2010 Festival of New American Musicals Announced, New Partnership With NYMTF
By: Charlie Piane Apr. 09, 2010
The 2010 Festival of New American Musicals, a three month musical theatre festival, will be held May 16 through August 21 2010, throughout Southern California. Marcia Seligson, Bob Klein, and Linda Shusett are the Executive Producers of the annual festival, now in its third year.
The Festival of New American Musicals is home to full productions, staged readings, workshops of musicals in progress, cabaret events, and concerts. The organizers are working in partnership with over thirty Southern California area performing arts organizations; each will produce a new American musical during the Festival time period.
Pre-festival and festival offerings include Michael John LaChuisa’s “See What I Wanna See” at the Blank Theatre Company, Jonathan Brielle’s “Nightmare Alley” at the Geffen Playhouse, “Ruby Hayes Sings Bessie’s Blues” at the Whitefire Theatre, “Luck” by Mark Waldrop and Brad Ross at the Noho Arts Center, Michael Lluberes and Joe Maloney’s “The Boy in the Bathroom” at the Chance Theatre, Long Beach Opera’s production of Ricky Ian Gordon’s “Orpheus & Euridice,” and “The Sunset Players,” the Festival’s first Internet musical, that can be accessed on YouTube by anyone with a computer.
There are major educational initiatives aimed at a diverse array of students of all ages. These include Marquez Elementary School, College of the Canyons and specialized programs for high school performers, composers and librettists throughout the southland, including the Festival’s own Academy for Young Performers, which supports talented high school and college students toward careers in Musical Theatre.
The Festival is announcing a new partnership with the distinguished New York Musical Theatre Festival, headed by its Executive Director and Producer Isaac Robert Hurwitz. The New York Musical Theatre Festival, whose mission is strikingly similar to the Festival of New American Musicals, provides a launching pad for the next generation of musicals and their creators to ensure the continued vitality of America's greatest art form. NYMF, like FNAM, discovers, nurtures, and promotes promising musical theatre artists and producers at all stages of development, and reaches diverse audience through vibrant, accessible, and powerful new work. This year, the New York Musical Theatre Festival will be held September 27 to October 17 with 30 productions and 30 special events in 7 Off-Broadway theatres (200-seats theatres or less).
The first part of the exchange will bring “Carry On!!” a new musical that tells the story of Thurgood Marshall and the beginnings of the civil rights struggle, to New York as an Official Selection of the 2010 NYMF Festival. 30 fourth through seventh grade history students at Marquez Charter School in Pacific Palisades perform “Carry On!” and these students will be the youngest group to be a part of the NYMF festival. “Carry On” will be performed on June 9 at the Marquez Charter School, and for the public on June 13 at Magicopolis Theater, 1418-4th Street, Santa Monica. (310) 451-2241.
“’Carry On!’ exemplifies the work of the Festival,” said Festival Executive Producer Marcia Seligson,” and it most speaks to our education program, one of the major components of the Festival. Our program engages students of all ages in musical theatre – as performers, creators, and audience. It will be performed here before it moves to New York.”
In February Stephen Schwartz helped inaugurate the Festival’s newly formed Academy for Young Performers with a master class for aspiring musical theatre performers. This May 23 at the Gallery Theatre at Barnsdall Park, the Academy hosts young composers and librettists for a day-long workshop, called “Words and Music,” of lectures, demonstrations, and seminars designed to give them guidance, direction and training to help develop their talent in writing a musical. The faculty for this day includes Jason Robert Brown ("13"), Jeff Marx ("Avenue Q") and composer-lyricist Georgia Stitt.
Festival Executive Producer Bob Klein said, “We have the talent and the interest on the part of the theaters, the schools, and from the community to become a major resource for new composers, lyricists, book writers, directors, producers, choreographers, dancers and actors – more than 3,000 members of our musical theatre community participated in the ’08 and ‘09 festivals. We have had six universities, nine high schools, colleges, and cultural centers performing new musicals in the festival. Our priority is to expand, inspire and engage the creative and performing talents of the youth of Southern California to develop the new American musical theater of the future as well as the new audience for that theater.”
Festival Honorary Co-Chair and advisor Stephen Schwartz said, “In my capacity as artistic director of the ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop and as one of the judges for the Jonathan Larson Foundation grant, I have heard the work of so many promising and talented young musical theatre composers and lyricists. The fact that this Festival continues to give many of them a chance to be showcased and celebrated very publicly here on the West Coast is a truly fantastic gift.”
Honorary Co-chair Stephen Sondheim said, “What impresses me most about the Festival is its producers' vision for developing new and young musical theatre audiences all around Southern California. By working directly with ethnically diverse high schools and colleges and helping them produce new musicals in their schools, the organizers of the Festival hope to ignite a passion for theater in these young people.”
The Festival has programs working at the elementary, high school, college and university levels. This year, 100 fifth grade history students at Marquez Charter School in Pacific Palisades will also perform “Water And Power,” a musical that dramatizes the birth of the American labor movement in Lowell, Massachusetts, 1835, in two alternating casts of 50 students each – in addition to performing “Carry On.” These students are learning American history by performing musicals that dramatize their course work. “Water and Power” is performed at Marquez School on June 15 and 17.
Also at the elementary level is “We Still Can't Stand Still 3,” at the William Grant Still Center at the Wilshire Methodist Church (711 South Plymouth Blvd. at Wilshire Blvd.) on May 8. Now in its third year, children (2-12) stage their own original musical especially for the Festival.
At the High School level, the PUC Education Complex will present “Tempest Toss’d,” their take on Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” mixed with “Frankie and Annette” style beach party songs. Performances are on May 7 and 8 at the PUC Education Complex, 11500 Eldridge Ave. in Lake View Terrace; and May 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 21, 22,23, 24, 25 at The Ruby Theatre at The Complex, 6476 Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood.
City at Peace–Los Angeles @ Inside Out Community Arts sponsors a program that brings together vastly diverse teens from across Los Angeles County to create, produce, and perform an original musical based on their lives, and their ideas for addressing the issues that concern them most. These high school students will also design and lead community action projects in the city in order to make their creative vision for change real in the world. July 9-11, Inside Out Community Arts, 2210 Lincoln Blvd, Venice, CA, 90291; 310-397-8820, www.insideoutca.org.
At the college and university level, College of the Canyons will introduce a new college credit course devoted to the development of a new musical, “Sing Me a Happy Song,” with composer-lyricist Georgia Stitt on hand to work with the students as they develop and produce a new song cycle while learning every aspect of putting on a show. This course is limited to 45 students, is presented by the College of the Canyons Theatre Department and the Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center, and will be held June 7 to July 10. For information contact paul.wickline@canyons.edu.
From April 22 -25, UC Irvine will present “The Green Knight,” a comedic story of honor, love, and desire that questions not just the chivalric codes of King Arthur’s famous Round Table, but what it means to be a soldier now and forever. At Citrus College, The Citrus Singers will offer its Summer 2010, revue, a concert featuring new American musicals, including songs from “Ragtime,” “Spring Awakening,” and some Jason Robert Brown favorites, May 21-23. Haugh Performing Arts Center, 1000 W. Foothill Blvd., Glendora CA. 626-963-9411.
Seligson, Klein and Shusett are also working closely with the Festival’s two primary creative advisors, celebrated Broadway composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz, composer-lyricist of “Wicked,” “Pippin,” and “Godspell,” and Michael Kerker, Director of Musical Theatre of ASCAP, the major organization which represents American theater composers.
The honorary co-chairs of the Festival of New American Musicals are Schwartz, Stephen Sondheim, Jerry Herman, Jason Alexander and Angela Lansbury.
Marcia Seligson said, “As we launch the third year of the Festival, we continue to not only celebrate the remarkable American art form of musical theatre, but also foster and develop new generations of young writers, composers, and burgeoning performers. We are delighted over our new partnership with the New York Musical Theatre Festival which will tie the east and west coasts together, and the recent formation of our Academy for Young Performers, which looks to the future of the art form.”
Linda Shusett said, “We are thrilled to embrace the ever growing scope of the Festival and its participants. The vibrancy of Southern California’s musical theatre is ever remarkable and fascinating. We find musical theatre embraced everywhere -- on Network TV, Cable, and even the Internet. This year we are delighted to premiere the Festival’s first original Internet musical, ‘The Sunset Players.’”
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was quoted in the Christian Science Monitor as saying, “Los Angeles is pushing this country’s cultural envelope across the arts spectrum – from experimental architecture to our unabashed pursuit of edgy, young composers – and I could not be prouder to add performing arts to the list. I hope this ambitious festival blossoms into a magnet for new talent for years to come.”
Seligson founded and was Producing Artistic Director of Reprise! Broadway’s Best, which became the leading Southern California musical theatre presenting classic American musicals, from its inception in 1995 until 2005. Bob Klein was a founding board member of Reprise!, and headed the company’s successful effort to market rarely revived Broadway musicals. Shusett was a producer on last year's Festival, as well as the 2008 Festival, and has worked in the film business and is also a performer.
The Festival of New American Musicals is presented by BNY Mellon Bank. Main sponsors are the ASCAP Foundation, KUSC, BACKSTAGE, Greenberg & Glusker, and The Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.
FNAM begins and ends with two fund raising events – a kick off reception on Sunday, May 16 honoring sponsor BNY Mellon Bank and a 40th birthday celebration for Jason Robert Brown on Sunday, August 21.
The Festival’s website is now online at www.lafestival.org.
The Pre- Festival events of the 2010 Festival of New American Musicals:
Pre-Festival event -- World Premiere of the Festival’s First Internet Musical --
“The Sunset Players” Created by Jordan Beck and Danny Blaylock, Directed by Cory Reeder, Renaissance Man Productions. Get an up close and personal look at the world of musical theater with this group of funny and talented young adults. But don’t look for it on TV or Cable. It’s on your computer, with new episodes added every month, beginning March 15th. Episode premieres: Episode 2, April 1; Episode 3, May 1; Episode 4, June 1.
For complete episodes go to: www.youtube.com/thesunsetplayers.
Pre-Festival event –- “The Story of My Life” The Los Angeles Premiere -- Music and Lyrics by Neil Bartram, Book by Brian Hill. This 90-minute Broadway musical, nominated for four 2009 Drama Desk Awards including Outstanding Musical, tells the story of two childhood friends and how their friendship profoundly defined their lives. Lillian Theatre; February 26 – April 4. Ticket Information: http://www.havoktheatre.com/ , 818-505-1875.
Pre-Festival event –- Michael John LaChiusa‘s “See What I Wanna See” The West Coast Premiere -- Words & Music by Michael John LaChiusa, Musical Direction by David O, Directed by Daniel Henning. “See What I Wanna See” is about lust, greed, murder, faith, and redemption based on three short stories that unfold like a Japanese screen painting. This fascinating musical asks the question, “What is truth?” The Blank Theatre Company; April 10–May 23. Ticket Information: www.theblank.com, 323-661-9827.
Pre-Festival event –- Geffen Playhouse First Preview – “Nightmare Alley” – With Private Reception -- Book, Music and Lyrics by Jonathan Brielle; based on the William Lindsay Gresham novel of the same name. Directed by Gilbert Cates. “Nightmare Alley” is a dark musical set against the shadowy world of the traveling carnivals and tented churches that dominated the Dust Bowl era. James Barbour (Broadway’s “A Tale of Two Cities,” “Urinetown,” “Beauty and the Beast”) stars as Stan, the con turned carnie and back again. Geffen Playhouse; Tuesday, April 13 – 8pm, with exclusive private after-show reception at Geffen Playhouse to announce the 2010 Festival. Ticket info: www.lafestival.org/index.html.
Pre-Festival event –- “The Women of Brewster Place” –The Musical –West Coast Premiere of Tim Acito’s new musical, directed by Michael Matthews. Based on Gloria Naylor's beloved award -winning collection of stories, “The Women of Brewster Place-the Musical” uses an original score of R&B, pop, disco and old school funk to tell the individual stories of eight very different African -American women in a 1970's housing project who are struggling with issues of identity, poverty, hope, love and loss Directed by Michael Matthews. Celebration Theatre; April 21-June 6. Ticket Information: www.celebrationtheatre.com/onstage.
The events of the 2010 Festival of New American Musicals:
“Luck!” Book and Lyrics by Mark Waldrop, who created “When Pigs Fly” and “Whoop-de-doo” with Howard Crabtree. Music by Brad Ross. In this fractured folk-tale based on a story by Isaac Bashevis Singer, Mazel and Shlimazel, the spirits of Good Luck and Bad Luck, make a bet to determine who is the more powerful. Along the way, matters are complicated by a crafty prime minister, a superstitious nurse and a lion on the loose! Noho Arts Center; May 17-18.
“The Boy in the Bathroom” Book and Lyrics by Michael Lluberes,
Music and additional lyrics by Joe Maloney. Set entirely in a most unexpected environment for a musical, “The Boy in the Bathroom” is innovative, risk–taking musical theatre with a book and lyrics that are both profound and disturbing. Chance Theatre; May 4-6. Ticket Information: (714) 777-3033/ (866) 811-4111; www.chancetheater.com.
“The Night of the Black Cat” Set in the French Cabaret “Le Chat Noir” in Paris 1881, “The Night of the Black Cat” takes place on one magical night when some of France’s most famed artists, including George Sand, Jane Avril, Edith Piaf, and Picasso, travel through time to entertain in the salon of Germaine de Stael. Directed by Deborah LaVine. Produced by Michelle Danner, Edgemar Artistic Director. Edgemar Theatre; May 22-Aug 8.
“Glee in Concert” The weekly musical theatre TV phenomenon goes live as the cast of the hit FOX TV series perform at the Gibson Auditorium; May 20-22.
Long Beach Opera – “Orpheus & Euridice” – LBO’s notorious opera in a pool by Ricky Ian Gordon, composer of the acclaimed “The Grapes of Wrath.” Metropolitan Opera star Elizabeth Futral and Grammy nominated clarinetist Todd Palmer transform the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool into the River Styx. If you wonder why its part of the Festival, Ricky Ian Gordon says: “Let’s always remember…the parameters are changing…the boundaries are changing…it is musical theatre if I say it is! The form is mutating!” June 11-13.
“Das Barbecü” – Book and lyrics by Jim Luigs, Music by Scott Warrender. LA Premiere. An official participant in the Ring Festival LA, this off-Broadway hit is set in various locations throughout present day Texas. Loosely based on Richard Wagner’s massive Ring Cycle, the story is compressed into a two-hour musical comedy with a country and western score. Musical Theatre Guild, Alex Theatre; June 14.
Noho Arts Center - “It’s Top Secret” – Book, music & lyrics by Steven A. Muro & Dan W. Davis. Directed by Robert Petrarca. Relive the zany hilarity of the legendary Marx Brothers in this uproarious musical comedy! The year is 1942. The world is at war and treachery is afoot at the Avendale estate after a murder is committed and Dr. Avendale’s TOP SECRET formula is about to fall into the hands of two German spies. Enter the "Marx Brothers" –to save the day, solve the crime, and riotously derail the storyline. Golden Performing Arts Center; 11136 Magnolia Blvd. N. Hollywood; June 19-July 18.
“Lost Lady With A Violin” – Music/lyrics/book by Laurie Whitaker. Billy Porter directs this period piece primarily set in 1940’s Philadelphia as well as in the South. The musical explains the existence of an old violin player in a modern neighborhood, who only comes out to play the violin with an old man named “Young Joe.” El Portal Theatre, June 22.
“Serrano” -. Book and Lyrics by Madeline Sunshine, Music by Robert Tepper, Directed by Tony nominee Joel Zwick. This fresh take on “Cyrano De Bergerac” is set in modern day Little Italy, where two mob families fight for power and territory. Starring Broadway’s James Barbour, Brandi Burkhardt and Hershel Sperber; Olivier Award Winner Lesli Margherita, and more! Two Performances Only: June 20 and 21; El Portal’s Forum Theatre. Admission is FREE, but reservations are a must. Tickets: 818-845-2882.
“The One & Only” – A series of sung-through vignettes that tell the story of Jen Claire, who would have been an average teenage girl, were she not born with a single eye. At times comic and poignant, Jen Claire offers a lens into her teen angst, along with the issues of conformity, and the true meaning of beauty and self-confidence. July 1; The Relevant Stage Theatre Company at San Pedro’s Warner Grand Theatre; www.therelevantstage.com.
“Super Sidekick” – This new original children’s musical from rising LA playwright Gregory Crafts (“Friends Like These”) with original music by Michael Gordon Shapiro, follows the dynamic duo of Super and Sidekick, as they face Action, Adventure, Romance, even Ninja Koalas! Theatre Unleashed at the Sherry Theatre, 11502 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood. Sundays at 1pm and 4pm July 11-August 15. www.theatreunleashed.com.
FNAM/ASCAP Staged Reading Series – shows TBA, at Barnsdall Gallery Theatre, July 14-15. Produced by Marcia Seligson and Michael Kerker.
“Robin and the 7 Hoods” –WORLD PREMIERE MUSICAL, BROADWAY BOUND
Book by Rupert Holmes, Lyrics by Sammy Cahn, Music by Jimmy Van Heusen. Produced with the permission of Warner Brothers Theatrical Ventures. Based on the original screenplay by David R. Schwartz. The author of Broadway’s “Curtains,” and the director of Broadway’s “The Drowsy Chaperone,” and “Spamalot,” join forces for “Robin and the 7 Hoods,” a new musical that takes the Robin Hood legend and gives it an early sixties spin with a score of classic Cahn and Van Heusen songs including “My Kind of Town (Chicago is),” and “Call Me Irresponsible.” Old Globe Theatre, July 14-August 22.
“Three: Songs from the Heart” – A world premiere original musical. Book, music and lyrics by Frederick Keeve, Directed by Lance Roberts. A married man who’s attracted to men. A devoted wife who wants to keep her family together. A son who loves both his parents. A teacher’s assistant who’s in love with the married man he works with. These are just some of the characters in this new original world premiere musical. Electric Lodge, July 16-18.
Actors Co-op Crossley Theaters – “Trails – A New Musical” – Book by Christy Hall, Lyrics by Jordan Mann, Music by Jeff Thompson, Directed by Heather Chesley. “Trails” tells the story of two old friends, Mike & Seth, who are reunited after ten years. Desperate to escape their hometown and the recent death of Seth’s mother, the two boldly set out to fulfill a childhood promise: to hike the Appalachian Trail together from beginning to end. From the ashes of a tumultuous past springs a bond of brotherhood that can never again be broken. Actors Co-op Crossley theaters; July 22-August 1. Ticket information: (323) 462-8460 www.actorsco-op.org
FNAM/ASCAP Songwriters: The Next Generation – Two great evenings of new songwriters and showcases, featuring the composers, their new show songs, and their all-star vocal guests. The Gardenia; July 23 -24.
“Hello My Baby” – Book and lyrics by Cheri Steinkellner. “Hello My Baby” weaves an updated Tin Pan Alley score into a new-fashioned story of teen song-pluggers, gangs of New York, debutantes, love triangles, gender-swapping, and ukuleles at the musical-comedy turn of the last century. Rubicon Theatre, Ventura; August 5 – 15. rubicontheatre.org
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