The Angle of the Sun — starring Amanda Watkins and Jesse Bush and featuring book and lyrics by Rachel Lampert and music by Larry Pressgrove — marks the 100th production produced by the festival in its four-year history.
The first evening of the festival will also include Broadway's Mary Stout, Michael Zahler and Ana Nogeira performing in the world premiere of The Boy in the Bathroom, with book and lyrics by Michael Lluberes and a score penned by Joe Maloney. The curtain rises on The Boy in the Bathroom at 8 PM on the stage of the 45th Street Theater.
Also at 8 PM, Unlock'd, a pop retelling of the satirical poem "The Rape of the Lock," will commence at the TBG Theatre. The musical features book and lyrics by Sam Carner and music by Derek Gregor.
NYMF will also present two partner events that evening. "Live Wire," an evening of rock and comedy, features In the Heights creator Lin-Manuel Miranda. "Live Wire" will take place at Comix Comedy Club at 8PM. The other partner event is the world premiere of The Rockae, with music and lyrics by Peter Mills and adapted by Cara Reichel from Euripides' The Bacchae. The Rockae will play the Hudson Guild Theatre at 8 PM.
Capping off the evening and kicking off the festival is the 9 PM opening-night party for the New York Musical Theatre Festival. The free event, open to the public, will be held at Arena, located at 135 West 41st Street. Over 90 productions have been part of the largest musical theatre festival in the world, providing artists writing for the theatre a chance to stage their works in front of audiences in a time when it has become cost prohibitive to do so. During the three-week festival, 34 new works and special events will be presented on a rotating schedule. Numerous Broadway veterans lend their talents to the promising new works, many of which have found commercial life Off-Broadway in previous years.
NYMF has been the breeding ground for success stories like Altar Boyz, The Great American Trailer Park Musical, The Big Voice: God or Merman, Captain Louie, Gutenberg! The Musical, Meet John Doe, Nerds:// A Musical Software Satire, [title of show] and Shout! The Mod Musical.
The fourth annual New York Musical Theatre Festival runs through Oct. 7. For further scheduling and ticket information visit www.nymf.org.
