New Musicals Series, The PiTCH, Opens Submissions at Finger Lakes

The Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival, headquartered in Auburn, N.Y., will begin accepting submissions on Nov. 1, 2016 for new musicals in all stages of development to be considered for the 2017 season of The PiTCH.

Sponsored by Generations Bank, The PiTCH is a new works series that offers residency and retreat for creative teams and the opportunity to develop and "pitch" their new musical to an engaged and enthusiastic audience. Teams benefit from dialogue and feedback immediately following their "pitch."

Submission deadline is Dec. 2, 2016. The PiTCH 2017 season runs from July 12 - August 11. Housed in the elegant and intimate Theater Mack, an 80-seat cabaret-style venue in a converted carriage house in downtown Auburn, N.Y., audiences are able to enjoy drinks during the hour long performance. Each performance is then followed by a discussion between creative team and audience.

"The PiTCH brings an entirely distinct experience to our brand- an intimate and interactive experience of watching a new musical come to life. Writing and shepherding a new musical is a time consuming, difficult, layered and costly process. By having this development opportunity available to creators, we are contributing to the development of new musicals, the creators at the helm of those musicals and the art form itself as it continues to evolve and break ground. We are extremely grateful to our friends at Generations Bank for recognizing the value of this esteemed program and for their long term, multi-year support and commitment to The PiTCH," said Brett Smock, producing artistic director of the Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival.

Creative teams chosen to participate are provided roundtrip travel, housing, dedicated staff, marketing, an elegant, intimate venue, and the beautiful backdrop of the Finger Lakes to immerse in their writing and development process. In its first five seasons, The PiTCH has been a development platform for the creative teams of 54 new musicals. Many teams have moved on to have their works presented and produced at a wide variety of theatres and festivals around the country.

Irene Sankoff and David Hein, writers of the 2017 Broadway-bound Come From Away, participated in The PiTCH 2013 and said the audience feedback gave them, "More than we could have ever hoped for." Country songwriter JT Harding ("Smile" by Uncle Kracker, "Sangria" by Blake Shelton, "Different For Girls" by Dierks Bentley and more) was part of The PiTCH 2016. He echoed these sentiments saying, "Having an audience was invaluable."

For submission requirements and details on how you can be part of the 2017 season of The PiTCH, visit fingerlakesmtf.com/the-pitch/writers and follow @ThePitchFLMTF on Twitter.

Four hours from New York City and situated between Syracuse, Rochester and Ithaca, the Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival is the largest producing musical theatre organization in New York state, outside of New York City. The Festival is headquartered in the town of Auburn, NY - set in the picturesque Finger Lakes wine region of Central New York - and operates on multiple stages. Named NY Theatre Guide's "Best Professional Theatre, 2015," it has provided over forty years of top-notch entertainment to over 68,000 patrons each season and is routinely recognized by industry press for its artistry and execution. Find Merry Go Round Finger Lakes Music Theatre on Facebook, follow @FingerLakesMTF on Twitter and visit www.FingerLakesMTF.com.

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