NYMF to Present Dance Series

The New York Musical Theater Festival (NYMF), in association with Manhattan Movement & Arts Center (MMAC), will present a 2008 Dance Series as part of this year’s festival of new musicals, which runs September 15- October 5.

The series will include four original dance musicals. The Hourglass and The Poisoned Pen (MMAC, September 27, 28), co-written by Andrew Pepoy and choreographed by Mark Yonally,is about a young girl with the power to control time. Sophia’s Fall (37 Arts, September 18-20) features music by Benjamin Birney, book by Rob Seitelman, and choreography by Jason Summers. This intense dance/rock retelling of the creation story has Sophia, the feminine divine, driving the action and drama of the story. Ward 9 (MMAC, September 18-21) has a book by Gregory Victor and Matt Williams, and is directed and choreographed by Matt Williams. The tragicomical story — told entirely through dance — is set in a mythic asylum hosting famed patients Vincent Van Gogh, Howard Hughes, Vivien Leigh, Bobby Fischer, Sylvia Plath, Ludwig Van Beethoven and Vaslav Nijinsky. Wild About Harry (MMAC, September 19-28) features a book by Susan DiLallo, direction by Elizabeth Lucas, and choreography by Kelly Devine, Linda Goodrich, Josh Rhodes, Shea Sullivan and Jeff Shade. This unique, danced-through musical takes a fresh look at Leona Helmsley, one of NYC’s most colorful characters, along with the man who loved her, the many others who did not, and her dog… who inherited 12 million bucks.

In addition, the Dance Series will include Freshly Tossed (American Theater of Actors, September 22), created and curated by Wendy Seyb and Mark Lonergan. This special event mixes physical comedy, dance, and musical theatre in a search of the next evolution of musical theatre comedy.

For more information, visit www.nymf.org.