There's a new musical theatre partnership on the West Coast. 3D Theatricals of Orange County and New Musicals Inc. of North Hollywood are proud to announce their new co-presented Concert Reading Series for New Musicals. The inaugural season will consist of readings of three new musicals, presented at the 3D Theatricals Rehearsal Hall in Anaheim and at the Colony Theatre in Burbank, from March through June of 2016.
The two organizations first worked together in August of 2015 when NMI presented their STAGES Festival of New Works for the 3DT subscribers.
"The STAGES readings were a big hit with our audience," says 3DT Artistic Director T.J. Dawson. "and we think they are definitely ready to embrace the developmental process for new musicals. Our mission statement is 'to provide southern California with professional theatre that includes Broadway musicals, plays, readings and new works.' We've been very proud of our musical productions over the last four years - but were looking for a way to fulfill the 'new works' part of that mission. Finding the folks at NMI was a real match made in heaven."
"It's a win-win situation for both organizations," says NMI Artistic Director Elise Dewsberry. " 3DT is looking for a way to expose their audiences to new works, and NMI is always looking for ways to expose our writers to broader audiences. It's a natural."
The three musicals chosen for presentation in this inaugural outing are:
Darby O'Gill and the Leprechaun Queen
by Ron Barnett and Scott Guy
Monday, March 14, at New Musicals Inc.
Tuesday, March 15, at 3D Theatricals Rehearsal Hall
got musical!
an evening of excerpts from new shows in development
Monday, April 25, at the Colony Theatre
Tuesday, April 26, at 3D Theatricals Rehearsal Hall
Invisible
by David Hollingsworth and David Orris
Monday, June 6, at the Colony Theatre
Tuesday, June 7, at 3D Theatricals Rehearsal Hall
The Darby O'Gill project is in development for McCoy-Rigby Entertainment, with an eye toward Cathy Rigby in the role of the queen of the leprechauns. The got musical! concert is an annual NMI event that features excerpts from many different new musicals currently in development, and featuring the winners of the 4th annual New Voices Project for musical theatre writers under the age of 26. Invisible was the break-out hit of the August STAGES Festival, and 3D Theatricals audiences began asking about its future.
"I'm so excited about Invisible," says Dawson, "It's contemporary and fresh, and has a sweet and powerful message about truly seeing each other. High school audiences are loving it, as well as Baby Boomers who are digging all the references to 80's pop culture. We're thinking this MIGHT be the show we get behind for our very first world premiere!"
"We are hopeful that this is the beginning of a long partnership of identifying promising new shows, exposing them to audience reactions and feedback, and nurturing them to be production ready," says Dewsberry.
Tickets for the Concert Reading Series will be available for purchase by the beginning of March.
For more information on 3D Theatricals and their upcoming season of Broadway musicals, visit their website at www.3dtshows.com. For more info on the programs at New Musicals Inc., visit their website at www.nmi.org.
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