Sound Bites 10-Minute Musical Theatre Festival Finalists Announced

Theatre Now New York proudly announces the ten musical finalists that will be featured in the Third Annual Sound Bites 10-Minute Musical Theatre Festival. This year's benefit festival will be performing on January 18, 2016 (Martin Luther King Holiday), at 7:00 pm at the 47th Street Theatre, 304 West 47th Street, in Manhattan. Tickets go on sale to the public on December 1st at www.tnny.org or by calling 855-254-SHOW [7469]. Sound Bites Musical Theatre Festival benefits the development of new musicals.

After a record-breaking amount of submissions this year, the Sound Bites Adjudication Committee chose the top ten. The finalists will compete for top festival honors including Best Musical, Best Director, and Best Music and Lyrics. The audience also votes for their favorite musical to earn the coveted Audience Choice Award.

"Every year we are known for our diverse selections and we will stay true to that this year by showcasing everything from Burning Man: The Musical to A Cappella Love to our first 10-minute opera, Too Much Coffee Man Opera. We have a little bit of everything to satisfy everyone's taste. It's an exciting process and don't forget it all comes together in a one night only event," said Thomas Morrissey, Artistic Director of Theatre Now New York.

Theatre Now New York is a non-profit organization that facilitates the creation and development of new theatrical works as well as the re-imagining of previously produced known titles and the reinterpretation of classic works through productions, readings, workshops and work-in-progress presentations. Sound Bites is a chance for artists of all theatrical disciplines, at any point in their careers, to get their work seen and possibly developed further, or even produced.

The ten finalists, listed in alphabetical order, featured at this year's Sound Bites are...

· A Cappella Love (music by Nelson Kole, lyrics by Mark Browning Milner, and book by Mark Browning Milner, Lorrie Kole, and Nelson Kole) Performed by eight triple-threat singers-actors-dancers (four men, four women) without instrumental accompaniment, is a new musical that, through song, dance, and comedy, explores the universal experiences of falling in, being in, and stumbling out of - what else? - love.

· Baked Goods (music by Helen Park Martin, lyrics by Christyn Budzyna, and book by Charles Cohen) Gertie may be the worst girl scout the troop has ever seen: She has never won a badge, and ate all the girl scout cookies she was supposed to sell. When her mother (who also happens to be her troop leader) gives her the ultimatum of selling 100 boxes to continue her girlscout membership, Gertie does her best to rise to the occasion, with a little help from a new friend.

· Burning Man: The Musical (music by Gene Back, lyrics and book by Matt Werner) Burning Man: The Musical is a new musical about the collision of Silicon Valley and Burning Man.

· Burning Up (music by Rick Bassett, lyrics by Pamela Weiler Grayson, and book by Pamela Weiler Grayson and Rick Bassett) In this short musical comedy, a New York City couple awake one morning, burning up with fevers, while their babysitter and their handyman are sizzling with a fever of a different kind. Chaos and Kleenex reign, in this classic yet contemporary tale of love and flu-like symptoms.

· Fictitious (music, lyrics, and book by Paul Cozby and Tom Hyndman) Fictitious is a 90-minute musical comedy inspired by the life of Arnold Schwarzenegger that traces the unlikely success story of an immigrant bodybuilder turned actor turned politician who marries into America's political royal family and eventually becomes president.

· Gorgonzola (music by Nolan Livesay, book and lyrics by Gregory Bonsignore) A progressive Sicilian town is thrown into turmoil when they discover they have a rule that the oldest person in town is always right.

· "The Hipster Sister" (music, lyrics, and book by Andy Roninson) Brooklyn, 2015. Chelsea is getting fed up with her slacker singer-songwriter sister, Jackie, and it's time she moved out.

· On Your Mark (music by Aaron Kenny, book and lyrics by Danny K. Bernstein) A contemporary re-imagining of the Aesop Fable 'The Tortoise and the Hare,' this fun new show takes the familiar classic and exposes the truth behind this infamous woodland race.

· Too Much Coffee Man Opera (music by Daniel Steven Crafts, book by Shannon Wheeler) Too Much Coffee Man Opera is a collaboration between Eisner Award winner and New Yorker cartoonist Shannon Wheeler and Emmy Award winning composer Daniel Steven Crafts. The opera, the first of what is now being called Gonzo Opera, features a droll-verging-on-zany libretto by Wheeler with characters from his syndicated cartoon and a highly melodic comic score by Crafts. The first-ever comic book opera.

· We Have Apples (music, lyrics, and book by Rachel Ford Griffin) We Have Apples is a musical comedy set in a psychiatric hospital. Jane must overcome her depression (which is portrayed by another character) to be with the man she falls in love with, who happens to be her psychiatrist's son.

At the Sound Bites Festival in 2014, festival judges awarded The Answering Machine (music by Andy Roninson, book and lyrics by Kevin Hammonds), Best Musical, Best Lyrics to Kevin Hammonds and Best Music to Thicket and Thistle, the composers of What's Your Wish. The Best Direction Award went to Benjamin Viertel for Grindr the Musical and Cookie Soiree: a sweet new musical short (music by Garrit Guadan, lyrics and book by Justin Anthony Long, and concept by Jonathan Lee) won the Audience Choice Award.

Theatre Now New York Artistic Director, Thomas Morrissey, has helped develop and produce new plays and musicals including the East Coast Premiere of Kingdom, the world premiere of The Last Sunday in June, and the East Coast Premiere of The Break-Up Notebook. Stephen Bishop Seely, Literary Manager of Theatre Now New York and Producer of Sound Bites, has helped develop several Off-Broadway and Broadway shows including Disney's Tarzan, Rock Wilk's Broke Wide Open, Rock Wilk's Brooklyn Quartet, and 8 Million Protagonists.

Theatre Now New York is a professional theatre company whose history originates with two established companies - the Genesius Theatre Guild in New York City and ReVision Theatre in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Theatre Now New York brings together the founding principles of both these companies; developmental work and main stage theatrical productions. The mission of Theatre Now New York is to facilitate the creation and development of new theatrical works, the reimagining of previously produced known titles and the reinterpretation of classic works through readings, productions, workshops and work-in-progress presentations and to promote the understanding and appreciation of live theatre and its process by the general public and provides opportunities for emerging, mid-career and established theatre professional in their ongoing creative process. In keeping with this mission, Sound Bites' goal is to seek out and cultivate new writers and composers and develop new musicals.

For more information on Theatre Now New York and to join their mailing list visit their website at www.tnny.org.

For more information about Sound Bites, visit www.tnny.org/soundbites.

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