Mainstreet Musicals to Launch Festival Season at The Muny in St. Louis, 5/3-4

On May 3rd and 4th, Mainstreet Musicals will launch its premiere festival season with the St. Louis/Mainstreet Festival of New Musicals - presenting three new musicals in concert readings at The Muny - Orthwein Hall, #1 Theatre Drive, St Louis, MO.

Mainstreet Musicals is a New York-based organization whose mission is to encourage the development of new musicals by sharing some of the finest through annual regional festivals. Submissions are evaluated by a jury of professional theatre directors. Actor John Lithgow, serving as Mainstreet's 2014 Guest Artistic Director, made the final selection and commented, "I found the quality of these pieces to be extremely high, offering abundant evidence that wonderful work is out there waiting to be discovered."

The three featured shows for the premiere season are: Merton of the Movies (written by Doug Katsaros and Donald Brenner), Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (written by Lindsay Warren Baker and Amanda Jacobs), and Under Fire (written by Barry Harman and Grant Sturiale). All three will be performed each day of the Festival in St. Louis.

Broadway actor Tim Jerome, founder of MAINSTREET MUSICALS and founding president of the New York Musical Theatre Festival, said that for the first time ever, "A collective of professional theatre artists has developed the ability to identify and introduce brand new, highly entertaining, commercially viable musicals to regional audiences - increasing jobs for artists and delighting theatre-goers - for years to come."

The St. Louis/Mainstreet Festival of New Musicals is being produced by Ben Nordstrom (an acclaimed actor who has performed regionally at Stages St Louis, the MUNY as well as the ArrowRock Lyceum Theatre and others) and includes the following directors and musical directors: Quinn Gresham, Larry Pry, Megan Larche, Neal Richardson, Alec Wild, Steven Neale. Visit www.mainstreetfestivals.org/stlouis.htm for details on the artists, times of the performances on May 3rd & 4th, and ticket information.

To learn more about MAINSTREET FESTIVALS and to hear musical selections of the winning works, visit www.mainstreetfestivals.org. To purchase tickets to the Festival: www.brownpapertickets.com/events/661951.

MAINSTREET MUSICALS Inc. is a national consortium of theater professionals and their partners. Linking an in-house program of professional script evaluation to a coordinated network of local theater festivals, MAINSTREET MUSICALS aims to grow the market for live theatre by expanding regional exposure of new theatrical musicals, stimulating development, and encouraging new production.

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