ANMT Hosts Stages Fest July 15-17

More proof that Los Angeles is becoming a magnet for new musicals: after 15 years in Chicago, Stages Musical Theatre Festival has moved to Los Angeles. When Theatre Building Chicago closed its doors last year, ANMT swooped in and has taken over the festival, moving it to North Hollywood.

This prestigious festival of new musicals will be produced the weekend of July 15-17 by the Academy for New Musical Theatre at the Lonny Chapman Theatre and the Academy, featuring eight new musicals, in concert.

An annual Chicago tradition, Stages had been presented at Theatre Building Chicago, helmed by Artistic Director John Sparks. Sparks has been Artistic Director at the Academy since 1981, so the fit between the organizations is a natural one. "I've actually been thinking for years to launch a festival in Los Angeles, and this seemed like the right way to do it. Stages' mission of presenting full readings of new musicals in concert is a perfect fit for ANMT's vision."

"It's very exciting," says the Academy's Executive Director Scott Guy, "bringing together dozens of writers and over fifty actors to present eight brand-new shows. This is one of the most ambitious things we've ever produced at ANMT. We produced a four-show Festival with Theatre League back in 2006, and we've been producing a three-show concert reading series at the Colony Theatre -- but this is eight shows, any given two of which are happening simultaneously!"

The schedule is designed so that a Festival Pass holder can see four shows on one day at the Lonny Chapman Theatre, and the other four shows at the Academy on the other. Or, if you have only one day, you can pick and choose among all eight shows, shuttling between the theatre and the Academy, which are five doors away from each other.

Festival Passes cost $75 and will admit you to every event in the Festival except a Friday night gala. As was the tradition in Chicago, tickets to individual events will be available at the box office 15 minutes before curtain; individual tickets cannot be reserved in advance. Festival pass holders will be given priority seating, and any remaining tickets will be available for purchase by individuals.

"There are only 90 seats at the Group Rep Theatre," explains Guy, "and so it's possible there won't be seats for individual ticket buyers. To counterbalance that, we're scheduling events at the Academy a half-hour later than the ones at the theatre, so there still will be a musical to see for everyone."

Co-Artistic Director Elise Dewsberry explains the distinction between events at the Academy and those at the theatre: "Events at the Academy showcase first drafts, whereas the ones at the theatre have all had several more stages of development...hence the word 'Stages.' We've added a late-night cabaret as well, which might include some even NEWER works, as well as some much much older works. New musical theatre, at every stage of development."

Stages in Chicago solicited submissions from writers all around the country, involving readers and artistic directors to help recommend finalists. Because of the sudden closing of Theatre Building Chicago, there was not time for this year's Stages to set up a complete submission process, so the works to be featured in this year's festival have all been developed at ANMT. "We hope to set up the submission process in time for next year's Stages," says Dewsberry, "because there are so many wonderful writers and shows out there, we would love to be able to share them with Los Angeles."

The more developed shows in this year's 16th Annual Stages Musical Theatre Festival are: Windjammers, the moving tale of a sailor on the Great Lakes in the 19th century, written by Robin Share and Clay Zambo; In the Mind of Olympians, a powerful revue about the 1948 and 2012 London Olympics, written by a dozen writers in London and Los Angeles; Powder Puff Pilots, telling the story of female pilots in the 1920's, written by Marian Partee, Cindy O'Connor and Noelle Donfeld; and Now and Then a Hero, ten stories of real life common heroes, written by Larry Johnson and Jake Anthony.

The shows at the first draft stage at the Academy are: Ghost(s), a goofy story of a local theatre company who thought they were producing a musical based on the hit movie Ghost, but discover to their horror it's a terrible musical adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's play about syphilis and euthanasia, written by Kincaid Jones, Brian Woodbury and Noelle Donfeld; Mary Marie, a sweet family musical based on the classic 19th-century novel about a young girl struggling with her parents' divorce, written by Chana Wise and Carl Johnson; The Ring, a nasty dark comedy about revenge at a high school reunion, written by Eric Dodson and Alan Fleishman; and The Angel of Painted Post, a powerful fable about an unlikely vision in an even more unlikely town, written Adrian Bewley, Richard Castle and Matthew Levine. The festival begins on Friday evening July 15th, and continues morning, afternoon and evening through July 17th.

Festival passes may be purchased in advance for $75 ($100 includes the Friday night opening) through the Academy's website at www.anmt.org

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