New Musicals Inc. Announces Winners Of 2016 Search For New Musicals

Winners of the prestigious international Search for New Musicals were announced today at New Musicals Inc. in Los Angeles.

First Prize goes to Spellbound! A Perfect Musical Fairytale with book, music, and lyrics by Ben Boecker.

Second Prize goes to WikiMusical with book and lyrics by Frank Ceruzzi and Blake J. Harris and music by Trent Jeffords.

Third Prize goes to Assistants with book, music, and lyrics by Bryan Blaskie and Manny Hagopian

The Search for New Musicals accepts entrants from around the globe; winners receive awards worth up to $25,000 in workshop productions, concert readings, feedback, and developmental support.

"We are thrilled to sponsor the Search," says Elise Dewsberry, Artistic Director of NMI. "We love seeing what writers are creating; and of course our mission is to nurture the folks who are writing musicals, so announcing the winners of the Search is one of my favorite things to do all year!"

Spellbound! tells the story of Cedarella, a witch who identifies more with Princesses than Witches, so she runs away from home to seek her One True Love in the mountains. She meets an Extreme Gardener named Hunter, whom she likes but ultimately rejects because he is not tall enough. Cedarella finally meets her perfect One True Love only to discover that he is a robot designed by her evil aunts to suck all of the love out of her heart. Will Cedarella be able to meld her fairytale vision of love with the real world? Or will her evil aunts suck all of the love out of her heart before she can?

WikiMusical tells the epic tale of two estranged brothers who are magically zapped inside the Internet. The brothers must put aside their differences and come to terms with their pasts in order to save the future. A quintessential quest story, WikiMusical shows us how our obsession with the virtual world has affected our ability to live in the real one.

Assistants the Musical follows four aspiring Hollywood go-getters as they explore the superiority complex and the glamorous lifestyle of Los Angeles that seems to elevate its participants above "ordinary" people. They maneuver around long hours, degrading work, and hostile environments in the name of their big dream. All alone in the bustling city of L.A., the characters find that they may need some assistance of their own.

Spellbound!, which was featured at Got Musical (as part of the New Voices Project), will receive a workshop with the Academy Repertory Company and a concert reading in Los Angeles. WikiMusical will receive a staff evaluation. Assistants will receive a Detailed Analysis from an NMI dramaturge.

NMI is committed to an ongoing search to find and nurture promising new musical theatre. If you've written a musical, and you would like some honest, constructive, detailed feedback on how to make your musical better, you can submit your musical to NMI for dramaturgical feedback at levels from evaluation to analysis to table reading to workshop to concert reading.

Past winners of the Search have included: The Water by Jeff Hylton, Tim Werenko, and Georgia Stitt (2008); Greenbrier Ghost by Susan Murray and Clay Zambo (2009); Gilbert & Sullivan on Wall Street by Charles Veley and Arthur Sullivan (2010); Emerald by Chris Burgess and Denise Wright (2011); Mad Bomber by Charles Monagan and Richard DeRosa (2012); It Happened in Roswell by Terrence Atkins and Jeffery Lyle Segal (2013); Off the Wall by Sarah Rebell and Danny Abosch (2014), and Invisible by David Hollingsworth and David Orris (2015).

All musicals submitted (at any level) to NMI by July 15, 2017 will be automatically entered in the Search for New Musicals for next season. Winners of the 2017 Search will be announced by November 15, 2017. The winner of the Search receives a workshop with the Academy Repertory Company, detailed feedback from the NMI staff, and a concert reading in Los Angeles.

Information on submitting to the Search is available by visiting www.nmi.org.