New York Musical Theatre Festival Exceeds Expectations, Achieving Goals as Development Source for New Productions

The New York Musical Theatre Festival announced today that it far exceeded all of its expectations in terms of finance, audience turnout, press, and acknowledgement within the theater community. The Festival, which exploded onto the arts scene in September 2004 with a three-week midtown run, has gained industry recognition as a key source for new material and future productions.

According to Geoff Cohen, NYMF's Executive Producer, "Not only has the Festival ended in the black, but several of our shows have been optioned by commercial producers or are planning off-Broadway runs." To date, these include ALTAR BOYZ, THE GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK MUSICAL, SHOUT!, LIKE YOU LIKE IT, THE BIG VOICE: GOD OR MERMAN and [TITLE OF SHOW].

NYMF is a place where theatre producers and artists can bridge the gap between the development and commercial phases of a production. The Festival was attended by producers from around the country scouting for new material and talent. "At NYMF, I saw fresh, funny, vibrant theatre of the highest caliber - some of the smartest work I've seen in a long time," said Steve Fickinger, Vice President at Walt Disney Studios. "It's a perfect opportunity to hear tomorrow's most exciting voices, and simply not to be missed."

In addition to the 20,000 tickets that changed hands over the three-week period, the Festival sold nearly 200 multi-show passes, exceeding projections by 500%. "The healthy financial outcome of the Festival – unheard of for a first-year undertaking of this size – is especially remarkable as NYMF 2004 had no major corporate underwriter," said Kris Stewart, Executive Director of the Festival. "Clearly there is a great hunger within the industry and ticket buying public for what is new in musical theatre. One-third of our shows were completely sold out before the Festival opened.

The Festival obtained exceptional feature coverage in television, radio and print including Good Day New York, CBS Morning News, NY1, The New York Times, Variety and Bloomberg. Nearly all of its productions received multiple reviews in print and on-line media.

Planning is already underway for NYMF 2005 and submissions will be accepted from January 9 – March 11. For more details of the submission process or to receive NYMF updates, sign up for the festival's free newsletter at www.nymf.org.