Oliver Houser News

Broadway's next generation comes to LA with featured performances by Jonah Platt (B'way: WICKED, "JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR Live"), Olivier Award nominee April Nixon (B'way SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE, TOMMY), and Carrie Manolakos (B'way: MAMMA MIA) in A Little New Music's 20th concert of new musical theatre songs in The Sorting Room's 2019 Summer Series at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on June 26th at 7:00 p.m.  Kathy Deitch (B'way WICKED, FOOTLOOSE) will host. Multiple LA Ovation Award-winning composer Gregory Nabours (THE TROUBLE WITH WORDS, MARILYN! THE NEW MUSICAL) returns as music director, leading the ALNM band.

Founding Executive Director Kathy Evans announced the 27 writers of nine new musicals for Rhinebeck Writers Retreat's summer weeklong residencies. This year's artists include Obie-winner Heather Christian, Kleban-winner Brian Crawley, TV and film writers Bekah Brunstetter (THIS IS US) and Cinco Paul (DESPICABLE ME), inaugural Stephen Schwartz Award winner Oliver Houser, and ASCAP Foundation scholarship winner Khiyon Hursey. The musicals cover a wide range of subjects. Four have LGBTQ themes: a historical look at Florida in the 1950s (IN A SUNSHINE STATE), a Palestinian/Israeli love story (BORDERS), a modern coming of age of a young black man (SEAN'S STORY PART I | THE AWAKENING), and a fantasy queer rock musical celebrating lady love (TL;DR: THELMA LOUISE; DYKE REMIX). Two are darkly comedic historical musicals: one featuring Mary Magdelene (A.D. 16) and the second a WWII plot to foil Hitler (OPERATION MINCEMEAT). Other subjects include the opioid crisis (ALMOST HEAVEN), the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 (THE GOLDEN SPIKE), and a mystery involving a woman with a sleep disorder (NARCOLEPSY).

Last night, the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop held a special performance of memorable songs created during this year's workshop at the quaint Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater in New York City. This esteemed workshop has been cultivating rising talent since 1961 and fostered some of the brilliant minds behind a variety of notable award-winning shows such as Avenue Q, The Book of Mormon, A Chorus Line, Raisin and Nine.

On Monday, March 18, DGF hosted a Salon at the Lambs Club where they presented actress Judith Light and playwright Tony Kushner with the DGF Madge Evans & Sidney Kingsley Awards. Former DGF Fellow, Oliver Houser, was also presented with the inaugural DGF Stephen Schwartz Award. The evening featured performances by Michael R. Jackson, James Jackson Jr., Sean Patrick Cameron, and Oliver Houser, and remarks by Jordan Roth, Jon Robin Baitz, and Stephen Schwartz.

The BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop will present its top works at this year's showcase on Monday, April 1st at 3 PM and 6 PM. The shows will be held at The Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater in New York City (10 West 64th Street) and will premiere performances of the best of songs written and composed by recent members of this Drama League, Drama Desk and Tony honored workshop.   

Actress Judith Light and playwright Tony Kushner are set to receive DGF Madge Evans & Sidney Kingsley Awards. Former DGF Fellow, Oliver Houser, also announced as recipient of the DGF Stephen Schwartz Award.

If you're under the age of 26, and you're writing for musical theatre, New Musicals Inc. would love to hear from you.

The Australian Discovery Orchestra, the world's first solely digital streaming orchestra, is proud to announce "16 STORIES" - a worldwide online vocal competition. Renowned musical theatre creators from around the world have contributed a song from a musical they have written that has never previously been recorded for commercial release; these 16 songs will comprise an upcoming Australian Discovery Orchestra album, to be released on the Broadway Records label.

If you're under the age of 26, and you're writing for musical theatre, New Musicals Inc. would love to hear from you.

The Dramatists Guild of America is the originator of the Dramatists Guild Fellows program, with a mission is to enhance the sense of community among developing American dramatists by offering a year-long workshop designed to augment their training with practical experience and career information resources.

NAMT has announced final casting for this year's Festival, along with programming details for the Songwriters Showcase and Midday Cabarets. The Festival of New Musicals will take place on Thursday, October 25 and Friday, October 26, 2018 at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues).

National Alliance for Musical Theatre (Betsy King Militello, Executive Director) is thrilled to announce final casting for the 30th Annual FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS along with The Songwriters Showcase and Midday Cabarets. The FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS takes place on Thursday, October 25 and Friday, October 26, 2018 at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues). Festival events kick off on Monday, October 22 with Thank You, 30! a gala event to celebrate the 30th Annual Festival.

Last night, the 2017-2018 class of Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellows presented excerpts of full length works at Playwrights Horizons at 7:00 PM. This presentation caps off a year spent working under the tutelage of Michael Korie (War Paint), Laurence O'Keefe (Heathers), Diana Son (Stop Kiss), and Sheri Wilner (Kingdom City).

An annual event eagerly anticipated by New York's most serious and knowledgeable musical theater fans, Bound for Broadway previews four of the best new musicals headed to New York theaters.

National Alliance for Musical Theatre has announced initial casting for the 30th Annual FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS, which takes place on Thursday, October 25 and Friday, October 26, 2018 at New World Stages

The National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) has announced the directors and music directors for this year's Festival, happening October 25 & 26 at New World Stages in Midtown Manhattan! 

National Alliance for Musical Theatre announces the line-up of directors for their 30th Annual FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS, which takes place on Thursday, October 25 and Friday, October 26, 2018 at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues). The Festival events will kick off on Monday, October 22 with Thank You, 30!, a gala event to celebrate the 30th Annual Festival.

The National Alliance for Musical Theatre (Betsy King Militello, Executive Director) is celebrating its 30th Annual Festival of New Musicals this year, and in recognition of that milestone, NAMT will host a month-long new musicals celebration this September. During New Musicals Month, NAMT will celebrate and honor the groundbreaking work their members do year-round to develop new work.

National Alliance for Musical Theatre (Betsy King Militello, Executive Director) is thrilled to announce the line-up of new musicals for their 30th Annual FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS, which takes place on Thursday, October 25 and Friday, October 26, 2018 at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues). The Festival events will kick off on Monday, October 22 with Thank You, 30!, a gala event to celebrate the 30th Annual Festival.

In what has become an annual ritual, a total of 36 established and emerging composers, lyricists, and librettists will converge on the Goodspeed campus from mid-January through mid-February 2018 to participate in the Johnny Mercer Foundation Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals. The writing teams, representing 18 new musicals, will populate the campus, creating a truly exciting environment for discovery and inspiration.