WHAT DO CRITICS KNOW? to Play NYMF

The New York Musical Theatre Festival and MWG Productions, LLC are pleased to announce casting for WHAT DO CRITICS KNOW?, a new musical with music and lyrics by James Campodonico and Matthew Gurren a book by Matthew Gurren and direction by Michael Bello. The company includes Chris Gleim, Sarah Stevens, Mary Mossberg, Danny Bolero, Kimberly Doreen Burns, Ryan Knowles, Bruce Rebold, Jason Fleck, Prescott Seymour, Kaitlyn Frank, Lindsay Bayer, Sean Bell and Danny Harris Kornfield.

Performances run, Thursday, July 23 at 8:00 pm, Friday, July 24 at 9:00 pm, Saturday, July 25 at 1:00 pm, Sunday, July 26 at 4:00 pm and Monday, July 27 at 4:00 pm at the The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center. The NYMF PASS is currently on sale at https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/store/52/packages. NYMF Passholder tickets booking begins June 1st at 11:00 am. Individual tickets go on sale June 15th at 11:00 am. The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center is located at 480 West 42nd Street, between Dyer and 10th Avenues on the South Side of 42nd Street. For tickets and information call (212) 352-3101 or visit http://nymf.org/whatdocriticsknow.

It's nothing personal, just show business. In a strange turn of fate, the three most powerful theater critics, who have taken countless shows off the stage, must now put one on. With time running short, they enlist the help of a struggling Broadway writer, Nathan Wood, who has had a string of critically-panned flops and needs a comeback. Can the critics pull through despite their overly critical natures? Can cooperation, harmony and perhaps even love exist between an artist and a critic? Find out if poetic justice will be served cold or in a warm review. For more information, please visit: www.whatdocriticsknow.com.

James Campodonico (Music and Lyrics) songs have been performed in Talent '65 New York, Tanglewood, Goodspeed Opera House, The Triad, The Duplex, and Don't Tell Mama. He has composed the following musicals: FLOWERS AND TREES, developed at the O'Neill Playwrights Festival, Waterford Connecticut, toured with the O'Neill Theater Institute and later presented at Edward Albee's Playwrights Unit and at the Whole Theater (Olympia Dukakis, Artistic Director) in Montclair, NJ; BETWEEN THE LINES presented as staged readings by the York Theatre Company, Amas Repertory Theater, and as a full production by Luna Stage in Montclair; MURDER ON BROADWAY, developed at Musical Theater Works, presented at NAMT and produced for a 12-week run at the Show Boat Dinner Theater in Florida. He has been a member of the Lehman Engel BMI Musical Theater Workshop since 1965 and has participated in the ASCAP Musical Theater Workshop.

Matthew Gurren (Book, Music and Lyrics) is a writer, performer and videographer. Past written and performed shows include MRS., WIDOW, THE APPRAISER'S DESK, THE ELDERS, and two one-act musicals, NO LOVER'S FOOL and LAST DANCE. He currently works at The York Theatre Company where he recently had his first staged reading of WHAT DO CRITICS KNOW? In addition to writing, he has also performed in a number of regional musical productions. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild and a graduate of Tufts University.

The production team includes set designs by Anne Sherer, costume designs by Christopher Vergara, lighting design by Duane Pagano, choreography by Justin Boccitto and sound design by Brett Rothstein. Doug Oberhamer is the Musical Director and Michael Barbour is the Stage Manager.

The New York Musical Theatre Festival nurtures the creation, production, and public presentation of stylistically, thematically, and culturally diverse new musicals to ensure the future vitality of musical theatre. Now in its twelfth year, the Festival is the largest musical theatre event in America. 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 theatre 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 20 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 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.

For more information, please visit: www.nymf.org.