New York Musical Theatre Festival Announces Dance Series

The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) is a three-week celebration that brings the next generation of musical theatre to NYC audiences.  In 2006, NYMF will feature 312 performances, including the premiering of 34 new musicals and 84 musical theatre events and a broad range of programming that will include full productions, developmental works, concerts, seminars and panels, partner events and commissions.  This year, NYMF will present a new series: The NYMF Dance Series.

"We've spent the last year reaching out to choreographers and seeing dance works in development, because we feel dance is an essential part of musical theatre and because these shows can't be discovered in the same way that many musicals are - by listening to a CD or reading a script," said executive director Kris Stewart.  "We want the Festival to represent as many artists as possible – including choreographers."

The NYMF Dance Series will include All is Love, which marries the traditions of musical theatre choreography with the electronic sounds of contemporary music; School Daze, where the fantasies of six students are played out during a high school prom in the 80's; and Common Grounds, a NYMF commission that partners NYMF alumni authors (Sammy Buck and Doug Katsaros) with five up-and-coming choreographers (Ron de Jesus, Ray Leeper, Mia Michaels, Jeff Shade, and Lisa Stevens) to create a dance musical set in a midtown coffee shop.

"Common Grounds is evidence of how we're trying to reinvigorate musical theatre by fostering artistically innovative collaborations," said executive producer Isaac Robert Hurwitz. "Each year, we're astonished by how much the festival community has grown – and each year, we hope we're even more successful at getting a new generation of artists and musicals in front of audiences, where they can get the vital response they need."
 
All shows in The NYMF Dance Series will be full productions, and their details are as follows:

All is Love features music by Travis Sullivan and Alex Fortuit. "A new dance musical from Walden Dance Theatre, All is Love follows the journeys of three women disillusioned as they adjust to life in New York City. Inspired by classic movie musicals from the 1940s and 1950s, All is Love marries the traditions of musical theatre choreography with the electronic sounds of contemporary music, and explores the magnitude of hope and survival in a story told entirely through dance."  It will play the 37 Arts Theatre on September 19th at 8 PM, September 23rd at 4 PM, September 27th at 9 PM and September 28th at 9 PM.

School Daze is "a senior prom fantasia aonceived and created by Wendy Seyb. The show tells the tale of six students and their fantasies that are played out at a high school dance in the 1980's. In the tradition of Matthew Bourne's Play Without Words and Twyla Tharp's Movin' Out, choreographer Wendy Seyb (But I'm a Cheerleader) interprets her story without spoken dialogue and soley through movement and classical music.  In a twist on the jukebox musical, Seyb uses the 'hits' of Mozart, Rossini, Bizet, Tchaikovsky and Bach, and proves that dance can be outrageously funny.  Remember everything you've hated and loved about high school? It's all here, told through classical music, heartfelt romance, drunken moments, comedy, and dance."  It will play the 37 Arts on September 21st at 8 PM, September 23rd at 7 PM and September 28th at 3 PM.  

Common Grounds features a book by Sammy Buck, and music by Doug Katsaros. "New York City. Eight million people.  Eight million stories.  Eight million coffee shops.  An innovative dance musical set in a midtown coffee shop that explores how, in the most mundane of places, we intersect with, ricochet off of, and greatly impact each others lives.  Commissioned by NYMF, this unique collaborative piece matches five of the most talented up-and-coming choreographers working today with writers from past NYMF productions, who created the new score and book."  It will play the 37 Arts on September 20th at 8 PM, September 22nd at 1 PM and September 28th at 6:30 PM. 

The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF), now in its third year, is a three-week event in NYC that has premiered over 70 musicals in its first two years, becoming the largest musical theatre event in American history. Hailed as "the Sundance of Musical Theatre," it is now widely regarded among the entertainment industry as the key source for new material and talent discovery. 

Visit www.nymf.org for more information.