The Winter Park Playhouse 7th Annual Florida Festival Of New Musicals Breaks Attendance Records

The Winter Park Playhouse just wrapped up another highly successful Florida Festival of New Musicals. Attendance at this year's 7th annual festival was the highest in the event's history, up 10% in attendance over 2023. 

This growth is a testament to the importance of the festival as a well-established platform for writers and composers to showcase their new musical works and receive feedback from patrons, press, producers and peers.

The Florida Festival of New Musicals was created in 2017 to advance and elevate the musical theatre genre by fostering the development of new musicals and the artistic growth of writers and composers.  

Each year, submissions are accepted from writers and composers nationally and internationally and a professional panel reads, evaluates and selects six final musicals to be featured in the festival. A one-hour version of each is rehearsed and performed three times in a non-staged format by casts of professional actors, singers and musicians. Along with members of the artistic community, the general public is also invited to attend and experience the new musical development process.

Visitors from all over the country travel in to attend the popular festival. 

One guest, Tom Moran from Ft. Lauderdale summed it up in his follow up note to the theatre saying, "This was my first opportunity to attend The Winter Park Playhouse Musical Festival. I made the trip from Ft. Lauderdale and am so glad I did. It was wonderful to discover six musicals in the process of development. The organization of the festival was seamless. I was impressed by the array of creative and performing talent that was top-notch and totally professional. Thank you for fostering the future of musical theatre.”

Two of the writers who traveled to Winter Park, FL from New Jersey and Michigan to see their work performed (Michael Rogers/Montclair, NJ and Bill Wandel/Howell, MI) confirmed ".... As two time participants in the festival now, we can attest to the talent presented on ... stage. The performers are nothing short of top-tier, professional and fantastic. The direction, musical direction, sound, lighting, and production are all consistently top-notch. These are not mere staged readings, they are all-out theatrical performances!" 

The 8th annual Florida Festival of New Musicals will take place June 19-22, 2025 at The Winter Park Playhouse, Central Florida's professional musical theatre.  The submission process for the 2025 festival opens July 1, 2024 and closes September 13, 2024.

For more information on festival guidelines, timeline, application and submission details, go to www.winterparkplayhouse.org and click the “New Musical Festival” tab on the home page.

All applications should be sent to festival@winterparkplayhouse.org with FFNM in the Subject Line.

* Member Actors' Equity Association

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