McDonald, Butz, Mayer & Stroman Among NYMF Grand Jury

Audra McDonald" border="0" height="323" hspace="10" src="https://cloudimages.broadwayworld.com/upload/18431/2.jpg" title="Audra McDonald " vspace="10" width="202"/>The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) is pleased to announce the Grand Jury for this year's Next Link Project, the writer-service program whose 18 selections will comprise more than half of the musicals at the fifth annual New York Musical Theatre Festival, September 15 through October 5.

Tony Award-winning lyricist and bookwriter Lynn Ahrens (Ragtime), Tony Award-winning actors Hinton Battle (Sophisticated Ladies, The Tap Dance Kid, Miss Saigon) and Norbert Leo Butz (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), Tony Award-nominated lyricist and bookwriter Michael Korie (Grey Gardens, The Grapes of Wrath), 4-time Tony-winning actress Audra McDonald (Carousel, Master Class, Ragtime, and A Raisin in the Sun), Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening),  legendary director and choreographer Susan Stroman (Crazy for You, Show Boat, Contact, The Producers), and Tony Award-winning producer Elizabeth Williams (Crazy For You and the revivals of The Real Thing and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest). 

NYMF has been accepting submissions for the Next Link Project since January 1, and submissions will be accepted through March 1. Those who apply before the early-bird deadline (February 1) can take advantage of a reduced application fee ($50, rather than $65).

Now in its fifth year, NYMF exists to provide a launching pad for emerging musical theatre writers, composers, lyricists and performers, and to bring a new generation of work to new and diverse audiences.  Each year, more than half of the festival's selections come from the open-submission Next Link Project, whose 18 selections are overseen by a Grand Jury of theater luminaries.  

To ensure that writers of all backgrounds and experience levels have access to the program, each submission is read by multiple members of a reading committee, using a double-blind evaluation process. Finalists will also be evaluated by the Grand Jury, whose 18 selections will receive an array of resources from NYMF, including dramaturgical support, a weekend-long series of networking events and production advice, and partially-subsidized production slots in NYMF's fall Festival.

The Next Link Project typically receives between 300 and 400 submissions each year. Past jurors have included such noted Tony-winning talents as Victoria Clark, Raul Esparza, Robyn Goodman, Margo Lion, Robert Lopez & Jeff Marx, Kathleen Marshall, Kevin McCollum, Tom Meehan, Anthony Rapp, Phylicia Rashad and BD Wong.

All applications take place online.  To begin the process or to learn more about The Next Link Project, please visit www.nymf.org

Audra McDonald (photo by Walter McBride / Retna Ltd)