Dangerous Beauty, Jerry Christmas, Vanities, et al. Will Be Presented at NAMT
Jack Heifner, David Kirshenbaum, Andrew Lippa, and Amanda McBroom are among the artists whose work will be presented at the 18th Annual National Alliance for Musical Theatre’s Festival of New Musicals, to be held at New World Stages on October 8-9. The NAMT Festival is attended by producers and other theater insiders, and has been the launching ground for such shows as Thoroughly Modern Millie and The Drowsy Chaperone.
This year, 45-minute staged presentations of eight musicals will take place over the two-day period. Among the expected highlights is Jerry Christmas, which features a score by Lippa (The Wild Party) and a book by Daniel Goldfarb (Modern Orthodox). The show tells the story of Jerry Barron, a Jewish movie star who tries to resuscitate his failing career by hosting a Christmas television special in his home. It had a star-studded concert reading at New York Stage & Film at Vassar College last weekend, directed by David Warren, starring Douglas Sills as Jerry along with Adriane Lenox, Janet Metz, Leslie Kritzer, David Reiser, Lee Wilkof, Christopher Fitzgerald, David Costabile, and Jessica Stone.
Vanities is a new musical written by Heifner, based on his Off-Broadway play, with music and lyrics by Kirshenbaum (Summer of 42). The show focuses on three vivacious Texas teenagers as they journey from being cheerleaders to housewives over two decades. The musical had a well-received full production earlier his summer at TheatreWorks in Mountain View, California.
Dangerous Beauty features a book by Jeanine Dominy, music by Michele Brourman, and lyrics by McBroom (composer of such popular songs as “The Rose” and “Errol Flynn”). Based on the book The Honest Courtesan, the show focuses on the Renaissance courtesan and poet Veronica Franco, who was arrested for practicing witchcraft during the Spanish Inquisition. It had a staged reading last summer at New York Stage & Film.
Also on tap at the NAMT Festival are: Emma, an adaptation of the Jane Austen novel with book, music, and lyrics by Paul Gordon; Julian Po, with music by Ira Antelis and book and lyrics by Andrew Barrett, about a strange man who mysteriously arrives in a strange Middle-American town; One Step Forward, written by Leslie Arden, Timothy French, and Berni Stapleton, which concerns a group of men and women facing life after World War II; Piece, with a score by Scott Alan and a book by Tara Smith, about a woman looking back on her life after her mother’s death; and Sunfish, written by Michael L. Cooper and Hyeyoung Kim, which tells the magical story of a woman who will do anything to restore her blind father’s sight.
