The Southern-set musical about life at a trailer park opens Sept. 15 at Dodger Stages. The show "will give a benefit performance for the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF), where it premiered last year to packed houses and rave reviews," according to NYMF.

A party celebrating the Festival, with food, drinks, celebrity guests and more, will follow the 8 PM preview performance.

Dodger Stages is at 340 W. 50th Street. The evening’s festivities will be hosted by Sutton Foster and John Lithgow and producers Rocco Landesman and Kevin McCollum. It kicks off NYMF's 2005 Festival, a showcase for new musicals in repertory in midtown Manhattan locations.

Tickets for the Gala are $150 and include the preview performance and gala celebration. For additional information and ticket purchases, visit www.nymf.org or call (212) 664-0979.

* The 2005 New York Musical Theatre Festival runs Sept. 12-Oct. 2 in various Off-Broadway theatres in the Times Square area. Festival passes are currently on sale and individual tickets will be made available to the public on Aug. 29.

NYMF is "dedicated to discovering new work and new artists" and "celebrates the diversity, creativity, and future of musical theatre."

NYMF is a flagship program of the National Music Theater Network, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, and is America's largest annual musical theatre event.