AMERICAN IDOL Alum's Rock Opera Chosen for NYMTF's 'Next Link Project'

Billboard reports that Jon Peter Lewis, a contestant on the third season of FOX's AMERICAN IDOL, has been selected from hundreds of submissions to participate in the New York Musical Theatre Festival's "Next Link Project" this July.

Lewis penned the book for the rock opera "Deep Love" along with Ryan Hayes and Garrett Sherwood, and has already directed multiple productions of the show. Lewis and Hayes, a contestant on the fourth season of "The Voice," star in the show, with another competitor from The Voice, Amy Whitcomb.

The festival has previously been home to future Broadway productions Next to Normal, [title of show] and Chaplin. Twenty four festival finalists have been produced off-Broadway, including Altar Boyz, The Great American Trailer Park Musical and Fat Camp.

Lewis tells the site, "For the last five years, we've been workshopping the show. It evolves every year. We take the lessons learned from each production, and apply them to the following run." He adds that the festival production will include "some dynamic choreography and dancing."

The Idol finalists is hoping that the new production "will put us on the radar with some of the more influential people in the commercial theater community." He comments, "We have to put on a show in New York from top to bottom. We have to handle all of the logistics, including casting and all aspects of production."

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