The Theater Center Will Host MAKING IT HAPPEN: 15 MINUTE MUSICALS Festival
The Times Square festival will award a $5,000 prize to one winning original musical.
The Theater Center has announced MAKING IT HAPPEN: 15 MINUTE MUSICALS, a new festival celebrating short-form musical theatre and giving writers, composers, lyricists, and creative teams the opportunity to present new work on an Off-Broadway stage.
Submissions are now open and will be accepted through June 15. The festival will begin in August at The Theater Center's Times Square venue. There is no cost to submit or participate.
Following the success of The Theater Center's inaugural Making It Happen Ten-Minute Play Festival, this new edition shifts the spotlight to musical theatre, inviting artists to submit original 15-minute musicals of all genres, styles, and subject matter. Selected works will be performed live in front of audiences and a panel of judges.
Each festival evening will feature three to four short musicals. Audience members will vote for their favorites, and a panel of judges will also help determine the results. One winning musical will be selected each night to advance to a final performance featuring all three of the nightly winners. At the final showcase, one overall winner will receive a $5,000 prize.
The festival is designed to give emerging musical theatre writers and creative teams a practical, accessible platform to test new material in front of an audience. Selected participants will receive performance space at The Theater Center, basic technical support, box office services, festival-wide marketing, and the opportunity to present their work in the heart of New York's Theater District.
“At The Theater Center, we believe in opening doors for artists who are ready to do the work,” said Catherine Russell, General Manager of The Theater Center. “The Making It Happen Festival was created to give artists a real stage, a real audience, and a real opportunity to see where their work can go next. Our 10 Minute Play series produced some truly beautiful, funny and innovative new work, inspiring us to create a new festival, this time with music!”
Submitted musicals should be no longer than 15 minutes and must be able to be presented with a simple festival setup. Selected teams will be responsible for providing their own cast, director, music director or accompanist/track setup, and stage management. Productions should be minimalist in design and able to load in, perform, and strike efficiently within the festival structure.
The Theater Center will provide basic lighting support, sound playback capabilities, and a technical rehearsal slot on the day of each performance. Additional details and production guidelines will be shared with selected participants.
Submissions for MAKING IT HAPPEN: 15 MINUTE MUSICALS are due by June 15.
The Theater Center is located at 1627 Broadway in New York's Theater District. Since opening in 2005, the 20,000-square-foot complex has hosted Off-Broadway productions, acting classes, and events across its two venues, the Anne L. Bernstein Theater and the Jerry Orbach Theater. The theater is currently home to Perfect Crime, the longest-running play in New York City, the new play Pied A Terre, and Singfeld! A Musical About Nothing and Friends! The Unauthorized Musical Parody, musical parodies of the hit television shows.
For more information and to submit, visit: https://www.thetheatercenter.com/making-it-happen-festival
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