Hannah Elless, George Salazar & More Set for SONG MOMENTS: DANIEL MATE IN CONCERT at NYMF, 7/15

The New York Musical Theater Festival will present a one-night-only staged concert featuring the music and lyrics of the 2013 Kleban Award-winning writer Daniel Maté on Monday July 15th with performances at 6:30pm and 9:30pm.

The concert will feature Hannah Elless (Somewhere In Time, Godspell), Brandon Ellis (Once, Company), Angela Grovey (Leap of Faith, "Joyful Noise"), Grace McLean (Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812), George Salazar (F#%king Up Everything, Godspell), and Tony Award Nominee Bob Stillman (Dirty Blonde, Grey Gardens).

Brian Usifer (Kinky Boots, The Book of Mormon) will lead a 6-piece band that will also include Maté. Max Friedman directs.

"Some moments in life are too intense, awkward, or outlandish for words - they deserve music, too. Acclaimed composer-lyricist Daniel Maté, winner of the 2013 Kleban Prize, transforms them into theatre tunes. Join Daniel and an amazing line-up of performers for a thrilling evening of compelling, clever, and catchy Song Moments!"

The Studio Theater at The Pershing Square Signature Center is located at 480 West 42nd Street. Tickets, priced $25, are now available at http://www.nymf.org/tickets/2013-events/song-moments-daniel-mate-concert or by calling Ovation Tix at (212) 352-3101.

Daniel Maté is the recent recipient of the 2013 Kleban Prize for Most Promising Musical Theatre Lyricist. He also received the Jonathan Larson Grant and the ASCAP Foundation's Cole Porter Award in 2010 for his music and lyrics. Daniel's song cycle The Longing and the Short of It has been presented at Barrington Stage (William Finn, dir.,) the Disney-ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop (Stephen Schwartz, dir.,) and Playwrights Horizons (Victoria Clark, dir..), as well as a recent reading at Arts Garage in Delray Beach, Florida. With composer Will Aronson, Daniel wrote lyrics and co-wrote the book for The Trouble With Doug, a comedic musical inspired by Kafka's "The Metamorphosis." Doug was featured at the 2010 National Alliance for Musical Theatre Festival of New Musicals with direction by Tony-winning performer Victoria Clark, and has since been developed at Royal & Derngate (UK) and Theatreworks Silicon Valley (Palo Alto, CA.) Maté and Aronson are currently working with bookwriter Hannah Kohl on a family musical commissioned by Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Daniel is also the composer and lyricist for The Story Of Jo-Beth, a modern-day American retelling of the Book of Job (CAP 21, 2011; JCC in Manhattan, 2013) and for Middle School Mysteries, an original musical devised with a group of middle school students at Two River Theater Company in Red Bank, New Jersey. Originally from Vancouver, BC, Canada, Daniel has lived in Brooklyn for the past eight years.

The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) is the flagship program of The National Music Theater Network. Now entering its tenth year, NYMF exists to "revitalize musical theatre culture by discovering and promoting new musical theatre artists, producers and projects; nurturing a vibrant and innovative artistic community; and connecting one of America's greatest art forms with a diverse, contemporary audience." NYMF was recently awarded a special Drama Desk award "for a decade of creating and nurturing new musical theater, ensuring the future of this essential art form."

Photo Credit: Linda Lenzi