NAMT Now Accepting Submissions for 24th Annual Festival of New Musicals

The National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) is accepting submissions for its 24th Annual Festival of New Musicals taking place in New York in fall 2012. Submission information and the online application are available at www.namt.org/festival. NAMT is looking for great new musicals that represent the exciting diversity and breadth of the future of musical theatre.

Any writer may apply, as long as the submission includes a Letter of Endorsement from a NAMT member, another professional theatre organization, a commercial producer or a theatrical literary agent.

Submission Deadlines (postmark):

January 19, 2012 - Non-NAMT-member professional theatre organizations and theatrical literary agents ($60 application fee)

February 23, 2012- NAMT members and Festival Alumni Writers (no application fee required)

NAMT will hold two Festival Submission Q&A sessions for any writers or producers interested in submitting shows. These sessions will be hosted by Festival Producing Director Branden Huldeen who will walk through the application process with the attendees and provide tips for a successful submission. To RSVP, e-mail festival@namt.org with your name and your preferred session from the options below:

Wednesday, December 14, 3pm-4pm at The Lark Play Development Center (311 W. 43rd St., 5th fl.)
Thursday, January 5, 5:30pm-6:30pm at CAP21 (18 W. 18th Street, 6th fl.).

The eight shows selected for the Festival will receive fully funded 45-minute professional readings for an industry-only audience of over 600 people. The writers will also each receive an honorarium for participating in NAMT’s Festival of New Musicals.

“As we enter our 24th year of presenting the Festival, we are excited to see musicals of all shapes, sizes, themes and tones submitted this year,” said Festival Producing Director Branden Huldeen. “Our Festival has showcased everything from small shows like Ordinary Days to large shows like The Drowsy Chaperone. Our track record shows that we can and will present the eight most exciting new musicals that can be found out there each year.”

NAMT’s Festival of New Musicals is the cornerstone of NAMT’s mission to nurture the creation, development and production of new musicals. NAMT’s Festival brings theatre professionals from across the world together for an industry-only event to discover eight new musicals over two days. Since 1989, the Festival has presented over 260 musicals and 480 writers, and 75% of these shows have found subsequent productions, tours and/or licensing agreements as a direct result of the Festival.

The Festival of New Musicals is funded entirely by contributions to the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, a not-for-profit organization, supported in part by a generous award from the National Endowment for the Arts and public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

NATIONAL ALLIANCE FOR MUSICAL THEATRE (NAMT)
Betsy King Militello, Executive Director

The National Alliance for Musical Theatre, founded in 1985, is a national service organization dedicated exclusively to musical theatre. Our mission is to advance musical theatre by nurturing the creation, development, production, and presentation of new musicals. Our 150 members, located throughout 34 states and abroad, are some of the leading producers of musical theatre in the world, and include theatres, presenting organizations, higher education programs and individual producers. Among the over 250 musicals launched by NAMT's annual Festival of New Musicals are Thoroughly Modern Millie, Children of Eden, Honk!, The Drowsy Chaperone, Songs for a New World, I Love You Because, Striking 12, Vanities and many others, representing over 480 writers. www.namt.org