NATIONAL ALLIANCE FOR MUSICAL THEATRE ANNOUNCES CASTING FOR 16TH ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS

By: Sep. 17, 2004
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The National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) has announced the casting for its 16th Annual Festival of New Musicals, which will be held at the new DODGER STAGES on Sunday, October 3 and Monday, October 4, 2004.

Lea Delaria, Christine Ebersole, Linda Eder, Georgia Engel, Burke Moses, and Michael Nouri will perform with more than 60 other musical-theater pros in the country's premier producer's marketplace.

Since 1989, NAMT's Festival of New Musicals has introduced nearly 300 writers to the leading producers of musical theatre.  The 150 musicals that have appeared in past Festivals have subsequently had hundreds of productions around the world including the Tony Award-winning Thoroughly Modern Millie, Songs for a New World, The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin, Children of Eden and Honk! Last year's Festival launched four new musicals appearing in major theaters across the country- Harold and Maude, Princesses, Two Queens One Castle, and Was.

"We're thrilled to present these quality musicals with such major-league talent.  As the country's leading marketplace for new musicals, NAMT's Festival provides producer and presenters with access to over 40 talented writers in just two days," says NAMT Executive Director Kathy Evans.

Producers interested in attending NAMT's Festival of New Musicals should email festival@namt.net.

Casts for the Festival's eight new musicals are as follows:

CAMILLE CLAUDEL
Music by Frank Wildhorn
Book and Lyrics by Nan Knighton
Directed by Gabriel Barre

Linda Eder (Jekyll & Hyde), Michael Nouri (Victor/Victoria), Matt Bogart (Aida, The Civil War, Smokey Joe's Cafe, Miss Saigon), John Paul Almon (Sideshow), Leslie Becker (Nine), Timothy W. Bish (Movin' Out), Nick Cavarra (The Scarlet Pimpernel, Grease!),  Margaret Ann Gates (The King and I, Miss Saigon), Mayumi Miguel, Lynette Marrero, Darren Ritchie (Dracula, the Musical, Little Shop of Horrors, Thoroughly Modern Millie), Tina Stafford, and Shonn Wiley (Dracula, the Musical, 42nd Street).

THE DROWSY CHAPERONE
Directed by Bob Martin
Music by Greg Morrison
Book by Don McKellar and Bob Martin
Lyrics by Lisa Lambert

Lea Delaria (The Rocky Horror Show, On the Town), Christine Ebersole (Dinner at Eight, Tony Award-winner for 42nd Street, Gore Vidal's The Best Man, Camelot, Oklahoma!) Georgia Engel (Hello, Dolly!, My One and Only, TV's Mary Tyler Moore Show and 2004 Emmy nominee for Everybody Loves Ramond), Richard Kind (Sly Fox, Tale of the Allergist's Wife, Bounce, TV's Spin City), Patrick Garner (Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Lend me a Tenor, Funny...Forum), Christopher Sieber (Into the Woods, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Triumph of Love, Chicago), Beth Beyer, Danny Burstein, Robert DuSold, Paul Kandel, Bob Martin, Reno Roop,  and Robert Tunstall (A Class Act, Titanic, Company)
 
THE FLIGHT OF THE LAWNCHAIR MAN
Music and Lyrics by Robert Lindsey Nassif
Book by Peter Ullian
Based on a concept by Robert Lindsey Nassif
Directed by Lynne Taylor-Corbett

Jessica Molaskey (Parade, The Who's Tommy, Crazy for You, Chess), Burke Moses (The Frogs, Kiss Me, Kate, Beauty and the Beast, Guys and Dolls), Valerie Wright (Annie Get Your Gun, Steel Pier, Damn Yankees), Donna-Lynn Champlin (Hollywood Arms, By Jeeves),  Bob Ader, Fred Berman, Roxanne Carasco, Herdon Lackey, Rachel Ulanet, Bill Youmans

THE GIRL IN THE FRAME
Music, Book and Lyrics by Jeremy Desmon
Directed by Marc A. Bruni

Melissa Dye (Into the Woods, Grease!), Stephanie Kurtzuba (The Boy from Oz), Jonathan Rayson (Little Shop of Horrors), and Graham Rowat (Dracula, the Musical, Beauty and the Beast).

A GOOD MAN
Music by Ray Leslee
Book and Lyrics by Philip S. Goodman
Directed by John Ruocco

Milton Craig Nealy (Caroline, or Change, Once on this Island, Miss Saigon, Dreamgirls), Cheryl Alexander, Sandra Bonitto, Wayne Pretlow, and Derek Middleton.

LANGSTON IN HARLEM
Directed by Kent Gash
Book by Kent Gash, Langston Hughes & Walter Marks
Music by Walter Marks
Lyrics by Langston Hughes

Billy Porter (Smokey Joe's Cafe, Grease!, Miss Saigon), Darius De Hass (Marie Christine, Rent, Carousel, Kiss of the Spiderwoman), Danielle Lee Greaves (Hairspray, Rent, Showboat), Jerry Dixon (Five Guys Named Moe, Once on this Island), Raul Midon, John Eric Parker, Brandy Massey, and Soara Joye-Ross

STRIKING 12: THE GROOVELILY HOLIDAY SHOW
Music, Lyrics and Book by Brendan Milburn, Rachel Sheinkin, and Valerie Vigoda
Directed by Ted Sperling

Performed by the members of the band Groovelily: Valerie Vigoda, Brendan Milburn, and Gene Lewin.

WINESBURG, OHIO
Music by Andre Pluess and Ben Sussman
Book and Lyrics by Eric Rosen
Additional lyrics by Andre Pluess and Ben Sussman
Directed by Eric Rosen
Recently nominated for five Joe Jefferson awards in Chicago

Ken Barnett (Wonderful Town, The Green Bird), Joe Dempsey, Mary Ernster, Johanna McKenzie-Miller, Matthew Lon Walker, Ryan Gardner, Jeff Parker, Lesley Bevan, David Bryson, Erica Elam, Jeff Dumas, Tom Murray, Chris Walz, Emily Albright, Chris Merrill, and Ben Sussman.


NAMT will also present its Songwriter Showcase Sunday evening, featuring an additional 10 to 15 emerging musical theatre writers and hosted by Stephen Schwartz, composer and lyricist of Pippin, Godspell and the current Broadway hit, Wicked.

The mission of NAMT's Festival of New Musicals is to expand the musical theatre repertoire by encouraging the production of new musicals; present works that are diverse in ethnicity, subject matters, style, and concept; discover new work and new voices; and nurture creative writing teams.

The Festival is funded entirely by contributions to the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, 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 State Council on the Arts, a Stage agency.

NAMT, founded in 1985, is the only national service organization dedicated exclusively to musical theatre. Its membership includes theatre institutions, universities, and independent producers. Located throughout 33 states and six countries, member companies vary substantially in size and structure; yet all share a commitment to preserve and enhance this uniquely American art form. Last season, NAMT Members cumulatively staged nearly 23,000 performances attended by 17 million people and reached revenues exceeding $510 million. NAMT thanks the following foundations and government agencies for their ongoing support: The American Theatre Wing, The ASCAP Foundation, The Dramatists Guild Fund, The Gilman & Gonzalez-Falla Theater Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, The Rodgers and Hammerstein Foundation, and The Shubert Foundation.

For more information, visit www.namt.net.


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