NYMF 2015 Calls for Submissions; Jurors Include Michael Cerveris, Hunter Foster, Billy Porter, Tony Sheldon and More

The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) announced a call for submissions for new musicals for its 2015 Festival. Also announced was the selection of preliminary panelists for the Grand Jury who will help to choose shows for acceptance into the Next Link Project, NYMF's primary writer-service program.

NYMF supports and celebrates both new voices and established musical theatre writers from around the globe. The Festival hosts productions of new musicals, readings of musicals in development, and concerts. Writers without representation may submit their shows as long as it has not received a professional New York production. Scripts should be ready for developmental production and the exposure that the participation in NYMF provides.

Deadlines to submit musicals for the 2015 New York Musical Theatre Festival are as follows:

September 1, 2014: SUBMISSIONS OPEN for new musicals

October 6, 2014: EARLY DEADLINE for new musicals

November 3, 2014: OFFICIAL ENTRY DEADLINE for new musicals

More information regarding how to submit for the 2015 New York Musical Theatre Festival is now available at www.nymf.org/submitashow. Questions regarding submissions may be directed to literary@nymf.org or by calling 212-664-0979.

The Next Link Project empowers emerging musical theatre writing teams by providing entrepreneurial training, career networking opportunities, dramaturgical support, and other services, culminating in a subsidized production in the Festival. In 2015, NYMF will accept 10 shows into the Next Link Project. Past Next Link Project productions at the New York Musical Theatre Festival have included: Fat Camp, Yank!, Flight of the Lawn Chair Man, Cloned!,Frog Kiss, and F*cking Hipsters!

Next Link Project participants receive the following benefits:

• A subsidized production slot at NYMF 2015 (including savings in production fees, and discounted technical and marketing support)
• Dramaturgical support
• Seminars and workshops geared toward successfully preparing, presenting, and promoting the NYMF production
• Access to exclusive industry networking events

The New York Musical Theatre Festival also announced the following esteemed theatre professionals that will comprise its 2015 Grand Jury: Tony Award-winning actor Michael Cerveris, OBIE and Drama Desk Award-winning actress Donna Lynne Champlin, Tony Award-winning producer Jane Dubin, Tony Award and Drama Desk Award-nominated actor Hunter Foster, Creative Director, Fox Stage Productions Isaac Robert Hurwitz, CAA Agent Joe Machota, Director of Theatre Arts Program at The National Black Theatre Jonathan McCrory, Tony Award winner Billy Porter, Outer Critics Circle-nominated director and choreographerJosh Prince, Tony Award and Drama Desk Award-nominated actor and writer Tony Sheldon, and Motown: The Musical director Charles Randolph-Wright, with additional jurors to be announced.

The New York Musical Theatre Festival (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.

Now in its eleventh year, the Festival is the largest musical theatre event in America. The preeminent site for launching new musicals and discovering new talent, the Festival provides an affordable platform for artists to mount professional productions that reach their peers, industry leaders, and musical theatre fans. Festival alumni have received a wide array of awards including the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize. In 2013, NYMF received a special Drama Desk Award in recognition of its work "creating and nurturing new musical theatre, ensuring the future of this essential art form."

NYMF is the flagship program of National Music Theater Network, Inc., a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization. NYMF is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency. For more information, visit: www.nymf.org.