The Winter Park Playhouse Announces Its Inaugural Festival Of New Musicals

The Winter Park Playhouse jumps into the national spotlight as it prepares to launch the first annual Florida Festival of New Musicals, a nationally-recognized festival new to the state and nation. The Festival is being created to advance and elevate the original American art form of Musical Theater by fostering the development of new musicals and the artistic growth of writers and composers. The date is set for August of 2017.

The Florida Festival of New Musicals is a 4-day event that will showcase new musicals and bring professional producers and directors together with writers and composers whose works have been selected. Each new musical will be showcased as a reading by selected professional actor/vocalists.

The Festival, which is led by Playhouse Artistic Director Roy Alan, will be the first of its kind in the region similar to festivals for musical new works that take place in New York City, Seattle, Chicago,Washington D.C., and Los Angeles. It will provide a unique insight into how a new musical comes to life.

Submissions will be accepted from writers and composers around the country and a professional panel will read, evaluate and select six musicals that have never been produced. The first act of each will be rehearsed and performed in a non-staged format, fully read and sung, by casts of professional actors, singers, and musicians. Along with members of the artistic community, the general public will be able to attend and experience the new works for the first time.

The Winter Park Playhouse is a member of the prestigious National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) and is proudly associated with Actors' Equity Association, the national union for professional actors and stage managers.

The Florida Festival of New Musicals will be directly in line with The Playhouse mission to "...preserve and elevate the original American art form of musical theatre ..... " .

" We are very fortunate to have a professional musical theatre like The Winter Park Playhouse right here in Orange County bringing new works and national talent to our region....And to see the process of musical theatre come to life is a unique opportunity for Florida arts supporters," confirms Terry Olson, Director of Orange County Arts and Cultural Affairs.

Submissions of new musical works will be accepted between September 1, 2016 and November 30, 2016. To receive an application and specific submission details, send an email to mail@winterparkplayhouse.org and put "FFNM Application" in the subject line.

The Florida Festival of New Musicals is slated for late August 2017 with details to come as this new exciting event unfolds.

The Winter Park Playhouse is proudly affiliated with Actors' Equity Association, The National Alliance for Musical Theatre and is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization.