Tony Winner Jack O'Brien Named Honorary Chair of 2014 NYMF

By: Jun. 16, 2014
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The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) has announced that Tony Award winning director Jack O'Brien has been named the honorary chair of the 2014 Festival.

Single tickets for the 2014 Festival go on sale to the public today, June 16th.

NYMF has also announced that along with Steel Spring Stage Rights, they will present the "Stage Rights / NYMF Publishing Award" to a new musical presented at the Festival through 2016.

"We are proud to have my friend Jack as our honorary chair," said New York Musical Theatre Festival Executive Director & Producer Dan Markley. "He is a true man of the theatre, having worked consistently for nearly 50 years while wearing multiple hats as a director, producer, and writer. From classic works to new contemporary musicals, Jack has done it all and we are thrilled that he will be joining us at NYMF this year."

Jack O'Brien commented, "As a passionate supporter of what perhaps constitutes America's greatest contribution to world literature -- our musical theatre work -- I am proud and happy to be standing up this year for The New York Musical Theatre Festival, the very font of creativity currently nurturing our stages and our industry with a nearly unbroken series of exciting, promising works. No one sings out quite like NYMF...Long may she wave!"

Admission to the NYMF Opening Night Celebration is available only to NYMF Members, Patrons and Participants. Festival memberships are on sale now, and combine charitable contributions with valuable, flexible ticket packages. Members and Patrons also enjoy access to exclusive NYMF events, as well as early booking and early seating to Festival productions.

Memberships and single tickets for the 2014 New York Musical Theatre Festival are available at www.nymf.org or by calling (212) 352-3101.

For a schedule of shows, please visit: www.NYMF.org/daybyday

The winner of the Stage Rights / NYMF Publishing Award will join the theatrical licensing catalog of Stage Rights, and will be offered to professional and amateur theatre companies throughout the United States and around the world. The first recipient was the 2013 NYMF production of Gary Goldfarb: Master Escapist, book and lyrics by Omri Schein and music by James Olmstead.

"Stage Rights has always supported new work in our publishing catalog," said Roger Bean of Stage Rights. "This publishing award with NYMF allows us to support a great organization dedicated to nurturing and fostering new work. We're thrilled with this new collaboration."

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. More than 90 Festival shows have gone on to productions on and Off-Broadway, in regional theaters in 48 states, and in more than 20 countries worldwide. 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 2014 is presented in association with Fuzzrocket, TheaterMania, and Production Resource Group. 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.

NYMF Memberships, which combine charitable contributions with valuable, flexible ticket packages and perks like early seating and tickets to individual events, are currently available for purchase at (212) 352-3101 or www.nymf.org/member.

For more information, please visit: www.nymf.org.

Jack O'Brien is acclaimed for his numerous credits on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and for regional theatre, and for his direction of a variety of genres, from Shakespeare to opera to musical comedy. Farrar, Straus & Giroux published his memoir "Jack Be Nimble." O'Brien's direction will be seen in Shakespeare in the Park's upcoming production of Much Ado About Nothing. His credits includeBroadway: Macbeth, The Nance, Dead Accounts, Catch Me If You Can, Impressionism, The Coast of Utopia (Tony Award), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Tony nomination), Henry IV (Tony Award), Hairspray (Tony Award), Imaginary Friends, The Invention of Love (Tony nomination, Drama Desk Award), The Full Monty (Tony nomination), More to Love, Getting Away With Murder, Pride's Crossing, The Little Foxes, Hapgood (Lucille Lortel Award, Best Director), Damn Yankees, Two Shakespearean Actors (Tony nomination), Porgy and Bess (Tony nomination). Metropolitan Opera: Il Trittico. London: Love Never Dies, Hairspray (Olivier nomination). National Theatre: His Girl Friday. Artistic Director of the Old Globe Theatre, 1981-2007. Six movies for PBS's "American Playhouse." Awards: 2008 Theatre Hall of Fame Inductee; 2005 John Houseman Award; ArtServe Michigan 2008 International Achievement Award; Honorary Doctorate, University of Michigan. Film (actor): Sex and the City 2.

Photo by Walter McBride



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