NYMF Opens Ticket Booking For 2009 festival To Members Beginning 8/1

The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) will open ticket booking for its 2009 festival to NYMF Members, beginning Saturday August 1st. This year's festival will be presented September 28- October 18. A complete list of shows and creative are below.

NYMF Membership offers exclusive benefits, including free tickets, early booking (one month before tickets go on sale to the general public), early seating in theatre venues, free party invites and more!

-SILVER MEMBERSHIP: At the $100 level ($40 tax deductible), members receive four (4) free tickets, early booking, early seating, discounts at the many NYMF partner events and restaurants, and free admission for two (2) to the NYMF Opening Night Party.

-GOLD MEMBERSHIP: At the $200 level ($60 tax deductible) members receive all the benefits of Silver membership, plus another four (4) tickets - eight (8) in total! - as well as invitations to special Members-only events and 25% off admission to all NYMF@NITE events.

-PLATINUM MEMBERSHIP: All the benefits of Gold membership, plus another four (4) tickets - twelve (12) in total - as well as invitations to two exclusive NYMF Readings, and access to additional $20 tickets (without ticketing fees) during the members-only booking period.

Every year, tickets to NYMF productions sell out quickly, but NYMF Members can book their choice of performances up to one month in advance of the general public. Individual tickets will go on sale to the public beginning September 1

Since its inception in 2004, The New York Musical Theatre Festival has premiered more than 175 new musicals - more than 50 of which have gone on to award-winning productions in New York, in regional theaters and in almost every state and in 12 countries worldwide. NYMF 2004 hit Altar Boyz has played well over 1,800 performances Off-Broadway and spawned two National Tours; fellow NYMF alum [title of show] recently played on Broadway (Tony Award nomination, Best Book of a Musical); Next to Normal opened on Broadway, winning 3 Tony Awards of its 11 nominations; Rooms recently ran Off-Broadway where it was nominated for Outstanding Off-Broadway Musical by the Outer Critics Circle; and My Vaudeville Man ran off-Broadway, and garnered two Drama Desk and two Lucille Lortel Award nominations.

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 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. For additional information, please visit www.nymf.org.

NYMF Members can begin booking their festival tickets beginning August 1. Memberships are available for purchase now by calling the NYMF Development Office at 212-664-0979, ext. 14. For more information about NYMF memberships, please visit www.nymf.org.