New York Musical Theatre Festival
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Location | New York City |
---|---|
Founded | 2004 |
Type of play(s) | Musical |
Website | www |
The New York Musical Festival (NYMF) was an annual three-week summer festival that presented more than 30 new musicals a year in New York City's midtown theater district. More than half were chosen by leading theater artists and producers through an open-submission, double-blind evaluation process; the remaining shows were invited to participate by the Festival's artistic staff. The festival operated from 2004 to 2019.
The festival premiered over 447 musicals, which featured the work of over 8,000 artists and were attended by more than 300,000 people. More than 100 NYMF shows went on to further productions. By NYMF's county, alumni productions have been produced in all fifty U.S. states and in 27 countries, and have been seen by roughly four million people.[1] Over 20 NYMF shows have had cast albums recorded.
History[]
In addition to full productions, NYMF presented a wide range of special events, readings and concerts of new music, educational seminars, explorations of musicals in TV and film, and unusual collaborations with other New York-based arts organizations. In 2011, The Festival introduced NYMF meets NYMIF, partnering with the New York Musical Improv Festival in a weekly series in which NYMF performers were paired with performers from the Magnet Theater to create completely improvised musicals.[2]
In 2005, the Festival featured a series of co-productions with the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater exploring the nexus of improvisation and musical theater.[1] NYMF has also partnered with The Paley Center each season to present special screenings of Musicals on Television.[3]
Also in 2005, the New York Musical Theatre Festival received the 21st Jujamcyn Theaters Award, a $100,000 prize given to a not-for-profit institution that has made an "outstanding contribution to the development of creative talent for the theatre."[4]
NYMF also featured a Dance Series, celebrating the fusion of musical theatre and dance. Each series included one new musical commissioned by the Festival: Common Grounds (2006), Platforms (2007), Wild About Harry (2008), and Andy Warhol Was Right (2009).[1]
During the off-season, NYMF produced a number of concerts, from large star-studded evenings like "The Unauthorized Musicology of Ben Folds", to intimate events like a salon with composer Duncan Sheik. It also operated a year-round writer service program, The Next Link Project, which provided dramaturgical, professional, entrepreneurial and financial support to help writers bring their musicals to fruition as fully staged productions. The Next Link Project culminated with twelve writing teams each year receiving subsidized productions in NYMF's fall Festival.[5]
On July 17, 2008, the musical title of show became the first show to transfer from the New York Musical Theatre Festival to a commercial Broadway production when it opened at the Lyceum Theatre. The show closed October 12, 2008 after playing 13 previews and 102 performances. It was produced by Kevin McCollum, the producer of Rent and Avenue Q, as well as Roy Miller, producer of Drowsy Chaperone, the Vineyard Theatre, Laura Camien and Kris Stewart, founder emeritus of the New York Musical Theatre Festival.[6]
In 2009, Next To Normal became the second show to transfer from the New York Musical Theatre Festival to a commercial Broadway production. It became a smash hit at the Booth Theatre, winning 3 Tony Awards including Best Score and Best Leading Actress In A Musical.[7] "Next To Normal" went on to win the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, only the ninth musical to be so honored in the history of that award.[8]
Also in 2009, NYMF began a partnership with the (DIMF), which shares its dedication to new musicals and new artists. The partnership includes a production exchange, which began with the hit Korean production of My Scary Girl at NYMF, and continued in the Summer of 2010 with the 2009 NYMF musical Academy at DIMF. NYMF's Korean production of Academy received awards for Best Musical and Best Supporting Actor at the annual Daegu Musical Theater Awards.[9]
In 2013, NYMF won a Special Drama Desk Award "for a decade of creating and nurturing new musical theater, ensuring the future of this essential art form."[10]
Nerds: A Musical Software Satire, from NYMF 2005, was meant to be the fourth Broadway transfer of a NYMF show when it opened at the Longacre Theatre in 2016. However, it lost a major investor a month before its scheduled opening, when the cast was already in rehearsal, and the opening was cancelled.[11]
On January 2, 2020, NYMF abruptly announced that it was shutting down, ceasing operations immediately.[12]
NYMF Awards for Excellence[]
At the end of every festival starting in 2006, a jury of Broadway professionals gave out awards for excellence to the deserving productions in that year's festival. There is also a "Best of Fest" award that the public votes for. 2013 was the only year where the public and the jury agreed on a best musical (Volleygirls).
The NYMF Awards do not serve as a good barometer for future success. Only one musical that won "Most Promising New Musical" has had an off-Broadway production: A Letter to Harvey Milk (NYMF '12). Two "Best of Fest" winners have been seen Off-Broadway: Unlock'd (NYMF '07) and Fat Camp (NYMF '09).
Year | "Best of Fest" Audience Prize | Most Promising New Musical | Theater for the American Musical Prize | Excellence in Writing (Music) | Excellence in Writing (Lyrics) | Excellence in Writing (Book) | Excellence in Direction | Excellence in Choreography | Excellence in Overall Design | Outstanding Orchestrations | Outstanding Ensemble Performance |
2019[13] | Show: Overture
Concert: The Oldenburg Suite Reading: Mississippi |
Leaving Eden | Buried | Leaving Eden | Buried | Till | Flying Lessons | Leaving Eden | Flying Lessons | ||
2018[14] | Show: An American Hero
Concert: Fatty Fatty No Friends Reading: Legacy |
Between the Sea and Sky | Between the Sea and Sky | Interstate | Peter, Who? | Between the Sea and Sky | Emojiland | Between the Sea and Sky | Sonata 1962 | Between the Sea and Sky AND Emojiland | |
2017[15] | Show: Errol and Fidel
Concert: Dorian Gray |
Generation Me | Freedom Riders | Georama | Generation Me | Georama | Errol and Fidel | Georama | Errol and Fidel | Generation Me | |
2016[16] | Show: Children of Salt
Concert: Illa! A Hip Hop Musical |
Newton's Cradle | Dust Can't Kill Me | Newton's Cradle | Eh Dah? Questions for my Father | Newton's Cradle | Nickel Mines | A Scythe of Time | Dust Can't Kill Me | Dust Can't Kill Me | |
2015[17] | The Calico Buffalo | Songs for the Fallen | The Cobalteans | The Cobalteans | The Cobalteans | Claudio Quest | What Do Critics Know? | Claudio Quest | Acappella | Acappella | |
2014[18] | Cloned! | Academia Nuts | The Gig | The Gig | Bayonets of Angst | Academia Nuts | Propaganda! The Musical AND The Mapmaker's Opera (tie) | The Snow Queen | The Gig | Bayonets of Angst | |
2013[19] | Volleygirls | Volleygirls | Crossing Swords | Julian Po | Gary Goldfarb: Master Escapist | Crossing Swords | Crossing Swords | Castle Walk | The Awakening of Angel DeLuna | The Awakening of Angel DeLuna | Volleygirls |
2012[20] | Baby Case | A Letter to Harvey Milk | Stuck | Baby Case | Baby Case AND A Letter to Harvey Milk (tie) | A Letter to Harvey Milk | Baby Case | Prison Dancer | Le Cabaret Grimm | Foreverman | Prison Dancer |
2011[21] | Crazy, Just Like Me | Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice | Kiki Baby | Central Avenue Breakdown | Date of a Lifetime | Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice | Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice | Central Avenue Breakdown | Pride and Prejudice | Central Avenue Breakdown | This One Girl's Story |
2010[22] | Things As They Are | My Mother's Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding | I Got Fired | Trails | Frog Kiss | My Mother's Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding | My Mother's Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding | Petrouchka | Shine! | Without You[note 1] | Fellowship! AND The Most Ridiculous Thing You Ever Hoid (tie) |
2009[23] | Fat Camp | My Scary Girl | Under Fire | Academy | Judas & Me | Fucking Up Everything | Hurricane | Fat Camp | Hurricane | Academy | |
2008[24] | Idaho! | Bonnie & Clyde: A Folktale | The Jerusalem Syndrome | Bonnie & Clyde | College: The Musical | Love Jerry | Idaho! | Ward 9 | Idaho! | Love Jerry | |
2007[25] | Unlock'd | The Boy in the Bathroom | Sherlock Holmes (The Early Years) | The Yellow Wood | Such Good Friends | The Boy in the Bathroom | Such Good Friends | Platforms | The Boy in the Bathroom | Going Down Swingin' | |
2006[26] | Smoking Bloomberg | Kingdom | River's End | Have a Nice Life | Three Sides | Desperate Measures AND Gutenberg! The Musical! (tie) | Common Grounds[note 2] | Journey to the West | Have a Nice Life |
References[]
- ^ a b c [1], The Official Site of The New York Musical Theatre Festival.
- ^ BWW News Desk. "CYCLOPS, BIG BANK, et al. Set for 2011 NYMF; Full Line-Up Announced!". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
- ^ [2], The Paley Center's Musicals on Television Series.
- ^ [3], Playbill Article on the 22nd Jujamcyn Award referencing prior winners.
- ^ [4] Playbill article on 2010 Next Link Project Selections.
- ^ [5], The Internet Broadway Database entry for Title of Show's Broadway production.
- ^ [6], Internet Broadway Database page for Next to Normal.
- ^ [7], The Pulitzer Committee's announcement of the 2010 Prize for Drama.
- ^ [8], Theatermania article on the Daegu production of Academy.
- ^ [9] NYMF News Announcement About the Special Drama Desk Award]]
- ^ Cox, Gordon (2016-03-08). "Steve Jobs-Bill Gates Musical 'Nerds' Nixes Broadway Run". Variety. Retrieved 2016-06-16.
- ^ BWW News Desk. "NYMF To Shut Down After Fifteen Seasons". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
- ^ Hetrick, Adam (2019-08-06). "Leaving Eden Wins 2019 NYMF Award for Best Musical". Playbill. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
- ^ McPhee, Ryan (2018-08-06). "New York Musical Festival Names 2018 Award for Excellence Winners". Playbill. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
- ^ "THE NEW YORK MUSICAL FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2017 WINNERS FOR THE NYMF AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE". NYMF.org. August 6, 2017. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
- ^ Rickwald, Bethany (August 8, 2016). "Lesli Margherita, Victoria Clark, and More Win 2016 New York Musical Festival Awards". Theatermania. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
- ^ [10] 2015 Awards
- ^ [11] 2014 Awards
- ^ [12] 2013 Awards
- ^ [13] 2012 Awards
- ^ [14] 2011 Awards
- ^ [15] 2010 Awards
- ^ [16] 2009 Awards
- ^ [17] 2008 Awards
- ^ [18] 2007 Awards
- ^ [19] 2006 Awards
Notes[]
External links[]
- The New York Musical Theatre Festival Official Site
- New York Musical Theatre Festival Downstage Center XM radio interview at American Theatre Wing, 2006
- [20] Los Angeles Times feature on the 2006 New York Musical Theatre Festival
- Theatre festivals in the United States
- Theatre in New York City
- Festivals in New York City
- Musical theatre organizations