Davion (Broadway: Tina), Diana DeGarmo (Broadway: Hairspray), Tsebiyah Mishael Derry (NY: SKiNFoLK: An American Show), Jacob Dickey (Broadway: Aladdin), Michelle Dowdy (Broadway: Hairspray), Was Garlington, Jared Goldsmith (Tour: Dear Evan Hansen), Alan H. Green (Broadway: Charlie & the Chocolate Factory), Megan Masako Haley (Tour: Wicked), Darron Hayes (Regional: Joseph... Dreamcoat), Lauryn Hobbs (Chicago: Life After), Timothy Huang (NY: Shanghai Lil's), Diana Huey (Tour: Disney's The Little Mermaid), Steven Huynh (NY: Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas), Arica Jackson (Broadway: Caroline, or Change), Bre Jackson (Broadway: Six), Asher Edgecliffe Johnson (Television: For Life), Jade Jones (Olney: Disney's Beauty & the Beast), Olivia Kaufmann (Broadway: Mean Girls), Rachel Kay, Tamika Lawrence (Broadway: Caroline, or Change), Darius Jordan Lee (Broadway: Ain't Too Proud), Fay Ann Lee (Broadway: Miss Saigon), Angel Lin (Regional: Mr. Holland's Opus), Jacob Louchheim (NY: Petrified Lighting), Zonya Love (Broadway: Beetlejuice), Matilda Luz Concha Pearson (NY: Runaways), Wade McCollum (Broadway: Wicked), Judy McLane (Broadway: Mamma Mia!), Mary Kate Morrissey (Broadway: Mean Girls), Nicole Vanessa Ortiz, Shereen Pimentel (Broadway: West Side Story), Sam Primack (Broadway: Dear Evan Hansen), Michelle J. Rodriguez (NY: East o', West o'!), Graham Rowat (Broadway: Meteor Shower), Nora Schell (Broadway: Jagged Little Pill), Terran Scott, Herman Sebek (Broadway: Miss Saigon), Helen J. Shen (Regional: Man of God), Kristen Sieh (Broadway: The Band's Visit), Nacho Tambunting (NY: Felix Starro), Mary Testa (Broadway: Oklahoma!), Mariand Torres (Broadway: Hadestown), Ching Valdes-Aran (Broadway: The Wild Party), Timothy Warmen (Broadway: Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark), Nicole Weiss (Regional: Octet), Max Wilcox (NY: Gigantic), Lenny Wolpe (Broadway: Wicked), Amra-Faye Wright (Broadway: Chicago), Audrey Rose Young (Tour: Fiddler on the Roof) and Sumi Yu (NY: Greater Clements).

The casting director for the Festival is Michael Cassara, CSA.

NAMT's Songwriters Showcase features innovative music from three new musicals currently in development. This year's Songwriters Showcase will include:

HOW TO: YOU

Book, Music & Lyrics by Joriah Kwamé

AFTERWORDS
Music and Lyrics by Zoe Sarnak

IN PIECES

Book, Music & Lyrics by Joey Contreras

Songwriters Showcase will be hosted by John-Andrew Morrison (Broadway: A Strange Loop) and James Jackson (Broadway: A Strange Loop) and will feature performances by Kerstin Anderson (Broadway: Funny Girl), Keri René Fuller (Broadway: Six), Darron Hayes (Regional: Joseph... Dreamcoat), Eliza Palasz (Regional: Carousel), Bryonha Marie Parham (Broadway: Prince of Broadway), Sam Primack (Broadway: Dear Evan Hansen) and more. Songwriters Showcase will be directed by Adrienne Campbell-Holt (NY: Dodi & Diana).

The MIDDAY CABARETS give Festival attendees the chance to listen to short sets of new music in the relaxed Green Room Lounge. During the lunch break on both days, there will be two 20-minute Midday Cabarets, each featuring a different songwriter. This year's Midday Cabaret writers include Deborah Abramson, David Davila, Andrea Grody and Rona Siddiqui and feature performances by Ally Bonino (NY: SUFFS), Jaime Cepero (Television: "SMASH"), Angel Desai (Broadway: Company), Joe Joseph (Broadway: The Kite Runner), Megan McGinnis (Broadway: Little Women), Sharone Sayegh (Broadway: Come From Away), Joo Won Shin (Television: "Squid Game") and more.

Now in its 34th year, the National Alliance for Musical Theatre's FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS attracts theatre producers from around the world for this industry-only event to discover eight new musicals presented in 45-minute concert presentations over two days. All production costs are underwritten by NAMT. A non-profit organization, NAMT funds the Festival entirely through donations, sponsorships and contributions.

The Festival has introduced musical theatre producers to nearly 300 musicals and over 500 writers from around the world. As a direct result of the FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS, more than 85% of the shows presented have gone on to subsequent readings, workshops, productions or tours; been licensed; and/or recorded on cast albums. Some past Festival shows include Come From Away, Lempicka, The Drowsy Chaperone, Lizard Boy, Benny & Joon, Darling Grenadine, Ordinary Days, Striking 12, It Shoulda Been You, Interstate and Thoroughly Modern Millie, among many others.

Registration for industry members is free and now open at www.namt.org/festival.

This year, a committee of 17 theatre professionals selected eight new musicals out of 480 submissions-the Festival's largest submission pool ever. The musicals chosen for the 34th Annual Festival are:

Baked! The Musical

Book, Music & Lyrics by Jord Liu & Deepak Kumar
Director: May Adrales
Music Director: Alexander Tom

About Baked! The Musical: When she doesn't receive the scholarship that would send her to her dream school, Jane Huang, with her best friend and the class degenerate, secretly builds a Chinese bakery cannabis edible empire. Baked! The Musical is a reflection on failure, self-worth, and what we owe the people we love.

Blackout

Book by Steven Gallagher
Music & Lyrics by Anton Lipovetsky
Director: Asher Lloyd Ehrenberg
Music Director: Lily Ling

About Blackout: On August 14th, 2003, Toronto was plunged into chaos when the largest blackout in North American history left millions stranded in the dark. Inspired by real events, Blackout tells three stories of hope, resilience and connection that unfold when the city is dark, and strangers band together to find the light.

The Female Pope

Lyrics & Libretto by Shannon Burkett
Music by Heather Christian
Director: Mei Ann Teo
Music Director: Kris Kukul

About The Female Pope: The Female Pope is a highly disputed story about a woman in the 9th century who rose to the papacy. A young girl's father - desperate to keep her safe - disguises her as a boy, with the promise of an education. This unlocks a passion for learning that propels her to the most powerful position in the world - a stunning achievement that threatens the very existence of the Catholic Church itself.

Get Out Alive

Book & Lyrics by Nikki Lynette
Music by Nikki Lynette, Matt Hennessy, Clay Bail, Malcom Fong, Slavic Livins & Zeke Macumber
Director: Roger Ellis
Music Director: Andrea Grody

About Get Out Alive: Nikki Lynette's new autobiographical afrogoth musical raises mental health awareness through the lens of an underground concert. With music that is equal parts punk, hip hop, alternative rock and pop, Nikki's true story shows that when life leads us to a bad place, we can always make it out alive.

King of Pangaea

Book, Music & Lyrics by Martin Storrow
Director: Richard Israel
Music Director: Deborah Abramson

About King of Pangaea: After a sudden loss shatters his world apart, 21-year-old Christopher Crow travels back to the imaginary island of his childhood in hopes of finding answers that will bring the pieces back together. King of Pangaea explores the rich, complicated, and at times beautiful world of loss, examining what it means to become king or queen of one's own heart.

The Pelican

Book & Lyrics by Will Lacker
Music & Lyrics by Dylan Glatthorn
Director: Alan Muraoka
Music Director: Adam Cole Klepper

About The Pelican: In the not-too-distant future, The Pelican Bar is almost all that remains of a Florida coastal town devastated by climate change. When a new category of hurricane approaches, the few offbeat residents that remain must make a choice: exchange their freedom for safety in a nearby Corporate City or risk the storm to keep their town alive. Brimming with raucous melodies and deep grooves, humor and heartbreak, The Pelican is a musical that shines with the colorful community of Florida.

Perpetual Sunshine & the Ghost Girls

Book & Lyrics by Sara Cooper
Music by Lynne Shankel
Director: Ann Yee
Music Director: Julie McBride

About Perpetual Sunshine & the Ghost Girls: Featuring an all-women+ cast and an original through-composed 1920s- 2020s mashup score, Richard Rodgers Award-winning musical Perpetual Sunshine & the Ghost Girls tells the true story of the capitalist exploitation and knowing radium poisoning of workers by the U.S. Radium Corporation - and the women who fought back.

Pup! A Chew Story - A New Musical

Book & Lyrics by Marcus Terrell Smith
Music by Robin Schäfer
Director: Rachel Klein
Music Director: Adam Laird
About Pup! A Chew Story: Is finding a forever home at the heart of every dog? Or are they meant for greater things? The strength of friendship is put to the ultimate test when two inseparable companions - a tri-pawed pit bull and his chew toy - embark on a quest for a forever home in Hollywood.

The FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS is the cornerstone of NAMT's mission to assure the advancement of the musical theatre field. Each year, the Festival presents eight shows before an audience of over 700 industry professionals, highlighting quality new works with a wide range of subjects and forms. With an explicit commitment to nurturing composers, lyricists and book writers of all identities and backgrounds, the Festival seeks to expand the musical theatre repertoire and advance the musical theatre art form.

The 34th ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS is overseen by NAMT New Works Director Frankie Dailey and Festival General Manager Joey Monda.

The 2022 Festival Committee is co-chaired by Brannon Bowers of American Music Theatre Project (IL) and Marguerite Hannah of Horizon Theatre (GA), with Chair Emerita Dana Harrel of Disneyland Paris (FR). Committee members include: Chris Alleman, Lake Dillon Theatre Company (CO); Taneisha Duggan, Octopus Theatricals (NY); Sharon Fallon, Sharon Fallon Productions, Inc. (NY); Elisabeth Farwell-Moreland, Seattle Rep (WA); Nancy Gibbs, 321 Theatrical Management (NY); Michel Hausmann, Miami New Drama (FL); Jonathan McCrory, National Black Theatre (NY); Matt Morrow, Diversionary Theatre Productions (CA); Kamana Ntibarikure, Segal Centre for Performing Arts (QC); Olivia O'Connor, Pittsburgh CLO (PA)/Geffen Playhouse (CA); Brad Willcuts, Michigan State University (MI); Chris Youstra, Olney Theatre Center (MD); Audrey Zielenbach, Gulfshore Playhouse (FL); and Julianne Wick Davis, (Alumna Writer Representative, writer of Southern Comfort (Fest '12) and Lautrec at the St. James (Fest '19)).