The Great Communicator to Sing! Clinton the Musical Among Productions at NYMF 2014
Politics is show business for ugly people, after all. The 2014 New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) has announced selected productions and readings that will play the 11th annual program. This year’s Festival, which will run from July 7 through July 27, will include a production of Clinton The Musical by Paul and Michael Hodge.
Clinton the Musical is a not-so-familiar tale of a familiar presidential figurehead. The musical follows two (yes, two) Bill Clintons and Hillary on their quest to save their presidency, change America and prove that "politics is show business for ugly people." The tuner comes to the states after being nominated for Best New Musical at the 2012 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and transferring to London's King's Head Theatre in 2013.
Other NYMF productions include Bayonets of Angst, with a book by Rick Kunzi and Justin Zeppa, music by Kunzi & Adam Barnosky and lyrics by Kunzi; Coming of Age, with a book, music and lyrics by Jon Provan; Deployed, with book, music and lyrics by Jessy Brouillard; Madame Infamy, with a book by Jp Vigliotti and music and lyrics by Cardozie Jones and Sean Willis; Mr. Confidential, with a book and lyrics by Samuel Bernstein and music by David Snyder; Propaganda! The Musical, with a book, music and lyrics by Taylor Ferrera and Matt Webster; The Gig, with a book, music and lyrics by Douglas J. Cohen; The Snow Queen, with a book by Kirsten Brandt and Rick Lombardo, music by Haddon Kime and lyrics by Brandt, Kime and Lombardo and Wikimusical, with a book and lyrics by Frank Ceruzzi and Blake J. Harris and music by Trent Jeffords.
This year's productions will be housed at The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre and the Ford Foundation Studio Theatre at the Pershing Square Signature Center. These shows join a roster of eight readings, as well as NYMF's 2014 Next Link Project selections, a series of ten musicals that were submitted anonymously from a variety of writers, from produced to unproduced and those with or without agency representation. An additional slate of concerts and other events will be announced at a later time.
Since its inception in 2004, The New York Musical Theatre Festival has premiered hundreds of new musicals, 90 of which have gone on to award-winning productions in New York, in regional theaters in almost every state and in over 20 countries worldwide. Over 20 shows that saw NYMF productions and readings have gone on to enjoy off-Broadway runs, and three have appeared on Broadway: Chaplin, [title of show] and Next to Normal.