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The Festival Of New American Musicals’ National Search For The Best 10-Minute Musical Written By 16-to-25-Year-Olds, SHOWSEARCH To Take Place LIVE March 23 In Los Angeles
Website: http://www.lafestival.org Oscar and Tony Award-Winning Actor Joel Grey to Judge; Composer/Lyricist Stephen Schwartz, Actress Marissa Jaret Winokur (Hairspray), Multi-Talented Jason Alexander, and Other Stars Scheduled to Appear Live and Via Video March 23rd in Los Angeles at the Ramón C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts at the Festival of New American Musicals’ SHOWSEARCH (www.lafestival.org) The FINALS for the Festival of New American Musicals’ National Search for the Best 10-Minute Musical Written by 16-to-25-Year-Olds, SHOWSEARCH to take place as a One Night Only, LIVE Event, March 23rd in Los Angeles at the Ramón C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts, in cooperation with the LAUSD SHOWSEARCH, AMERICA’S SEARCH FOR THE BEST 10-MINUTE MUSICAL WRITTEN BY 16-TO-25-YEAR-OLDS, ANNOUNCES THE 2013 TOP SIX FINALISTS Los Angeles, CA (March 6, 2013) – The Los Angeles based Festival of New American Musicals was formed specifically to cultivate new American musicals and nurture America’s musical youth. SHOWSEARCH, the Festival’s nation-wide search for the best ten minute musical written by 16-to-25-year-olds, will take place March 23rd in Los Angeles at the Ramón C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts, in cooperation with the LAUSD. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130228/PH68036-a ) (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130228/PH68036LOGO-b ) At this live, one night only event, SHOWSEARCH will present the Top Six Musicals, which will be judged based on originality, musicality, lyric writing and storytelling. Anticipated judges include Oscar and Tony award-winning actor Joel Grey, Marissa Jaret Winokur (actress, Hairspray), Chris Herzberger (Executive of Live Theatricals at Universal Pictures), Dr. Steven McCarthy (Arts Coordinator, LAUSD), and Courtney Harper (Artistic Associate and Outreach & Education Manager, Pasadena Playhouse). Since 2008, the Festival of New American Musicals has curated an annual festival of new musicals throughout Southern California, performed by professionals, communities, and schools. To date, FNAM has presented over 150 shows, concerts and events in 83 different venues from Santa Barbara to San Diego, with over 1,000 performances to audiences totaling over 1 million. FNAM’s stated mission is to entertain audiences in Southern California with exciting new musical theatre; to educate the next generation of theatergoers, creators, and performers; and to develop new shows for American musical theatre. Sheri Henderson, Assistant Principal of Instruction and Curriculum Administrator for the Theater Academy and Grand Avenue Partnership Contact for Theater and Dance at Ramón C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts, said, "This is a wonderful opportunity to share the exceptional high school environment R.C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts provides, as well as to showcase some of the young talent destined to surprise, delight, and move America’s theatergoing audiences in future years." Darren Criss of Glee and Broadway (How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying) fame said, “I’d like to congratulate all the SHOWSEARCH Finalists. It’s a really cool time for musical theater, especially with the advent of social media, and young people are creating a lot of musical theater content, as witnessed by the amazing submissions SHOWSEARCH received from all over the country. I wish all the finalists the best of luck as they perform their productions live in Los Angeles at the Ramón C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts on March 23rd.” (See Darren’s video shout out to contestants at: http://youtu.be/B1rjW7a9P8w.) Producer Hunter Bird noted, "Kids who want to perform in musical theater have all kinds of opportunities, from youth theater groups to high school and college musicals. But kids who want to create—who decide that instead of starting their rock band they're going to write their musical—those kids have nowhere to go. With SHOWSEARCH we're opening the door for them for the first time. Finally, someone is saying ‘Show us what you can do!’” Co-Executive Producers Bob Klein, Marcia Seligson & Linda Shusett added: “American musical theatre today is back in the mainstream of our popular culture. We’re working to keep it there by creating opportunities to find and support the next generation of composers, lyricists and book writers, as well as audiences.” The Top Six Finalists for the 16-18 year-old category are: Garrison Hall and Alexa Russo of Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (California) for their entry TODAY’S THE DAY; Alex Smith and Daniel Farenbach of Las Vegas Academy of the Arts (Nevada) and Danya Smith and Amanda Baschnagel previously of Las Vegas Academy of the Arts and currently at Boise State University (Idaho), for JOHNNY THE PAPERBOY; and Alex Karukas of Thousand Oaks High School (California) for OCCUPY! THE MUSICAL. In the 19-25 age group the finalists are: Bob Kelly and Kelly Pomeroy of St. Olaf College (Minnesota) for their entry, NORA, I ADORE YA; Jacob Tischler and Benjamin Viertel of Carnegie Mellon (Pittsburgh, PA) for INEXPERIENCED LOVE; and, finally, Oliver Houser of Hunter College (New York) and James Zebooker of the University of Massachussets for PRE-SCHOOL. SHOWSEARCH Mentors include: Jeff Marx (Avenue Q), David Zippel (City of Angels), John Bucchino (Catered Affair), Michelle Brourman (Dangerous Beauty), David Shire (Starting Here, Starting Now), and Ryan Scott Oliver (Darling, Jasper in Deadland, Mrs. Sharp). The SHOWSEARCH “New Faces” Participants will include Eric Millegan (www.ericmillegan.net) (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1090644/bio) who, in addition to his critically acclaimed starring and recurring role on the hit television series Bones has performed in Jesus Christ Superstar on Broadway. Eric Millegan’s New York theater credits include the Broadway revival of Jesus Christ Superstar, the Encores presentation of Hair at City Center (in which he sang the "Aquarius" solo), and the New York premiere of Dead Man Walking at Lincoln Center. Eric added, "This is such an important event. Broadway needs to cultivate kids like these to keep the smash hits coming well into the future.” Michael Scott Allen (www.michaelscottallen.com) (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4011889/) will also be onboard. Michael Scott Allen attended the same theater conservatory as SHOWSEARCH supporter Jason Alexander, and appears in the upcoming features Dark Freed and The Wine of Summer. Michael Scott Allen said, “I am absolutely thrilled to be involved with this event. The Festival of New American Musicals has made it their goal to provide opportunities to young writers and composers across the nation to showcase their original work. As a graduate of a theater conservatory myself, I am thrilled to see these young artists taking their craft and the education into their own hands.” The Process: The FNAM staff of musical theater pros have reviewed the new musical entries and narrowed them to the Top Six, three from each age division (13-18 and 18–25). The Judging Panel will be on hand to review the Top Six and choose a winner. In anticipation of the March 23rd Live Event, these writers will work with top professional mentors to polish up their shows. Mentors include Avenue Q’s Jeff Marx, City of Angels’ David Zippel, It’s Only Life’s John Bucchino, Dangerous Beauty’s Michele Brourman, Mrs. Sharp’s . Ryan Scott Oliver, and Starting Here, Starting Now’s David Shire. Creators of the Top Six will be flown to Los Angeles, where the shows will then be performed and directed by top LA theater director Richard Israel, and cast professionally by top casting director Michael Donovan. This one night Staged Reading Event will include the six ten-minute musicals being judged that evening on originality, musicality, lyric writing and storytelling. Who Wins?: The winner will be selected that evening by a jury of top professionals. Each of the Top Six teams will also receive a financial scholarship award—a $1,000 grant from the Maurer Family Foundation. The Festival thanks the following organizations for helping to get the word out nationally: Kennedy Center College Theater Awards, Educational Theatre Association, The New York Musical Theater Festival (NYMF), the Spotlight Awards, California Educational Theater Association and the Drama Teachers of Southern California. Join us March 23rd for an exciting evening showcasing some of the nation’s most creative and talented kids! Visit http://www.lafestival.org for more information. About the Festival of New American Musicals: Since 2008, the Festival of New American Musicals has curated an annual festival of new musicals throughout Southern California, performed by professionals, communities, and schools. Honorary Co-Chairs: Stephen Sondheim, Stephen Schwartz, Jerry Herman, Angela Lansbury, and Jason Alexander. Board members: Bonnie Eskenazi, Partner at Greenberg Glusker, Legal Counsel; Margaret Bates, M.D; Noelle Hicks, Jewelry Designer and Arts Fund Raiser; Hunter Bird, Event Coordinator; Barry Blaustein, Writer/Director/Producer; Michael Donovan, Casting Director; and Marcia Seligson, Linda Shusett & Bob Klein, Co-Executive Producers # # # Media Contact 323.788-0741 and Handsonpr@aol.com
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