Single Tix Go On Sale 9/1 For The New York Musical Theatre Festival

The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) has announced that single tickets for the 2011 Festival, running September 26th through October 16th, will go on sale at midnight on Thursday, September 1st. A schedule of this year's full productions and special events can be found at: www.nymf.org/daybyday

It was also announced today that Emmy and Tony Award winning writer/composer Robert Lopez has been named the honorary chairman of the 2011 festival.

Native New Yorker Robert Lopez's The Book of Mormon was the big winner at this year's Tony Awards, bringing unprecedented attention to the creation of new and original musical works. His equally original musical Avenue Q ran for 2,534 performances on Broadway and currently continues its successful run off-Broadway at New World Stages and around the world.

"Before Avenue Q was first done off-Broadway, I was an unknown writer whose professional goal was to be produced," said Robert Lopez. "Someone took a chance on me -- and The New York Musical Theatre Festival does the same with 30 new musicals each year. I applaud them for inspiring and encouraging the next generation of writers and composers."

Admission to the NYMF opening night celebration is available only to NYMF Members, Patrons and Participants. Festival memberships are on sale now, and combine charitable contributions with valuable, flexible ticket packages. Members and Patrons also enjoy access to exclusive NYMF events, as well as early booking and early seating to Festival productions.

Memberships for the 2011 New York Musical Theatre Festival are available at www.nymf.org or by calling (212) 352-3101.

Submissions for the 2012 Next Link Project, which guarantees production slots in the 2012 Festival, will open on September 12th. The submission deadline is October 31st; those who submit materials by September 30th will receive a discount on the application fee. The 2012 New York Musical Theatre Festival will take place in the summer of 2012 - July 9 - 29th.

Any writer - produced or unproduced, with or without industry representation - can submit a script for NYMF's Next Link Project. All scripts are double-blind evaluated with thirty finalists sent to a Grand Jury of leading players in the theatre industry. The dozen writing teams whose musicals are chosen by the jury will receive exclusive career networking opportunities, professional dramaturgical support and a subsidized production slot in the 2012 New York Musical Theatre Festival. The Next Link Project's multifaceted approach to supporting writers has helped numerous shows to garner industry attention and further productions, including "Altar Boyz," "The Great American Trailer Park Musical," "Meet John Doe," "My Vaudeville Man," "Kingdom," "Yank!" and others. Additional information on NYMF'S Next Link Project can be found at www.nymf.org/nextlinksubmissions.

The following additional events have just been announced for the 2011 NYMF Festival:

*NYMF's Next Broadway Sensation: Season 6

Over three exciting weekly concerts, ten singers will battle their way through the elimination
rounds to claim the ultimate prize: their very own solo concert, produced by NYMF and GRAMMY® Award-winning Sh-K-Boom Records. A panel of industry pros will also be on hand each week to offer feedback and advice - making the event not just a competition but also a once-in-a-lifetime master class! The fate of this year's contestants will be decided by audience
votes - so don't miss your chance to launch a star!

September 17th, 24th and October 1st at New World Stages; Doors open at 10:30pm

Educational Events

*Pop Rocks The Theatre: Contemporary Songwriters Take The Stage
Co-Presented by NYMF and The Recording Academy® New York Chapter

With the dawn of rock and roll, contemporary popular songwriting and traditional musical theatre songwriting parted company, with only the occasional well-known pop/rock artist taking a crack at composing for the stage. But in recent years, artists such as Elton John, Bono and The Edge, Paul Simon, Duncan Sheik, David Bryan, Bruce Hornsby, Suzanne Vega, and John Cougar Mellencamp have all tried their hand at scoring an original musical. What draws a popular songwriter to explore an unfamiliar, highly collaborative form? What are the challenges and rewards they face in making the transition from crafting radio hits to crafting "showtunes"? NYMF and The Recording Academy New York Chapter (the GRAMMY Award® organization) bring together a panel of well-known, contemporary tunesmiths to examine the desire of pop/rock writers to take on the challenge of the American musical.

Tuesday, October 11 at 7pm - The Theatre at St. Clement's
TICKETS: $25, Limited free tickets for NYMF members and Recording Academy members
(Recording Academy members RSVP to newyork@grammy.com)

*The NYMF/ASCAP Foundation Songwriter Showcase
Hosted by Stephen Schwartz
featuring Valerie Vigoda and Brendan Milburn, Michael Kooman and Christopher Dimond, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

Meet the next generation of major musical theatre talents in this special concert showcasing songs by a trio of the industry's brightest emerging songwriters! This one-night-only event is hosted by Oscar®- and Grammy Award®-winner Stephen Schwartz, who joins these artists in a conversation about the creative process and the secrets of songwriting success!

October 3rd, 7pm - Signature Theatre Company's Peter Norton Space
TICKETS: $25, limited number of free tickets available for students

Free Seminar Series at New World Stages, sponsored by The ASCAP Foundation

September 30th at 4pm:
*High Fidelity or Artistic Liberty: Putting History on Stage
Moderator: Michael A. Kerker (Director of Musical Theatre, ASCAP)

October 6th at 4pm:
*And The World Goes 'Round: The Globalization of Musical Theatre
Moderator: Peter Filichia (TheaterMania, The Newark Star-Ledger)?

October 14th at 4pm:
*Gay Today: Queer Themes in Contemporary Musicals?
Moderator: Mark Blankenship (Editor-in-chief, TDF Stages)

Concerts and Special Events

*A Flower Is...

A unique concert experience featuring a bouquet of melodies drawn from the most popular musicals of Korea and around the world. Ms. Se Jung Kook and her collaborators bring together Eastern and Western song forms in a powerful, tuneful collision, all masterfully performed on the electone - an unusual triple-keyboard digital instrument capable of mimicking an entire orchestra! Continuing the Festival's partnership with world-class Asian musical theatre artists, NYMF joins forces with ELCONSE Music Korea for a night of stunning musicianship and showstopping entertainment.

October 6th at 6pm and 9pm; October 9th at 7pm - The Theatre at St. Clement's

*Three Rounds with Joe Iconis and Family
Presented by NYMF and Sh-K-Boom Records

Do you have what it takes to go three rounds with writer Joe Iconis and his merry band of musical theatre punks? One ticket will gain you entrance to three totally different sets of tunes by Iconis (Things To Ruin, Bloodsong of Love, The Black Suits). This epic one-of-a-kind event will burst with quirky portraits of normal people, outcasts, vagabonds, suburbanites, weirdos, fat kids, and porn stars. Old favorites, rarely-performed cuts from Joe's book musicals, and brand new world premieres. Guest stars, surprises-a-plenty, and whiskey singalongs will abound. Minds will be blown, hearts will burst, stamina will be tested.

October 10th at 8pm - 47th Street Theatre

*The Musical Improv Mixer
Hosted by The New York Musical Improv Festival

Musical theatre meets improv comedy at this one-of-a-kind mixer! The celebrated Magnet Theater brings its musical improv teams to play with the NYMF family in this hilarious and inventive weekly event. Vegas lounge legend and host Trudy Carmichael invites you to try your lady (and manly) luck at making up music alongside some of the country's finest Musical Improvisers. Absolutely anyone can sign up to perform. Or just sit back and provide the laugh track!

September 30th, 11pm; October 7th, 11pm; October 14th, 11pm - TBG Theatre
TICKETS: $10 ($5 for Gold, Platinum, and Diamond Members)

Partner Events

*Alt-Cabaret Spectacular: Going Underground with Adam Feldman

Time Out New York's Adam Feldman cases the city's alt-performance circuit and nabs some of downtown's finest performers for a one-night only concert event, co-presented by NYMF and Ars Nova! These electric and eclectic underground sensations - from rising neo-cabaret stars to subversive divas-in-the-unmaking - mold music, comedy, and dance to fit their own skewed visions. Performers include: Poor Baby Bree, Cole Escola, Bridget Everett, Natalie Joy Johnson, Erin Markey, Susan Mosher, Molly Pope and the Varsity Interpretive Dance Squad, and Feldman will host.

October 11th at 7:30pm and 10pm - Ars Nova
TICKETS: $25 at www.arsnovanyc.com (50% discount available for NYMF Gold, Platinum, and Diamond Members)

Now in its eighth year, the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) is the largest annual musical theatre event in America and is widely regarded as the essential source for new material and talent discovery. NYMF provides a launching pad for the next generation of musicals and their creators to ensure the continued vitality of one of America's greatest art forms. Hailed as the "Sundance of Musical Theatre," NYMF discovers, nurtures, and promotes promising musical theatre artists and producers at all stages of development, and inspires a diverse audience through vibrant, accessible, powerful new work.

NYMF is the flagship program of National Music Theater Network, Inc., a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization. NYMF 2011 is presented in association with BroadwayWorld.com, Production Resource Group, and TheaterMania.com, and is supported by American Eagle Outfitters, Back Stage, BroadwayBox.com, BroadwayInsider.com, Clear Channel Spectacolor, Disney Store Times Square, FOX 5 New York, King Displays, NASDAQ OMX, New World Stages, Next Magazine, PMD Promotions, The Port Authority of NY & NJ, Queerty.com, Season of Savings, Terra Fossil Wines, Thomson Reuters, TheMenEvent.com, Times Square Squared, and Yelp. Major supporters include The ASCAP Foundation, BMI Foundation, Inc., The BWF Foundation, The Nathan Cummings Foundation with the support and encouragement of Jamie Ariel Phinney, Cameron Mackintosh Foundation, The New Musical Development Foundation, The Jerome Robbins Foundation, The Rodgers & Hammerstein Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, and The Theater League. 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, in partnership with the City Council and from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.

NYMF Memberships, which combine charitable contributions with valuable, flexible ticket packages and perks like early seating, and tickets to individual events are currently available for purchase at (212) 352-3101 or www.nymf.org. Single tickets for Festival events will go on sale September 1.

For more information, please visit: www.nymf.org