A Letter to Harvey Milk and Baby Case Lead NYMF Awards for Excellence

By Michael Gioia
July 30, 2012

The New York Musical Theatre Festival productions of A Letter to Harvey Milk and Baby Case head the list of 2012 NYMF Awards for Excellence winners.

A Letter to Harvey Milk, based on the short story of the same name by Leslea Newman and directed by David Schechter, received five honors, including the Most Promising Musical Award and Outstanding Performances (Jeff Keller and Leslie Kritzer).

Baby Case, based on the 1927 abduction of the Lindbergh baby and directed by Jeremy Dobrish, received four honors, including Excellence in Direction and the "Best of Fest" Audience Prize.

The awards were selected by the 2012 NYMF jury, which included Dan Bacalzo, Dale Berke, Donna Lynne Champlin, Michael Dale, Ken Davenport, Linda D'Onofrio, Jason Eagan, Frank Evans, Lily Fan, Peter Filichia, Erik Haagensen, Lily Hung, Tim Jerome, Matthew Murray, Tamara Tunie and Keith Varney.

The complete list of NYMF 2012 Awards for Excellence winners follows:

Excellence in Writing – Music:
Michael Ogborn (Baby Case)

Excellence in Writing – Lyrics:
Michael Ogborn (Baby Case) and Ellen M. Schwartz (A Letter To Harvey Milk) (tie)

Excellence in Writing – Book:
Jerry James (A Letter To Harvey Milk)

Excellence in Direction:
Jeremy Dobrish (Baby Case)

Excellence in Choreography:
Jenn Rapp (Prison Dancer)

Excellence in Production Design:
Kendra Bell, Aaron Sherkow (Le Cabaret Grimm)

Outstanding Orchestration:
Stephen Ferri, Andrew Fox, Adam Michael Kaufman (Foreverman)

Outstanding Ensemble Performance:
The cast of Prison Dancer (Cosmo Clemens, Marc dela Cruz, Andrew Eisenman, Albert Guerzon, Jose Llana, Jeigh Madjus, Nathan Ramos, Catherine Ricafort, Enrico Rodriguez and Moses Villarama)

Outstanding Individual Performances:
Enrique Acevedo (Zapata! The Musical), Jessica Burrows (Himself and Nora), Tom Deckman (Arnie The Doughnut), Michelle Federer (How Deep Is The Ocean?), Jeff Keller (A Letter To Harvey Milk), Ryan Kelly (Living With Henry) Leslie Kritzer (A Letter To Harvey Milk), Jillian Louis (Flambé Dreams), Jeigh Madjus (Prison Dancer), Kevin B. McGlynn (Flambé Dreams), Stacey Sargeant (Central Avenue Breakdown), Haley Selmon (Le Cabaret Grimm), Graham Skipper (Re-Animator The Musical), Morgan Weed (Swing State)

Theater for the American Musical Prize:
Stuck (Book, music and lyrics by Riley Thomas)

"Best of Fest" Audience Prize:
Baby Case (Book, music and lyrics by Michael Ogborn)

Most Promising Musical Award:
A Letter To Harvey Milk (Book by Jerry James; music by Laura L. Kramer and lyrics by Ellen M. Schwartz; Based on the short story "A Letter To Harvey Milk" by Lesléa Newman)

The Daegu International Musical Festival Production Award and The New World Stages Development Prize will be announced at a later date.

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Now in its ninth year, the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF), which provides a launching pad for the next generation of musicals, is the largest annual musical theatre event in America.

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