THE SNOW QUEEN and SEARCHING FOR ROMEO Win 2014 Stage Rights/NYMF Publishing Award

Steele Spring Stage Rights announced today that two new musicals are the recipients of the 2014 Stage Rights/NYMF Publishing Award: "The Snow Queen" and "Searching For Romeo."

Steele Spring Stage Rights and The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) teamed up in 2013 to create the new publishing award, presented every year to one or more of the over 30 new musicals presented during the annual Festival each summer. Performance rights for both "The Snow Queen" and "Searching For Romeo" will be available through Steele Spring Stage Rights for professional and amateur theater companies throughout the United States and around the world.

"We're absolutely delighted to have these two titles join our catalog," said Roger Bean, President and Founder of Steele Spring Stage Rights. "Both shows are producer and audience-friendly, and are a perfect fit for what we have to offer."

"The Snow Queen," with book by Kirsten Brandt and Rick Lombardo, music by Haddon Kime, and lyrics by Haddon Kime, Kirsten Brandt, and Rick Lombardo, is a fantastical new pop/rock musical based on Hans Christian Andersen's coming-of-age adventure that inspired the hit Disney movie "Frozen." The show was a huge hit for San Jose Rep before appearing at NYMF this year, and was hailed by The New York Times as "A fairy-tale that rocks! ... Kooky characters, scary plotting and potent rock numbers ring grown-up true." The creative team has also created an hour-long TYA version, which will appear alongside the full family version in the Steele Spring Stage Rights catalog.

"Searching For Romeo," with book, music & lyrics by Brian Sutton, is the inspired backstory for "Romeo and Juliet," told from the perspective of a modern-day Rosaline and Paris (Roz and Perry). After her high school boyfriend dumps her, Roz somehow finds herself in Shakespeare's fair Verona, as Romeo's girlfriend Rosaline. She wanders into the balcony scene only to learn that she's been dumped again, before falling for another "loser" - Juliet's rejected paramour, Paris. Can Rosaline and Paris achieve that which eludes Romeo and Juliet: a happy ending? "Searching For Romeo" is a perfect large-cast vehicle for both college and high school theatre programs.

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.

Los Angeles-based Steele Spring Stage Rights is the foremost boutique theatrical publisher of new plays and musicals in the United States, administering stock and amateur performance rights for musicals, revues, plays, and children's shows throughout the country. With a focus on easy-to-produce and audience-friendly fare, some of the titles the publisher currently represents include: the off-Broadway and regional hit "The Marvelous Wonderettes" along with two Wonderettes sequels by Roger Bean; "Miss Abigail's Guide to Dating, Mating, & Marriage" by Ken Davenport and Sarah Saltzberg; "Out Of My Head" Music and Lyrics by Ryan Scott OliverBook by Kristen Guenther; and the multi-award-winning Los Angeles hit "Watson: The Last Great Tale of the Legendary Sherlock Holmes" by Jaime Robledo.

Joining "The Snow Queen" and "Searching for Romeo" in the 2015 Stage Rights catalog are: "Assisted Living: The Musical" Music, Lyrics & Book by Rick Compton & Betsy Bennett; "Becoming Britney" Book, Music, & Lyrics by Molly Bell & Daya Curley; "Carol's Christmas Catastrophe" by Tony Jerris & Bruce Durbin; "Country Is" by Tony Jerris & Bruce Durbin; "The Devil And Daniel Webster" by Don Goodrum; "Earnest or What's In a Name?" Book, Music, and Lyrics by Leonard Diamond; "George M. Cohan Tonight!" Written, Arranged, and Originally Directed by Chip Deffaa; "Irving Berlin's America" Written, Arranged, and Originally Directed in New York by Chip Deffaa, "Night of The Living Dead" by Mark LanDon Smith; "Pirate Schmirate!" Book & Lyrics by Bert Bernardi Music by Justin Rugg; "Real Housewives The Musical" Book, Music & Lyrics by Molly Bell; "Running Mates" by Beth Kander; "Sasquatched! The Musical" Book, Music, & Lyrics by Phil Darg; and "Tom and Penny's Yard Party" by Rob Lauer.

To order scripts or apply for performance rights, visit www.stagerights.com.

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