Ball State University Launches National Musical Theater Festival

Ball State University is luring artists to Muncie from as far away as Los Angeles and New York with the launch of a national musical theater festival and ambitions to produce the next great American musical.

Theater professor Beth Turcotte says the university's ongoing development of "The Circus in Winter," an original musical created by students in 2010 now in professional development with the Connecticut-based Goodspeed Musical Festival, where "Annie," "Man of La Mancha," and "Shenandoah" got their starts, was the impetus for the Discovery New Musical Theatre Festival, to be held July 18-20 in Muncie.

"Through the 'Circus' experience, we've met a number of industry insiders, and we've learned so much about this process, we felt a festival could be an excellent way to share that expertise," Turcotte said.

Festival producers expected to receive 30-40 submissions but were overwhelmed by the 130 musicals that poured in from across the country. Three works were selected as finalists for public staged readings as part of the festival. Industry professional judges will select a final winner that will be staged as a full theater production by Ball State for its 2015-16 theater season.

Festival website: http://www.bsudiscoveryfestival.com/