Approximately 175 people attended the open auditions on Sept. 11, which were open to any performer who has not previously acted in a Broadway show. Contestants were waiting in line as early as 11 PM the night before.

The first callback round will be Sept. 15 at New World Stages, as part of the NYMF @ Nite series of parties. “Broadway Idol starts” at 11 PM, and the celebrity judges this week include Marc Shaiman, Felicia Finley, and Kevin Cahoon. Seth Rudetsky will be hosting.

Round One, Sept. 15: My Favorite Things: performers sing one Broadway song of their choice. Each performer will be critiqued by our panel of celebrity judges. At the end, the audience will vote for their favorite performer. The 6 with the most votes go on to Round Two.

Round Two, Sept. 22: Anyone Can Idol: performers sing one Sondheim song of their choice. The 3 with the most votes go on to Round Three.

Round Three, Sept. 29: A Star Is Born: performers sing two songs of their choice – one that made another performer famous and the on that's going to make them famous. The one with the most votes is crowned the first ever Broadway Idol and will be featured exclusively in a concert at Ars Nova to be produced by NYMF.

(Playbill.com is a media partner of the New York Musical Theatre Festival 2006.)