New musicals Take Over NoHo Arts Center This Summer

You wouldn't know there was a recession if you dropped in on the Academy for New Musical Theatre in North Hollywood these days. They have over 50 new musicals in development this season, and this summer they're producing some of them, workshopping some others, giving concert readings of still more, plus putting on not one, but two conferences on the business of musical theatre (one for actors, one for writers), as well as offering several dozen courses in the craft of writing or acting or producing musical theatre.

They're taking over the NoHo Arts Center for six weeks from July 16 through August 22nd, and they're cramming all that musical theatre activity, practically night and day, seven days a week, for thirty-eight astonishing days.

"Since we're producing a musical on the weekends," says Scott Guy, the Academy's Executive Director, "we thought we might as well create events and programs for the other time as well. We're ramping up for a huge summer!"

The lynch pin to the summer programming is a production of the new musical, 40 is the New 15, written by Larry Todd Johnson and Cindy O'Connor, which follows the lives of five 40-year-olds as they look back to when they were 15...looking forward to being 40. This musical was nominated for a 2010 GLAAD Media Award, and was selected by Stephen Schwartz for the ASCAP/Disney Musical Theatre Workshop

Tuesdays and Wednesdays will feature a workshop production of Aging Out, which explores what happens to foster-care kids when they age out of the System. The musical follows seven kids for a year, beginning on the day they “graduate” into adult life with little or no emotional and financial support. They have aged out of the system, and are now utterly and frighteningly on their own in a world which doesn’t want them. Book and lyrics are by Tara Redepenning and Hillary Rollins with music by Darin Goulet. This musical is being developed in partnership with the Drama Department at University of California/Irvine and was part of their Festival of New Musicals last fall.

On the weekend of July 23-25, the Academy will host the third bi-annual conference aimed at musical theatre writers, producers and theatre industry experts discussing the nuts-and-bolts of marketing and producing new musicals in today's economy. The Biz of the Musical Theatre Biz invites producers, agents, Broadway writers, artistic directors, entertainment attorneys, marketers, entrepreneurs, and writers all to come together to network and share the inside scoop and behind-the-scenes info about getting musicals seen and produced.

Two weeks later, on August 6-8, the Academy will host a conference for actors, shining the spotlight on the business side of their careers. Agents, producers, casting directors, music directors, artistic directors, photographers, managers, vocal coaches, union reps and working actors will share survival tips and techniques for actors young and seasoned. Dan Callaway will host the weekend, produced by Broadway's Heather Provost.

Monday evenings, the Academy will host a series of one-night-only concerts featuring musical theatre artists such as Ed Martel, Darin Goulet, Elise Dewsberry, Christopher Maikish and Dana Shaw.

Sunday evenings will be private events by invitation only. These events will not generally be open to the public, and usually are informal presentations of new musicals which are not yet ready for the discerning public.

Meanwhile, back at their home a few blocks away, the Academy will be conducting a full summer of courses on the writing and performing of musical theatre in their annual Musical Theatre Summer Boot Camp.

"Okay, we're crazy to attempt all this musical theatre activity all at once," confesses Elise Dewsberry, trying hard not to look at her watch, "but having six weeks all to ourselves at the beautiful NoHo Arts Center is such a golden opportunity, we want to make sure we produce everything we possibly can!"

Prices vary from $20 for the dark night series, to a range of $250-$495 for the conferences. Programs begin on July 16 and run through August 22nd. For a complete schedule of the summer, visit the Academy's website at www.anmt.org.

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