$26.50 Tickets Available to Tonight's NYMF Gala!

New York Musical Theater Festival will kick of its sixth season with a Gala Celebration of its first five years, called BEST OF THE FEST, on Monday, April 20th at 7 PM at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues). A limited number of show-only tickets are available for $26.50 with code NFGENA309 at www.BroadwayOffers.com or by phone at 212/239-6200; VIP tickets, including a post-show reception with the performers, are $136.50.

Final additions to the all-star roster for the evening include BD Wong ("Law and Order: SVU," director of The Yellow Wood at NYMF), original Altar Boyz cast member Tyler Maynard, and Next to Normal authors Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, who join Michael Berresse as presenters; in addition, Next to Normal, which opened at the Booth Theater on Broadway last week, will be among the NYMF shows featured. Also performing are the entire casts of acclaimed NYMF shows [title of show], Altar Boyz, and ROOMS a rock romance, as well as Ryan Bogner (Bedbugs!), Celina Carvajal, (Bedbugs!, Rooms), Jenn Colella (Urban Cowboy), Diane Davis (Old Acquaintance), Mary Bond Davis (Hairspray), Tom Deckman (Spamalot) , Nicholas Galbraith (I & Albert, "As the World Turns"), Debbie Gravitte (Tony Award - Jerome Robbins' Broadway, Blues In The Night, Zorba, Chicago, and Les Miserables), Autumn Hulbert (Legally Blonde), Nellie McKay (The Threepenny Opera), Euan Morton (Taboo, Tony Kushner's adaptation of Brundibár at The New Victory Theatre, won an Obie Award for Measure For Pleasure at The Public Theatre, and NYMF Best Actor Award for the title role of the musical Caligula), Kate Reinders (Gypsy, Wicked), Kate Shindle (Cabaret), Rachel Stern (Shrek, Cry-Baby, High Fidelity, Tarzan), and Jason Wooten (ROOMS, Jesus Christ Superstar).

Since its inception in 2004, The New York Musical Theatre Festival has premiered more than 175 new musicals - more than 40 of which have gone on to award-winning productions in New York, in regional theaters and in almost every state and in 10 countries worldwide. Two of the ten new musicals to open on Broadway this season were NYMF alums, including Next to Normal, which opened last week to rave reviews, and [title of show], which enjoyed an acclaimed run at the Lyceum Theater last summer. NYMF 2004 hit Altar Boyz has played well over 1,500 performances Off-Broadway and spawned two National Tours, and NYMF 2005 hit Rooms recently began performances Off-Broadway at New World Stages. This year's Festival will run September 28th through October 18th.

NYMF's fifth season enjoyed 24 full productions, a dance series, a developmental series, concerts and special events. NYMF 2008 ended on October 5th, having presented 241 performances over the course of 21 days. The festival sold at a record-breaking 87.5% of capacity, with over 25,000 people attending. Over 75% of productions had sold-out performances, and 11 productions extended their runs to accommodate demand.

Hailed as "the Sundance of Musical Theatre," NYMF exists to revitalize one of America's greatest art forms by discovering, supporting and promoting new musical theater artists, producers, and projects, and by introducing a diverse audience to the vibrancy of contemporary musical theater. Widely regarded as the essential source for new material and talent discovery, NYMF is the flagship program of The National Music Theater Network, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, and is presented in association with BroadwayWorld.com, Production Resource Group and TheaterMania.com, and supported by amNewYork, Barnes & Noble Booksellers, BroadwayBox.com, BroadwayInsider.com, Frank & Camille's Fine Pianos, HX Magazine, Jossip.com, King Displays, Queerty.com, Manhattan Movement & Arts Center, Metromix.com, The New York Blade, Next Magazine, Panasonic Astrovision, Tekserve, and TheMENEvent. NYMF is supported, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency. Visit www.nymf.org.