NYMF Success Highlights
Altar Boyz (NYMF '04)
After premiering at NYMF 2004 with a sold-out and extended run, Altar Boyz transferred to New World Stages in March 2005, where it played to packed houses for more than 2,000 performances. When it closed in January 2010, it was the 9th longest running show in Off-Broadway history. The musical, about a fictional Christian boy band, was directed by Stafford Arima and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli. Altar Boyz's music and lyrics are by Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker with a book by Kevin Del Aguila, based on a concept by Marc Kessler and Ken Davenport.
Altar Boyz has enjoyed several national tours, as well as regional, stock and amateur productions around the country (it's licensed for stock and amateur productions by Rodgers & Hammerstein Theatricals). Altarholics around the world have enjoyed the show, too, with productions in Budapest, Hungary, Brazil, Sweden, Finland, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines.
Captain Louie (NYMF '04)
Captain Louie is a family musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz,and adapted for the stage by Anthony Stein. It was produced by Meridee Stein, Kurt Peterson and Robert Reich, and directed by Ms. Stein. Captain Louie is based on the picture book, The Trip, by the Caldecott Award-winning author Ezra Jack Keats.
The show enjoyed a successful run at the Little Shubert Theatre Off-Broadway in 2005. It also played at the York Theatre in the spring of 2005 and was seen in a reading at NYMF 2004. A shorter version was previously produced (as The Trip) at the Kennedy Center's Imagination Celebration.
Captain Louie toured nationally in 2006-2007 under the auspices of the Brad Simon Organization to Arkansas, New Hampshire, Florida, Wisconsin, California and many places in between.
Captain Louie is now available for licensing from Music Theatre International in their Broadway Jr. catalogue. There is a PS Classics CD of the world premiere recording, and Stephen has also produced a Captain Louie (vocal selections) songbook.
musicalschwartz.com/captain-louie.htm
The Great American Trailer Park Musical (NYMF '04)
A country-rock and blues musical about agoraphobia, adultery, '80s nostalgia, spray cheese, road kill, hysterical pregnancy, a broken electric chair, kleptomania, strippers, flan & disco, The Great American Trailer Park Musical features music by David Nehls and a book by Betsy Kelso (who also directed the show).
This fun lovin' and free-wheelin' musical packed houses at NYMF 2004 and opened off-Broadway at New World Stages less than a year later, where it ran for 121 performances. A cast recording of the off-Broadway production was released by Ghostlight Records.
The show (which is now licensed by Dramatists Play Service) has been performed by numerous theaters around the country over the past few years, and in January 2008 launched a national tour.
The Great American Trailer Park Musical has also enjoyed international success, with a staged reading at the New Wave Festival of New Musicals, a production at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and a run at the Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham, UK.
The cast recording is now available on the website.
Gutenberg! The Musical (NYMF '06)
Romance! Danger! Even Despair! Not to mention a Printing Press!
Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1450, so Bud and Doug wrote a musical about him. They don't have a cast, a budget, or a producer... but they have a dream!
Gutenberg! The Musical! was co-written by Anthony King and Scott Brown (winners of the 2006 NYMF Award for Excellence in Musical Theatre Book Writing) and starred Broadway veterans Christopher Fitzgerald and Jeremy Shamos (winners of the 2006 NYMF Award for Outstanding Individual Performance).
A standout hit at the 2006 festival, Gutenberg! transferred almost directly from NYMF to a four-week limited run off-Broadway at 59E59 Theaters. Gutenberg! followed up its engagement at 59E59 by transferring again to Off-Broadway's Actors' Playhouse, where it ran for four more months. The off-Broadway prodcution was nominated for an Outer Critic's Circle Award, a Lortel Award, and two Drama Desk awards.
Gutenberg! has enjoyed national and international success with runs in Salt Lake City, Washington, DC, Chicago, Seattle and Miami, as well as Adelaide and Sydney, Australia.
The Chicago cast recording was released by P.S. Classics in November 2009.
Meet John Doe (NYMF '04)
Based on the classic Frank Capra film, Meet John Doe tells the tale of a Depression-era reporter who pumps new life into a dying newspaper with a hoax that ignites a national frenzy to save 'John Doe' from jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge. The musical, written by Andrew Gerle (music and book) and Eddie Sugarman (lyrics and book), with additional story by Matt August, premiered at the 2004 Festival.
In 2007, Meet John Doe received productions at Goodspeed Musicals' Norma Terris Theatre (featuring Donna Lynne Champlin, who recreated her acclaimed performance from NYMF), and at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. The production was nominated for nine 2008 Helen Hayes Awards, winning two.
Meet John Doe is now licensed for regional production, highlighted by regional premieres in Chicago and beyond.
My Vaudeville Man (NYMF '07)
[formerly Mud Donahue & Son]
Based on the memoirs of Jack Donahue, Letters of a Hoofer to His Ma, the two-hander My Vaudeville Man follows Jack and his mother, Mud, as Jack pursues a life as a tap danceer in vaudeville. Written by Jeff Hochhauser and Bob Johnston, the musical featured Karen Murphy and Shonn Wiley in the NYMF production directed and choreographed by Lynne Taylor-Corbett (Swing!).
The original stars teamed up again with Lynne Taylor-Corbett for an off-Broadway run at the York Theatre in the fall of 2008.
Watch out for the upcoming release of the cast album!
Nerds (NYMF '05)
From the creators of the Off-Broadway smash hit, The Bomb-itty of Errors, (Jordan Allen-Dutton & Erik Weiner) and composer Hal Goldberg comes a funny and irreverent musical take on the parallel stories of computer pioneers Bill Gates and Steve Jobs as they blaze from "garage inventors" to warring titans of the computer revolution. With its rollicking tunes and brilliantly off-beat humor, Nerds:// A Musical Software Satire celebrates the inner geek in us all!
Nerds, which began its life in our 2005 Festival, was produced in 2007 at the Philadelphia Theatre Company and won Barrymore Awards for Outstanding New Play and Outstanding Original Music. An upcoming Broadway production has been announced.
Next To Normal (NYMF '05)
[formerly Feeling Electric]
Edgy, darkly funny and brutally honest, this powerful rock-opera chronicles one family's personal journey to cure a mother's long term depression. A tuneful energetic rock score drives this adventurous and highly theatrical piece.
Originally titled Feeling Electric during its 2005 NYMF run, in 2008 Next to Normal enjoyed an extended, acclaimed run starring Alice Ripley and Brian D'Arcy James at Off-Broadway's Second Stage Theatre, where it was nominated for three Lortel Awards.
A second critically-acclaimed production, at Arena Stage in Arlington, VA, starred Alice Ripley and J. Robert Spencer, and ran from November 2008 through January 2009. The production was hailed by Peter Marks of the Washington Post as "moving, blisteringly honest, and inordinately powerful."
Next to Normal started its Broadway previews at the Booth Theatre on March 27 and opened to rave reviews on April 15, 2009. Ben Brantley of the New York Times hailed the production as "a brave, breathtaking musical." After a successful run of 733 performances, the production closed on January 16, 2011. A national tour kicked off on November 23, 2010, with Alice Ripley reprising her Tony Award-winning role.
Next to Normal was nominated for five 2009 Helen Hayes Awards (winning three) and eleven Tony Awards (winning three). It was also the recipient of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
The Broadway cast recording is now available on the website.
Rooms (NYMF '05)
Partially inspired by experiences in the lives of writer Paul Scott Goodman and his wife, co-book writer Miriam Gordon. Rooms is the story of songwriter Monica and rocker Ian, tracking their lives, relationship, and music from Scotland to London to New York City. A gritty rock two-hander, Rooms explores the desire for escape and the redemptive powers of creativity and love.
Originally shown in the 2005 Festival, Rooms received rave reviews in 2008 productions at MetroStages in Arlington, VA and Geva Theater Center in Rochester, NY, starring Natascia Diaz and Doug Kreeger. The Off-Broadway production starred Leslie Kritzer and Doug Kreeger and ran at New World Stages during the spring of 2009. It was nominated for three Outer Critics Circle Awards and five Helen Hayes Awards.
Rooms is now licensed for regional production, leading to regional premieres in Montreal, Florida, and beyond.
[title of show] (NYMF '04)
[title of show], which follows two young writers as they "race to write and submit a show to the theatre festival" weeks before the deadline, was born out of just that: Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell's race to complete an entry for the inaugural New York Musical Theatre Festival.
After playing to full houses in our 2004 festival, the musical transferred to off-Broadway's Vineyard Theater in March 2006, where it extended its run and then made a return eight-week engagement that summer. A cast recording was made of the Vineyard Theater production by Ghostlight Records, and the production won three OBIE Awards.
The first Broadway show of the 2008-2009 season, [title of show] opened at the Lyceum Theatre in July 2008. Updated to reflect the journey of the show from NYMF to the Vineyard to Broadway, and reflecting the creative and personal issues artists face in pursuit of their dreams, the show ran from July 5 - October 12, 2008. It received a 2009 Tony Award nomination for Best Book of a Musical.
[title of show] has enjoyed additional productions around the country, including runs at the Arizona Theatre Company and the Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA, as well as a production in Australia. A calendar of [title of show] productions around the globe can be found by clicking here.
Catch their video blog, "the [title of show] show" on the website. The cast recording is also available on the website.
Yank! (NYMF '05)
Yank!, a World War II love story about love between American soldiers, was seen at the New York Musical Theatre Festival in 2005, where it had a completely sold out run and won the audience award for Best Musical. In 2007, it was presented by the Gallery Plays in Brooklyn.
In 2010 it had a successful run at the York Theatre Company which received nominations for two Lortel Awards, two Outer Critics Circle Awards, and seven Drama Desk Awards. Originally slated to run through March 21, the show extended through April 4, 2010 due to high ticket sales.
A Broadway transfer is in the works, with a private Roundabout Theatre Company reading taking place in February 2011.
Yank! is a love song to Hollywood's "it takes one of every kind" platoon flicks and to 1940s Broadway. Suffused with songs (swing, big band, boogie-woogie) it explores what stories get told in wartime, and how WWII became the great catalyst in bringing gay men and women together.
And many, many more, across America and around the world...