2009 NYMF Awards for Excellence Announced!

The New York Musical Theater Festival will honor the winners of the NYMF 2009 Awards for Excellence, as well as NY1 “On Stage” and Sh-K-Boom and Ghostlight Records, at the Sixth Anniversary Season Awards Gala, taking place Sunday, November 22nd at The Edison Ballroom (240 West 47th Street).

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The winners of the 2009 NYMF Awards for Excellence are:

EXCELLENCE IN WRITING: MUSIC
John Mercurio, Academy
Honorable Mention: Allan Harris, Cross That River; Michael Holland, Hurricane; Will Aronson, My Scary Girl
 
EXCELLENCE IN WRITING: LYRICS
Chad Beguelin, Judas & Me
Honorable Mention: John Mercurio, Academy; David Eric Davis, F#@king Up Everything; David Lefort Nugent, Open The Dark Door

EXCELLENCE IN WRITING: BOOK
Sam Forman and David Eric Davis, F#@king Up Everything
Honorable Mention: Chad Beguelin, Judas & Me; Kyoung-Ae Kang, My Scary Girl; Barry Harman, Under Fire

EXCELLENCE IN DIRECTION
Michael Bush, Hurricane
Honorable Mention: John Carrafa, Academy; Alex Timbers, Fat Camp; Jung Joo Byun, My Scary Girl

EXCELLENCE IN CHOREOGRAPHY
Connor Gallagher, Fat Camp
Honorable Mention: Daryl Gray, Darren Lee and Shea Sullivan, Andy Warhol Was Right; Michael Blevins, Count To Ten

OUTSTANDING OVERALL DESIGN
Hurricane (Christopher Akerlind, sets and lighting; David Margolin Lawson, sound; Karen Ann Ledger, costumes; Edward J. Wilson, hair and wigs)
Honorable Mention: Judas & Me (Susan Barras, sets; Michael Gottlieb, lighting; David A. Arnold, sound; Bobby Pearce, costumes); Max Understood (Caleb Wertenbaker, sets; Justin Townsend, lighting; Michael Rasbury, sound; Clint Ramos, costumes); and Seeing Stars (Michael P. Kramer, sets; Martin E. Vreeland, lights; Stephen Kunken, sound; David Toser, costumes)

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE
Academy (Steven Kane, Corey Boardman, Wilson Bridges, Antonio Addeo, Jason Edward Cook, F. Michael Haynie, Lyle Colby Mackston, Joseph Medeiros, and Gabriel Violett)
Honorable Mention: the casts of F#@king Up Everything; Marrying Meg; and My Scary Girl


OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES
Jin Ui Bang (My Scary Girl)
Valerie Kimani (Mo Faya)
Cale Krise (Fat Camp)
Leslie Kritzer (Judas & Me)
Liesl Lar (Anjou: a Tale of Horror)
Paul Louis Lessard (Open The Dark Door)
Soara-Joye Ross (Cross That River)
Marlon Sherman (Max Understood)
Mary Testa (All Fall Down)
Barbara Walsh (Judas & Me)
Noah Weisberg (F#@king Up Everything)

OUTSTANDING NEW MUSICAL
My Scary Girl by Kyoung-Ae Kang and Will Aronson
Honorable Mention: Academy by John Mercurio, conceived and developed by Andrew Kato; Judas & Me by Chad Beguelin and Matthew Sklar 

"BEST OF FEST" AUDIENCE PRIZE
Fat Camp by Randy Blair, Timothy Michael Drucker and Matthew roi Berger
Runner Up: Fantasy Football by David Ingber

THEATER FOR THE AMERICAN MUSICAL PRIZE
Under Fire by Barry Harman and Grant Sturiale 

The Awards jury is comprised of Dan Bacalzo (TheaterMania.com), Pun Bandhu (producer), Marc Bruni (director), Jane Caplow (Director of Creative Development, Davenport Theatrical Enterprises), Donna Lynne Champlin (actor), Jeremy Desmon (writer), Frank Evans (writer), Sharon Fallon (producer), Peter Filichia (The Star-Ledger, TheaterMania.com), Hunter Foster (actor), Tim Jerome (actor), Anthony King (writer), Patrick Lee (TheaterMania.com), Michael Lluberes (writer), Brad Lohrenz (Director of Licensing, Samuel French, Inc.), Jena Tesse Fox (BroadwayWorld.com), and Susan Vargo (Director of Live Theatricals for Paramount and Nickelodeon).

Two additional awards, presented by Daegu International Musical Festival and Stage Entertainment USA, will be announced shortly.

The 2009 New York Musical Theater Festival enjoyed record ticket sales, up by 20% over last year.  Attendance was at an all-time high, with the majority of festival productions playing to over 90% capacity.  87% of festival events sold out most or all of their performances. Due to audience demand, 15 productions received a total of 22 extension performances, twice as many as in 2008.


For more information about the The 2009 NYMF Awards Gala, please click here or visit www.nymf.org/gala.