FNAM's "First Annual National Search for the Best New Musical written by Young America" will have a broad online outreach with Criss announcing the Show Search initiative.

To enter, high school and college-age new musical theatre writers are asked to submit a ten-minute original musical, which will be judged on storytelling, musicality and originality. Submissions will be accepted through April 1 and can be uploaded to YouTube.

A panel of musical theatre professionals will review all submissions, and there will be two "Top Ten" lists of selected semi-finalists based on age groups (13-18 years old and 18-25 years old). The public will vote for their favorites, and three finalists from each age category will be selected by a celebrity jury.

Finalists will then be given the opportunity to have his or her musical performed in a live concert presentation in Los Angeles as part of FNAM's New Musical Staged Reading Series, along with the opportunity to be mentored by a Broadway composer.

Entry rules follow: "Entrants must submit a filmed, unedited musical performance lasting no more than ten minutes on YouTube. The musical must include at least one character, and must be scored in some way using instruments (a cappella is not acceptable). Your score may feature any kind of music with an unlimited number of instruments. The camera must remain in a single position for the duration of the performance. The submissions should not be movies, but more like recordings of live theatre performances. All shows must be original, no adaptations of existing material. Division of the work must be credited to (at most) a lyricist, composer and librettist. Co-writing is permissible, but each show at most may credit three collaborators per musical." 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. The fifth annual festival will run April-August 2012.

For more information, visit www.lafestival.org.