Presented Oct. 17-18 in Manhattan, the annual weekend of musical theatre provides a platform for emerging and established theatre writers to showcase their works with casts featuring Broadway and Off-Broadway actors. Many of the new works find life at regional companies, as well as Off-Broadway and on Broadway.
Betsy King Militello is the executive director of NAMT.
Here's a look at the 2013 selections and their teams:
Analog and Vinyl
Book, music and lyrics by
Directed by ([title of show]); is music director
Featuring Sarah Stiles (Into the Woods) and Harriet Harris (Thoroughly Modern Millie).
"Harrison is obsessed with LPs from the sixties and the superior quality of analog. Rodeo Girl, a quirky Silver Lake hipster, is obsessed with Harrison but he barely notices. With his vintage record store about to go under, Harrison and Rodeo Girl are visited by a mysterious customer who makes them a devilish offer they can't refuse." The Astonishing Return of鈥he Protagonists!
Book and lyrics by , music by Michael Shaieb
Directed by with musical direction by
Featuring Andy Karl (Rocky), Douglas Sills (The Addams Family), Kara Lindsay (Newsies), Aurelia Williams (Once on This Island), (Spider-Man), (Scandalous), (9 to 5) and (Shrek the Musical), (Altar Boyz) and (Aida).
"The Protagonists was once a mighty group of superheroes battling the forces of evil. Twenty years later, they find themselves battling the forces of thinning hair and menopause. But when an old nemesis re-emerges with a sinister plan, can the former superfriends pull it together to save the world again?"
The Boy Who Danced on Air
Book and lyrics by Charlie Sohne, music by Tim Rosser
Featuring (Billy Elliott), Anthony Lee Medina (Spring Awakening), Fajer Al-Kaisi, Sorab Wadia (Nymph Errant) and Jonathan Raviv (My Name is Asher Lev).
"The Boy Who Danced on Air focuses on a tradition in Afghanistan called Bacha Bazi: wealthy men take in poorer boys and train them to dance. The boys perform at parties and are often sexually abused. This is the story of what happens when two of those boys fall in love."
Come From Away
Book, music and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein
directs with musical direction by Dan Pardo
Featuring (Here Lies Love), Klea Blackhurst (Hello, Dolly!), (The Drowsy Chaperone), (Hello, Dolly!), Nick Choksi (Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812), ("Submissions Only"), Allison Case (Hands on A Hard Body), (The Addams Family), Stephanie D鈥橝bruzzo (Avenue Q), (Company), Jason "SweetTooth" Williams (Bloodsong of Love) and (The Book of Mormon).
"Come From Away tells the true story of when seven thousand people landed on the doorstep of Gander, Newfoundland... and the people of Gander 'put the kettle on.' A rocking musical about when 38 planes from around the world were diverted to a small, Canadian community on September 11, 2001 鈥� doubling its population in an instant. While the world witnessed the worst acts of humankind, the stranded passengers had their faith in humanity restored by the spirited people who comforted those who had come from away."
Eastland
Book and lyrics by Andrew White
Music by and Ben Sussman
Amanda Dehnert directs
Featuring (Chaplin), Andi Alhadeff, (Once), (Million Dollar Quartet), Lauren Marcus (The Planet That Ate Dirty Socks), (Once), (The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World), Derek Hasenstab and Erik Heilman.
"Early morning, July 24, 1915: Moored on the Chicago River, the S.S. Eastland overflows with passengers ready for their company picnic. The boat leans to port 鈥� and keeps leaning, until it tips completely over. By day's end, hundreds will perish, whole families will vanish and unexpected heroes will emerge."
My Heart is the Drum
Concept and music by Phillip Palmer
Original story and book by Jennie Redling
Lyrics by Stacey Luftig
directs
Featuring (Motown), (Big Fish), (Motown), (Hair), (The Book of Mormon), (Avenue Q), Donald Weber (Motown), (Motown) and (The Book of Mormon).
"When Efua Kuti is pulled from school and forced to marry, she flees her village in Ghana to pursue her dream: a college education. Guided by the spirit of her grandmother, she confronts life-threatening dangers, and in doing so, discovers her true strength. A joyous tale of modern Africa with driving rhythms and rich vocal harmonies, this big, coming-of-age musical celebrates the promise within us all."
The Sandman 鈥� a little nightmare musical
Music by Richard Oberacker
Book and lyrics by Robert Taylor & Richard Oberacker
Based on the disturbed scribblings of E.T.A. Hoffmann
Valerie Gebert is musical director
Featuring Heidi Blickenstaff ([title of show]), Douglas Sills (The Addams Family), (Newsies), Mavis Simpson-Ernst (Evita), (The Mystery of Edwin Drood), Kelly McCormick (Les Miserables) and (Annie).
"Germany, 1838. What if Clara's nutcracker had been built by a clockmaker whose children were held hostage by the Sandman? What if the clockmaker鈥檚 nanny had invited the Sandman in? What if the Sandman steals children鈥檚 eyes at night? Too ghastly to contemplate. Who dares put such horrors in a musical?"
The Single Girls Guide
Book by , music and lyrics by Tommy Newman
Kevin Moriarty directs
Featuring Alli Mauzey (Wicked), (Annie), (Elf), (Soul Doctor), (The Lion King), Michael McCorry Rose (Wicked), (I Love You Because), (Superman...), Gwen Hollander (Little Women), (The Other Josh Cohen) and (Hairspray).
"Jane Austen meets Helen Gurley Brown in the stylish world of 1964 Manhattan. Filled with the buoyant sounds and bright spirit of the mid-1960s, The Single Girl's Guide is a fizzy riff on 'Emma' and 'Sex and The Single Girl' that echoes the questions we continue to ask about marriage, sex and being single."
The Three Little Pigs
Book and lyrics by , music by
Victoria Bussert directs with musical direction by Ryan Fielding Garrett
Featuring Christopher Sieber (Shrek the Musical), (Cinderella), (Here Lies Love), Ciara Ren茅e (Big Fish) and (Hands on a Hard Body).
"Take three little superstar Piglets, their devoted single-parent Mom, a misunderstood Big Bad Wolf and the award-winning tuneful wit of Stiles and Drewe and you've got the perfect "Great Big Little Broadway Show" for audiences of three years old and up. This very curly musical tail will huff, puff and blow you away!"
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