The National Alliance for Musical Theater has set the slate for its 2015 Festival of New Musicals, the annual showcase of new work that attracts commercial and regional stage producers from around the country.
Among the titles on tap is the latest by Duncan Sheik, the musician who’s been the subject of theater-world talk lately because of impending runs of two shows for which he composed the music: “Spring Awakening,” for which he won a 2007 Tony, and the new musical adaptation of “American Psycho.” At the NAMT festival he’ll show off “Noir,” about a man who obsessively eavesdrops on the couple in the apartment next door, written with book writer-lyricist Kyle Jarrow (“A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant”).
The 27-year-old NAMT Festival of New Musicals has served as a launching pad for shows including “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” “The Drowsy Chaperone” and “Striking 12,” among others. These are the eight titles on the 2015 slate:
- “Costs of Living,” a rock-pop musical by Timothy Huang (book, music, lyrics) about two immigrant cab drivers who find themselves trapped in a nightmare situation.
- “Imagine Harry,” which centers on an adult man and the former imaginary friend he still needs, from creators Will Van Dyke (music, lyrics) and Jeff Talbott (book, lyrics).
- “The Last Queen of Canaan,” a 1930s-set musical by Harrison David Rivers (book), Rebekah Greer (lyrics) and Jacob Yandura (music) about a Virginia landowner, her granddaughter and a nosy Northerner.
- “Legendale,” by co-creators Andrea Daly (music, story) and Jeff Bienstock (book, lyrics, story), about a a guy whose favorite online fantasy game becomes real.
- “Lift,” which traces the repercussions that occur after a boy is mysteriously saved from drowning, written by Daryl Lisa Fazio (book, lyrics) and Aaron McAllister (music).
- “Noir,” Sheik and Jarrow’s story inspired by radio plays and film noir.
- “On the Eve,” about a theater company putting on a sci-fi musical in the face of an imminent apocalypse, penned by Shawn Magill and Seth Magill (music, lyrics, story) and Michael Federico (book, story).
- “Othello: The Remix,” a hip-hop take on the Shakespeare story by the Q Brothers (book, music, lyrics).
The works will be showcased in 45-minute excerpts presented to an audience of hundreds of producers and presenters who gather each year to check out the shows for potential future life. Non-profit NAMT underwrites the entire cost of the presentations, a rare thing for New York festivals that present developing stage work.
The 2015 NAMT festival runs Oct. 15-16 at Off Broadway’s New World Stages.
