On July 9, the Cultural Advocacy Group—joined by NAMT and dozens of national partners—issued A Call to Action urging our field to speak up for federal investment in the arts and humanities. The next few months will decide the FY26 budgets for the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities and Institute of Museum and Library Services. These dollars move through our states, land in our communities, keep programming affordable and sustain the local ecosystems where new musicals take root and audiences grow.
We are joining forces to urge Congress to continue holding the bipartisan support for these agencies and allocate the requested $209 million each for the NEA and NEH, plus $294.8 million for IMLS because the arts power economies, improve education, build community bonds and save lives in clinical settings every day.
The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies’ new Appropriations Preview makes it plain: public arts funding is at an inflection point. Recovery dollars are gone. State budgets are tightening. Projections differ, but the trajectory is clear—if we aren’t in the rooms where budgets are written and priorities are set, we risk getting written out.
That’s why we’re inviting artists, administrators and organizations everywhere to step up together. If we don’t show up for the systems that sustain us, we’ll watch them erode. August 17—National Nonprofit Day—is a moment to say, together and loudly, that nonprofits get it done. September 16—National Voter Registration Day—reminds us that the decisions made in the voting booth shape the arts landscape for years to come. Our work depends on civic participation every bit as much as ticket sales or grant awards.
So, in this so-called quiet season, let’s move. Take small steps to ramp up your pace and make it a habit to give space to your voice in the conversation. Join the Call to Action. Mark the dates. Reach out to your favorite organizations. Talk to your board, your audiences, your coworkers. Call your representatives.
And to stand a little closer to NAMT especially, learn more about our Resiliency Campaign and double down your support of the NAMT membership.
Our long game is strong. And when the moment demands it, we know how to turn up the volume.
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| Frankie Dailey
NAMT New Works Director
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Stay in the loop! Check out announcements from the NAMT Network:
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Developmental Production of The Oscar Micheaux Project @ Prospect Musicals (FYFNM '24). Photo Credit: Rebecca J. Michelson
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| Over $100,000 Awarded to NAMT Member Organizations
for New Musicals & Capacity-Building Initiatives
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NAMT has announced the 11 Award Recipients for the 2025/2026 Frank Young Fund for New Musicals Project Development & Production Grants and the seven Award Recipients for the 2025/2026 Impact & Exploration Fund. The Frank Young Fund for New Musicals (FYFNM) is a major funding program to support NAMT member not-for-profit theatres in their collaborations with writers to create, develop and produce new musicals. The Impact & Exploration Fund (I&EF) is designed to help NAMT member theatres pilot new capacity-building programs to advance their missions and build a library of practices and procedures from which other members can learn. During the 2025/2026 season, the Funds are awarding over $100,000 in grants to NAMT member organizations.
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| The Frank Young Fund for New Musicals has awarded each of the following member organizations $5,000 to $10,000 to support full productions:
🎵 Barrington Stage Company (Pittsfield, MA) for fuzzy by Will Van Dyke & Jeff Talbott
🎵 La Jolla Playhouse (La Jolla, CA) for The Heart by Kait Kerrigan, Anne Eisendrath & Ian Eisendrath
🎵 Seattle Rep (Seattle, WA) for Freak the Mighty by Ryan Fielding Garrett & Anthony Drewe
🎵 Transport Group (New York, NY) for Beautiful Jolie Gabor, Her Glamorous Three Daughters, and Always the Happiness is Life by Michael John LaChiusa
🎵 ZACH Theatre (Austin, TX) for Zapata: A Folklorico Superhero Musical by Jesse J. Sanchez
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The Frank Young Fund for New Musicals has awarded each of the following member organizations $2,000 to $5,000 to support a workshop or reading:
🎵 Center REP (Walnut Creek, CA) for Lewis Loves Clark by Dylan MarcAurele & Mike Ross
🎵 MusiCoLab (Philadelphia, PA) for Red & Black by Nick Hatcher, Sheridan Merrick & David Thomas
🎵 Prospect Musicals (New York, NY) for Songs for Hands on a Thursday by Jay Alan Zimmerman
🎵 Theatre Now New York (New York, NY) for The Sustain by Alice Jankell, Pamela Weiler Grayson & Aaron Drescher
🎵 TheatreWorks Silicon Valley (Palo Alto, CA) for The Tell-Tale Heart by Carlos Aguirre
🎵 Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre (Chicago, IL) for Things We Don’t Say by EllaRose Chary & Brandon James Gwinn
The Frank Young Fund for New Musicals is overseen by NAMT New Works Director Frankie Dailey, and the recommended Grant Recipients for the Production and Project Development Grants are selected by a distinguished panel of industry. The panelists for the 2025/2026 cycle are Brannon Bowers, Co-Artistic Director, Center for New Work Development at Carnegie Mellon University (PA); Kwofe Coleman, President & CEO, The Muny (MO); Julie Felise Dubiner, Director of Artistic Initiatives, McCarter Theatre Center (NJ); Jacob Harvey, Managing Artistic Director, Fine Arts Building – Studebaker Theater (IL); Henry Tisch, Producer, Key to the City Productions (NY); Abbie Van Nostrand, Client Relations & Community Engagement Consultant, Concord Theatricals (NY); and Julianne Wick Davis, Program Director for Writing & Production for Musical Theater, BerkleeNYC (NY).
Recipients of Writers Residency Grants, also part of the Frank Young Fund for New Musicals, will be announced later this year.
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The Impact & Exploration Fund, with generous funding from the Capdevilla Gillespie Foundation, has awarded each of the following member organizations $1,000 to $5,000 to support their projects:
🎶 The 5th Avenue Theatre (Seattle, WA) for Be a SUFF: A Community Engagement Initiative
🎶 Asolo Repertory Theatre (Sarasota, FL) for ASL-Interpreted Performances
🎶 Constellation Stage & Screen (Bloomington, IN) for PB&J Café: A Dinner Theatre for Kids
🎶 Flint Repertory Theatre (Flint, MI) for ASL Incorporation
🎶 La Jolla Playhouse (La Jolla, CA) for Mobile Technical Theatre Training
🎶 The Old Globe (San Diego, CA) for Breaking Bread: Family Edition
🎶 Pittsburgh CLO (Pittsburgh, PA) for Reaching New Pittsburgh CLO Audiences
🎶 Playwrights Horizons (New York, NY) for Free Community Playwriting Workshops
🎶 Prospect Musicals (New York, NY) for Songs for Hands on a Thursday
🎶 TheatreWorks Silicon Valley (Palo Alto, CA) for Fiscal Sponsorship Collaboration with Medical Clown Project
🎶 Zach Theatre (Austin, TX) for Zach Theatre Website Phase II: Deepening Access and Engagement
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The Impact & Exploration Fund is overseen by NAMT Member Services Director Adam Grosswirth, and the recommended Grant Recipients are selected by a distinguished panel of industry leaders. The panelists for this year's cycle were Jenny Case, Executive Director of Diversionary Theatre and a member of NAMT’s Board of Directors (CA); Victoria Detres, Co-Founder of the RISE Theatre Directory and Manager of the RISE Theatre Program, under Maestra Music (NY); Wendy Gillespie, a San Diego-based Broadway producer (CA); Devanand Janki, an award-winning Director/Choreographer and Artistic Director of Live & In Color (CT); Eric Nelson, Director of Advancement & Audience Strategy at MCC Theater (NY); Dakota Patrick, Operations Manager at Red Mountain Theatre (AL); and John Thew, President of the National Foundation for Musical Theatre (CO).
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WATCH: In this very special Town Hall, we are excited to introduce you to our 37th Annual Festival of New Musicals writing teams. Hear more from the teams about the inspiration behind their musicals and their hopes for the upcoming Festival Season!
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Now in its 37th year, the National Alliance for Musical Theatre's FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS is an industry-only professional development event offering the chance to discover eight new musicals presented in 45-minute concert presentations over two days to hundreds of producers, presenters, artistic & executive directors, investors, donors, developers and creative administrators in Regional Theatre, Broadway, Music, Film & TV from all around the globe. As a non-profit organization, NAMT funds the Festival entirely through donations, sponsorships and contributions which underwrite all production costs.
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ALICE BLISS
Book by Karen Hartman
Music by Jenny Giering
Lyrics by Adam Gwon
Based on Laura Harrington's novel
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FINN
Created by Chris Nee, Michael Kooman & Chris Dimond
Book and Lyrics by Chris Dimond & Chris Nee
Music by Michael Kooman
| | THE KING OF HARLEM
Book, Music & Lyrics by John-Michael Lyles & David Gomez
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| LOVE IS DEAD
Book & Music by Brett Ryback
Book & Lyrics by Jeff Luppino-Esposito
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PARTICLE
Book by Selda Sahin, Autumn Reeser & Derek Gregor
Music by Derek Gregor
Lyrics by Selda Sahin
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| ROJA
Book, Music & Lyrics by Jaime Lozano & Tommy Newman
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| SOFT MAGICAL TOFU BOY(S)
Book, Music & Lyrics by Kevin Wong
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| WAKEMAN
Book, Music & Lyrics by Jenn Grinels
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Registration for industry members is now open at www.namt.org/festival. All industry members must select a professional affiliation (e.g. NAMT, the Broadway League, TCG, many more) to register. Industry members may upgrade their Festival passes for priority admission and access to supplemental events, including the Festival Closing Night Party, through a donation to NAMT. Free Industry Standby passes are available to industry members only and may provide seating at Festival presentations on a first come, first served basis as available after all other passholders have entered. The general public may also receive passes to the Festival through a donation to NAMT.
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Online Re-Watch Event: Challenge Accepted 2025!
Tonight! August 15th, 7:00pm ET
Watch Online!
Weren’t able to join us in NYC or tune into the livestream in June? Now is your chance to relive the magic of Challenge Accepted! A Concert Presenting the Winners of the Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge during our special online re-watch event. This concert showcases the eight winning songs from the 2024-2025 Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge, a collaborative program by the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Alliance for Musical Theatre.
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| Fall Conference 2025
October 21 - 22, 2025
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza
Join us for the most important musical theatre networking event of the year! The 2025 Fall Conference will explore the most pressing issues around new work production and development, as well as the state of the industry more broadly. Just as importantly, it provides a community for leaders of theatres from all over the country and the world to share best practices, brainstorm and support one another.
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37th Annual Festival of New Musicals
October 23-24, 2025
New World Stages
This year’s Festival will feature eight exciting new musicals in 45-minute staged reading presentations in front of a industry-only audience. This must-attend event brings together theatre producers, presenters and developers from around the world to celebrate the future of these promising new musicals! Selected from a submission pool of hundreds of submissions by our Festival Committee, these eight musicals celebrate what’s next in musical theatre and the incredible stories and artists that are leading the way. Registration required & expected to fill capacity.
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Pearl Studios is the official rehearsal studio for the NAMT Festival of New Musicals. Pearl Studios is conveniently located in Midtown Manhattan on 8th Avenue between 35th & 36th Streets, and offers two floors of clean, bright and flexible rooms fit for all your rehearsal needs. For bookings, call 212-904-1850 or email contactus@pearlstudiosnyc.com.
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