Victoria Clark to Be Honored at NYMF 2019

The New York Musical Festival (NYMF) will honor Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award-winning actress Victoria Clark, NYMF Board Member Jill Jaysen and Tony Award-winning producers Frankel, Viertel, Baruch, Routh Group at its 2018 Gala on Sunday, November 11 at the Edison Ballroom in Midtown Manhattan (240 W 47th St, New York, NY 10036).

The 2018 Gala will be hosted by Joey McIntrye (New Kids on the Block, Wicked).

Presenters for the evening include Dan Markley, Kim Vasquez, Mary Beth Peil (Anastasia), and Jerry Zaks (Hello, Dolly!). Ben Cameron(Broadway Sessions) will serve as auctioneer.

The evening will include performances from Lesli Margherita (Matilda), Sushma Saha (Interstate), Brian Charles Rooney (The Threepenny Opera), Jordan Barrow (Sousatzka), Heath Saunders (Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812), Carla J. Hargrove (Little Shop of Horrors), Trisha Jeffrey (Motown the Musical), Dequina Moore (The Bodyguard), Benji Goldsmith (Scorched), Sophia Gennusa(Matilda), James Ignacio (The King and I), Diego Lucano (School of Rock), Ryann Melissa Davis (NYMF), Genesis Gomez (Open Hydrant Theater Company), Malcolm Grant (Open Hydrant Theater Company), David Hoffman (NYMF), Merin McCallum (NYMF), Jamilah Rosemond (NYMF), Orly Salik (NYMF), Blake Sheridan (NYMF), and Graydon Peter Yosowitz (Trevor).

Each November, NYMF holds a gala celebrating the year's artistic triumphs and honoring select individuals whose work has contributed to the continued vitality of musical theatre. Held at the beautiful Edison Ballroom, a historic Times Square landmark, this one of a kind event is attended by an exclusive group of musical theater enthusiasts, Broadway artists, and leading members of the theater industry. The evening will begin with a cocktail reception and silent auction, after which guests will be treated to a gourmet meal and a star-studded show.

The honorees will be celebrated via performances by Broadway stars and NYMF alumni in an evening of entertainment directed by David Alpert(Assoc. Director, Broadway's If/Then), with musical direction by Rachel Dean (Hamilton).

Additionally, NYMF also announced that submissions for the 2019 Next Link Project have been extended by one week due to popular demand. The new deadline for 2019 submissions is Wednesday, November 14th at 11:59 PM EST. The Next Link Project is the cornerstone of NYMF's Programming. It is open to any writer, produced or unproduced, with or without agency representation. The program receives hundreds of submissions from all over the world each fall, and every script and demo recording is reviewed by numerous members of NYMF's Reading Committee.

To submit a show, you must have a finished script and at least 75% of the songs recorded. All entries undergo double-blind evaluations by our readers (ensuring a focus on the quality of work), with finalists reviewed by our Grand Jury of industry professionals. The regular application fee is $75 or $25 for students with a valid Student I.D. For more information and to apply, please visit www.nymf.org/nextlink.

Victoria Clark (Artistic Honoree) maintains a remarkable career as actor, teacher, and director. A graduate of Yale University, she has co-starred in 12 Broadway shows, and countless off-Broadway and regional productions. Victoria received the 2005 Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for her luminous portrayal of Margaret Johnson in The Light in the Piazza, and received three additional Tony nominations for her work in Sister Act, Cinderella, and Gigi.

Film credits include: Wanderland, The Happening, Cradle Will Rock, Tickling Leo, Harvest, Main Street, and Archaeology of a Woman. Televisions credits: The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair (Fall 2018) The Good Wife, Homeland, Mercy, Law and Order, and Law and Order SVU.

Clark has directed Newton's Cradle (New York Musical Festival, Best Musical & Best Director; by Kim Saunders and Heath Saunders), Scaffolding by Jeff Blumenkrantz for the Inner Voices series at The Barrow Group Theater (starring Rebecca Luker), The Trouble With Doug (Fredericia Theater/Denmark; by Will Aronson and Daniel Maté), Hansel and Gretl and Heidi and Günther (Village Theater Festival of New Musicals; by Will Aronson, Daniel Maté and Hannah Kohl.) Upcoming Projects: Mary Jo Shen's Paper Piano at Joe's Pub, and Dance of Death by August Strindberg at CSC. She has also directed for the Philadelphia Opera Theater, Texas Opera Theater, Goodspeed Opera House, Chautauqua Opera, and the 92nd Street Y.

Ms. Clark has taught in numerous universities and conservatories world-wide including Yale University and Juilliard. In 2014-2015, she was the Artist-In-Residence for Pace University, where she directed The Light in the Piazza.

Her solo debut CD Fifteen Seconds of Grace is available through PS Classics.

Jill Jaysen (Board Honoree) is an award-winning director and playwright who founded Center Stage Theatre Company with the vision of awakening dreams for all who experience it. Jill is a strong proponent of creating new works while encouraging her students to embrace their individuality and use their voices to positively impact the world around them.

Since 2005, her original musicals have received multiple awards from the NETC, including the prestigious Moss Hart Memorial Award for Best Musical in New England. Most recently, Center Stage was honored alongside the Shubert Theatre and Long Wharf for their Outstanding Achievement In The American Theatre. Jill's tween and teen-centric musicals have been performed both nationally and internationally. Her students can be seen on Broadway, Film, TV as well as on stage accepting a TONY. Jill's diverse background spans from corporate to creative. She is a founding producer of NYMF, a corporate communications coach and a former stockbroker.

Marc Routh, Richard Frankel, Tom Viertel, Steven Baruch (Business Honorees) have produced and managed a wide range of productions for the past 32 years, including, among others, the original Broadway productions of The Producers, Hairspray, Young Frankenstein, Smokey Joe's Café, Angels in America, Penn & Teller, The Weir, The Encounter and Swing.

Their notable revivals include Gypsy with Patti LuPone, The Norman Conquests, A Little Night Music with Catherine Zeta Jones and Angela Lansbury and later Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch; John Doyle's Sweeney Todd with Patti LuPone and Michael Cerveris and Company with Raul Esparza; A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum with Nathan Lane and later, Whoopie Goldberg, Damn Yankees and the first-ever Broadway revivals of The Sound of Music and Little Shop of Horrors. They've mounted many national tours and productions in London, Australia, Canada, Europe and throughout Asia.

Their productions have been awarded dozens of awards including 2 Pulitzer Prizes, 4 Grammy Awards, 2 Olivier Awards for Best Musical and their 6 Tony Awards include all 4 "Best" categories - play, musical, revival of a play and revival of a musical.

They own and operate the acclaimed Broadway-themed nightclub/cabaret Feinstein's/54 Below which presents over 700 performances each year and has set a new culinary standard for New York City entertainment venues.

For more information on purchasing gala tickets, please visit www.nymf.org/gala.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos