The 2018 New York Musical Festival (NYMF) kicks off July 9 and runs through August 5. The 15th annual festival features 12 original musical productions, ten musical readings, eight concerts, and three educational programs—all celebrating musical theatre and new work.
Six of these new musicals offered preview presentations to the press June 26; watch them in the video above.
Members of the cast of Emojiland—Laura Nicole Harrison, Cooper Howell, Angela Wildflower, Megan Kane, Jessie Alagna, Alex G. Kunz, Chloe Fox, and Brandon L. Armstrong, with Keith Harrison on piano—performed “Progress Bar” and “Pile of Poo.” Emojiland features a book, music and lyrics by Keith Harrison and Laura Nicole Harrison. A 2018 Richard Rodgers Award Finalist, the musical follows the interconnected lives of 12 emojis inside a smartphone and stars Broadway favorite Lesli Margherita.
Emojiland plays July 17, 19, 21, and 22. Full schedule here.
Abby Payne, Jeff Davis, Emily Vetsch, and Craig Winberry of The Gunfighter Meets His Match performed “Hothead Kid” and “Could Be.” Written by Abby Payne and choreographed by Glitter Kitty Productions, the show is inspired by the short stories of Louis L'Amour and the New York City music scene in this story about a gunfighter’s battle for his true love.
The Gunfighter Meets His Match plays July 30, August 2, 3, and 4. Full schedule here.
Accompanied by composer-lyricist Thomas Hodges, actors Christina Maxwell and AnnEliza Canning-Skinner performed from Sonata 1962. Singing “I Will Run” and “Sunlight,” the duo portray a story of same-sex love. “When Margaret Evans’ musically-gifted daughter Laura is awarded a scholarship to a prestigious university, it seems like a dream come true. But when Laura falls in love at school – with a girl – that dream is threatened. Inspired by historical events, Sonata 1962 is a heartbreakingly beautiful chamber musical about the length to which a mother will go to save her daughter in a time when same-sex desire was viewed as both criminal and curable.”
Sonata 1962 plays August 1, 2, 3, and 5. Full schedule here.
Pedro Pan is a new musical based on real-life events of Operación Pedro Pan, when a young boy was sent to the U.S. to escape the perils of Cuba. Gregory Diaz IV, Tony Award winner Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Genny Lis Padilla, Natalie Toro, Julian Silva, Taylor Caldwell, Rodrigo Ignacio Cruz, Cherry Torres, Diego Lucano, Natalie Dixon, and Sisley Carretas performed “Havana, Como Te Quiero” and “Fly” accompanied Stephen Anthony Elkins on piano and Andy Warren on congas. Winner of the 2017 NYMF Developmental Reading Award, the show features a book by Rebecca Aparicio with music and lyrics by Stephen Anthony Elkins.
Pedro Pan plays July 10, 12, 13, and 14. Full schedule here.
Thicket & Thistle’s What’s Your Wish? follows two best friends sucked into a storybook as they travel through Death Forest to find their way home. Kyle Acheson, Sam De Roest, Lindsay Zaroogian, Juliana Wheeler, and Joshua Stenseth performed the “Overture” and “When You’re 16.” The new musical features music and lyrics by Acheson, De Roest, and Corley Pillsbury with a book by Thicket and Thistle.
Thicket & Thistle’s What’s Your Wish? plays July 16, 19, 20, and 21. Full schedule here.
Interstate, an Asian-American pop-rock poetry musical, features two best friends on a road trip to realize their dreams of music stardom and the queer transgender teen fan they inspire. Cast members Sushma Saha, Jon Viktor Corpuz, Angel Lin, Esco Jouley, Allison Linker, Andreas Wyder, Michelle Noh, and Kiet Tai Cao accompanied by Karen Dryer performed “Hello Open Road” and “I Don’t Look.”
Interstate plays July 9, 12, 13, 14, and 15. Full schedule here.
Click here for more information about the full offerings of NYMF 2018.
