NAMT Announces Directors for 22nd Annual Festival of New Musicals 10/21-22

The National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) has announced Directors and Musical Directors for its 22nd Annual Festival of New Musicals taking place on Thursday, October 21 and Friday, October 22, 2010 at New World Stages in New York City. NAMT is honored to continue their relationship with New World Stages for the seventh consecutive year.

Georgia Stitt & John Jiler's Big Red Sun will be directed by Peter Flynn (Artistic Director of the Hangar Theatre), the music director will be announced shortly.

The Bowery Boys by David H. Bell, Jeremy Cohen & Aaron Thielen will be directed by Dominic Missimi (American Musical Theatre Project) with music direction by Brad Haak (Mary Poppins)

The Giver, by Nathan Christensen & Scott Murphy based on the Lois Lowry book, will be directed by Pam Berlin (Crossing Delancy) with Vadim Feichtner (Ordinary Days, The Burnt Part Boys) as music director.

Tony Nominated director Christopher Ashley (Memphis, Xanadu) will direct the reading of Heartbreakers by Robert Cary, Benjamin Feldman & David Gursky based on the MGM movie, with music direction by Eric Stern (Xanadu, Parade).

Steven Cheslik-deMeyer, Tim Maner & Alan Stevens Hewitt's rock retelling of Lizzie Borden will be directed by Victoria Bussert (Factory Girls) with music direction by Matt Hinkley (Bloodsong of Love)

Sharon Rosen will continue as director of Play It Cool, by Martin Casella, Larry Dean Harris, Phillip Swann & Mark Winkler, with music direction by Joe Baker (Bells Are Ringing).

Daniella Topol (Pool Boy at Barrington Stage Co.) and Jerry Dixon (Barnstormer) will share directing duties on Scott Ethier & Jeff Hughes' Red Clay with a music director to be announced shortly.

Tony Award-winning Victoria Clark (The Light in the Piazza) will direct The Trouble with Doug by Will Aronson & Daniel Maté with a music director to be announced shortly.

The 22nd annual Festival of New Musicals is overseen by Festival Artistic Director and NAMT New Works Director Branden Huldeen and General Manager Lisa Dozier. At NAMT's Festival, New York City's longest-running musical theatre festival, theatre producers from around the world gather for this industry-only event to discover 8 new musicals presented in 45-minute staged readings over two days. Since 1989, the Festival has presented over 230 musicals and 420 writers, and almost 80% of these shows have found subsequent productions, tours, licensing agreements, and/or cast albums as a direct result of the Festival.

The NAMT Festival of New Musicals has a history filled with many successes. Festival highlights include the Tony Award-winners The Drowsy Chaperone and Thoroughly Modern Millie; off-Broadway successes such as last season's Vanities, A New Musical (Second Stage) and Ordinary Days (Roundabout Theatre Co.), See Rock City and Other Destinations produced this summer at the Transport Group, I Love You Because, Songs for A New World, Striking 12, Summer of '42; and regional hits like Ace, Children Of Eden, Emma, Harold and Maude, Honk!, Meet John Doe and Tinyard Hill.

Admission to the FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS is by invitation only for the industry. The general public can obtain free, stand-by tickets the day of the Festival.

The FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS is funded entirely by contributions to the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, a not-for-profit organization, and is supported in part by a generous award from the National Endowment for the Arts and with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, celebrating 50 years of building strong, creative communities in New York State's 62 counties.

NAMT is very grateful to the following organizations whose contributions support our mission to nurture the creation, development, and production of new musicals:

The Ann Palmer Foundation, ASCAP Foundation Irving Caesar Fund, BMI Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Dubose and Dorothy Heyward Memorial Fund, The Dramatists Guild Fund, Kenneth and Marleen Alhadeff Charitable Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, The Rodgers and Hammerstein Foundation, Stacey Mindich Productions, and The Shubert Foundation.

NATIONAL ALLIANCE FOR MUSICAL THEATRE (NAMT)

Founded in 1985, the National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) is a national service organization dedicated exclusively to musical theatre. NAMT's mission is to nurture the creation, development, and production of new musicals and to provide a forum for musical theatre professionals to share resources. Our 150+ members, located throughout 35 states and abroad, are some of the leading producers of musical theatre in the world and include theatres, developmental organizations, higher education groups, presenting companies, and independent producers. Last season, NAMT members cumulatively staged over 15,000 performances attended by 11 million people. NAMT has presented its annual FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS since 1989. The Festival makes "a major impact on the world of musical theatre," according to American Theater Magazine, bringing together leading theatre producers and musical theatre writers. NAMT's other programs include conferences, new works summits, and a granting initiative, the National Fund for New Musicals, which supports the development and production of new musicals. For more information, visit www.namt.org.

Photo credit: Craig Brockman

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