PEDRO PAN Named 2017 Winner of NYMF Developmental Reading Series Award

The New York Musical Festival (NYMF), has announced the recipient of their 2017 Award, given out at this year's Gala.

The NYMF Developmental Reading Series Award has been given to PEDRO PAN, with book by Rebecca Aparicio (Radical), and music and lyrics by Stephen Anthony Elkins (Sweet Tea and Jesus).

Each November, NYMF holds a gala celebrating the year's artistic triumphs and honoring select individuals whose work has contributed to the continued vitality of musical theater. Held at the beautiful Edison Ballroom, a historic Times Square landmark, this one of a kind event is attended by an exclusive group of musical theater enthusiasts, Broadway artists, and leading members of the theater industry.

Each year, NYMF gives an award to the most promising new musical in the Developmental Reading Series. PEDRO PAN will now receive automatic acceptance into NYMF's Next Link Project next season, as well as a $5,000 subsidy towards their participation, entrepreneurial training and networking opportunities. The writers also benefit from several months of ongoing dramaturgical support from NYMF's Programming Department.

Based on the real-life events of Operación Pedro Pan, a young boy is sent to the U.S. to escape the growing dangers of post-revolutionary Cuba. To survive, Pedro must learn a new language and a new culture - while hoping to someday be reunited with his parents. With a score featuring the percussive rhythms of Havana to '60s New York soul, PEDRO PAN examines what it means to be a displaced immigrant in America. Named Top 10 Off-Off B'way Shows 2015 (MWAT) and Theatre Is Easy's Best Bet 2015.

This year's Gala honored Pulitzer Prize-, Tony- and Grammy Award-winning writer Marsha Norman and NYMF Board of Directors Chair Charlie Fink. The 2017 Gala was co-hosted by Grace McLean (Broadway's Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812) and Jason SweetTooth Williams (Broadway Bounty Hunter). Comedian, writer and actress Judy Gold (Roseanne, Broad City, 30 Rock) served as auctioneer.

New York Musical Festival (NYMF) nurtures the creation, production, and public presentation of stylistically, thematically, and culturally diverse new musicals to ensure the future vitality of musical theater.

Now entering its 15th year, the Festival is the premier musical theater event in the world. 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 theater fans. More than 90 Festival shows have gone on to productions on and Off-Broadway, in regional theaters in all 50 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 theater, ensuring the future of this essential art form."

New York Musical Festival is a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization. NYMF is supported, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

The 2017 New York Musical Festival took place July 10 - August 6. For more information, visit www.nymf.org.