According to press notes, "the previously announced lineup for the 26th Annual Festival of New Musicals includes eight new musicals: Beautiful Poison, Cubamor, Great Wall, How To Break, Mary Marie, The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes, String and Stu For Silverton." The festival will take place over two days, Oct 23-24 at New World Stages (340 W. 50th Street).
Additional events for the festival will begin Oct. 22 with The 46th Minute, a concert featuring cut songs and new material from all eight 26th Annual Festival of New Musicals selections, followed by The 2014 Songwriters Showcase Oct. 23 and The Songwriters Sessions Oct. 23-24, all also to take place at New World Stages
Casting announcements for the festival's special events follow:
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The 46th Minute will be hosted by Mendez (Godspell, Wicked). Performing songs from the writers behind the 26th Festival of New Musicals will be Heidi Blickenstaff, Earley (A Tale of Two Cities), Rebecca Hart, Aaron Jafferis, Doreen Montalvo (Giant), Mamie Parris (Ragtime), Bryce Ryness (First Date), Kevin So, Emerson Steele (Violet), Yako 440, Mach (Godspell), Kate Shindle (Legally Blonde) and more to be announced. The evening will begin at 6 PM and is open to the public, with tickets starting at $25 and available for purchase at namt.org/46minute.
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The 2014 Songwriters Showcase will be directed Branden Huldeen. And according to press notes, "will highlight four exciting new musicals at varying stages of development."
The evening will feature performances from Tony Award Winner James (The Book of Mormon), Daniel Breaker (Shrek), Marc de la Cruz (If/Then), Katrina Lenk (Once), Liz McCartney (Annie), Hansel Tan, Courtney Wolfson (Kinky Boots), EJ Zimmerman (Avenue Q), Mach, Jeremy Morse, Emily Walton, Shannon O’Boyle (Once), PigPen Theatre Co. (The Old Man and The Old Moon) and more to be announced.
Each writing team will present two new songs and lead a brief discussion about their respectrive projects.
The lineup for the 2014 Songwriters Showcase includes Costs of Living by Timothy Huang, The Hunter and The Bear by PigPen Theatre Company, October Sky by Michael Mahler and Aaron Theilen, and Storyville by Lisa DeSpain, Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Julia Jordan.
For more information, visit namt.org/festival.
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The Songwriters Sessions will be directed by Brandon Ivie and will feature four different songwriting teams to include Michelle Elliott and Danny Larsen, Rob Rokicki, Will Aronson, Douglas Lyons and Ethan Pakchar.
The Songwriters Sessions will feature performances by Daniel Berryman (Rent), Brian Gallagher (Jekyll & Hyde), Molly Hager (Heathers the Musical), Katie Thompson (Giant), Mykal Kilgore (Motown), Ashley Blanchet (Beautiful – The Carole King Musical), Anastasia McClesky (Violet), Sarah Beth Pfeifer, Ashley Moniz (Sister Act) and more to be announced.
For more information, visit namt.org/festival.
