ULTIMATE MAN! Set for NYMF

The New York Musical Festival (NYMF) presents ULTIMATE MAN! a new colorful adventure with comic overtones with a book by Jane Edith Wilson & Charles Abbott, music By Alastair William King, and lyrics by Paul Gambaccini, Alastair William King & Jane Edith Wilson. Charles Abbott directs a cast of six including Gayle Samuels, Douglas Ladnier, Alan Gillespie, Michael Glavan, Joyah Love Spangler and Sidney Fischer. ULTIMATE MAN! is an official selection of the 2016 New York Musical Festival and is being staged at The Pearl Theatre, 555 West 42nd Street (bet. 10th and 11th Aves.) in NYC for five performances from July 19-26, 2016.

The Comic World is in a state of chaos. Joe, the artist who draws the politically savvy ULTIMATE MAN! has lost control of his characters and himself. Ultimate Man, in a desperate attempt to save his beloved Cathy Cookie, confronts the cartoonist in the Real World, and is followed by Rex Ringer, a villain! Buffy, Joe's publisher, has her own twisted agenda, so Joe is faced with the dilemma of creating edgy art or embracing mass appeal in a corporate world. For Joe, worlds collide in this comic adventure.

Musical Director: Steven Cuevas; Choreographer: Will Taylor; Scenic Design: Diggle; Props Design: Addison Heeran; Costume Design: Travis Chinick; Lighting Design: Jeffrey Koger; Sound Design: Spencer Carter; General Manager: Andrew Joy; Stage Manager: Haley Wilson; Assistant Stage Manager: Britney Miles; Photographer: Rick Stockwell.

ULTIMATE MAN! plays for five performances on the following schedule: Tuesday, July 19, 2016 at 8:00 pm; Thursday, July 21, 2016 at 1:00 pm; Friday, July 22, 2016 at 5:00 pm; Saturday, July 23, 2016 at 9:00 pm; Tuesday, July 26, 2016 at 9:00 pm.

Tickets are $27.50 and can be purchased online at nymf.org or by calling 212-352-3101. For more information, please visit nymf.org.

The runtime for ULTIMATE MAN! is 2 hours with a 10 min intermission.

Charles Abbott (director, book writer) Director -- Multiple productions: Alabama Shakespeare; The Alley; The Alliance (Associate AD); 5thAvenue; Fulton; MSMT (Artistic Director); Portland Stage; TUTS including Yeston/Kopit's Phantom!World Premiere; Walnut Street (4 Premieres, 2 Barrymores, 5 nominations, Lifetime Achievement Award). Off-B'way: I Forgive You, RR. His Oklahoma! (LA Opera) received first-ever Drama-Logue. Writer -- Games(Teller's, Toronto); new book for Panama Hattie Starring Ann Miller. Broadway/regional actor, 1000 performances as Cabaret's Emcee beginning in Harold Prince's 1st National.

Paul Gambaccini (conceiver, lyrics) was born in the Bronx. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Oxford University. A Contributing Editor of ROLLING STONE in the mid-70s, he went on to a happy career in British broadcasting. Paul was the second Executive Secretary of the Academy of Comic Book Fans and Collectors and attended the first Comicon in 1964. The villainous tailor Paul Gambi in THE FLASH was named after him.

Alastair William King (music, lyrics) was born in Glasgow, Scotland, he lives in New York City. Co-composer/co-book writer for Outlaws(NYMF 2011), composer of The Family Fiorelli (NYMF 2007) and Christy and The Playboys (Stowe Theatre) wrote the revue Relationships (Tada Theatre, NYC). Composer of 3 children's musicals The Adventures of Superbunny (MIT Festival 2013), A Superbunny Christmas and Superbunny's Pirate Vacation (The Actor's Fund Arts Center). His songs have been recorded by Warner Music and on Viva Records.

Jane Edith Wilson (book, lyrics) received a playwriting grant from The Pilgrim Project; a screenwriting fellowship from The Writer's Guild of America. She wrote and played the title character in the film Janeane From Des Moines (Toronto International Film Festival). As an actress, Connie on Significant Others, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Seinfeld, 1600 Penn, The Crazy Ones and ER. Film credits Catch Me If You Can, American Zombie and Eight Legged Freaks. Recipient of a Dramalogue Award for Best Performance in The Houseguests.

The New York Musical Festival nurtures the creation, production, and public presentation of stylistically, thematically, and culturally diverse new musicals to ensure the future vitality of musical theater.

Now in its thirteenth year, the Festival is the premier musical theater event in the world. 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 theater 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 24 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 2016 is sponsored by The City of New York Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, Fuzzrocket, PRG, TheaterMania, and Clear Channel Spectacolor, and 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.

The NYMF PASS is a great way to experience The New York Musical Festival. With a NYMF PASS, you can get into the theater before individual ticket holders. Passes also offer the exclusive ability to book tickets before they go on sale to the public. Individual tickets are now on sale!

The 2016 New York Musical Festival will take place July 11 - August 7. For more information, please visit: www.nymf.org