New York Musical Theatre Festival

The New York Musical Festival (NYMF) was an annual three-week summer festival which presented more than thirty new musicals at venues in New York City's midtown theater district. More than half of these productions are chosen by leading theater artists and producers through an open-submission, double-blind evaluation process; the remaining shows are invited to participate by the Festival's artistic staff. There were sixteen iterations of NYMF in total, one every year from 2004 to 2019.

New York Musical Festival

Location	New York City
Founded	2004
Type of play(s)	Musical
Website	www.nymf.org

The festival premiered over 447 musicals, which have featured the work of over 8,000 artists and have been attended by 300,000 theatergoers. Over 100 NYMF shows have gone on to further productions, with NYMF alumni productions having been produced in all fifty U.S. states and in 27 countries worldwide, having been seen by approximately four million people.[1] Over twenty NYMF shows have had cast albums recorded.

History

In addition to full productions, NYMF presents 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 Daegu International Musical Theatre Festival (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

1. , The Official Site of The New York Musical Theatre Festival.
2. Desk, BWW News. "CYCLOPS, BIG BANK, et al. Set for 2011 NYMF; Full Line-Up Announced!". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
3. , The Paley Center's Musicals on Television Series.
4. , Playbill Article on the 22nd Jujamcyn Award referencing prior winners.
5. Playbill article on 2010 Next Link Project Selections.
6. , The Internet Broadway Database entry for Title of Show's Broadway production.
7. , Internet Broadway Database page for Next to Normal.
8. , The Pulitzer Committee's announcement of the 2010 Prize for Drama.
9. , Theatermania article on the Daegu production of Academy.
10. NYMF News Announcement About the Special Drama Desk Award]]
11. Cox, Gordon (2016-03-08). "Steve Jobs-Bill Gates Musical 'Nerds' Nixes Broadway Run". Variety. Retrieved 2016-06-16.
12. Desk, BWW News. "NYMF To Shut Down After Fifteen Seasons". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
13. Hetrick, Adam (2019-08-06). "Leaving Eden Wins 2019 NYMF Award for Best Musical". Playbill. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
14. McPhee, Ryan (2018-08-06). "New York Musical Festival Names 2018 Award for Excellence Winners". Playbill. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
15. "THE NEW YORK MUSICAL FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2017 WINNERS FOR THE NYMF AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE". NYMF.org. August 6, 2017. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
16. Rickwald, Bethany (August 8, 2016). "Lesli Margherita, Victoria Clark, and More Win 2016 New York Musical Festival Awards". Theatermania. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
17. 2015 Awards
18. 2014 Awards
19. 2013 Awards
20. 2012 Awards
21. 2011 Awards
22. 2010 Awards
23. 2009 Awards
24. 2008 Awards
25. 2007 Awards
26. 2006 Awards

Notes

1. 2010 was the first year to give an award for Outstanding Orchestrations.
2. In 2006, there was one award given for Excellence in Direction and Choreography.

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
• Los Angeles Times feature on the 2006 New York Musical Theatre Festival