FROM STAGE TO SELF: A JOURNEY BEYOND THE FESTIVAL
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It’s getting to be that time again! The time when we all Come From Away to light up the New World Stages Lobby, excitedly gathering with familiar faces to experience a fresh batch of eight new, groundbreaking musicals.
The inclusion of my musical XY at the 2018 NAMT Festival completely changed my world, both professionally and personally. Presenting my work at NAMT led to wonderful readings of XY at Chicago Shakespeare Theater and The Village Theatre the following year, and a developmental production at the Village, thanks to the generosity and leadership of Kenny and Marleen Alhadeff. More recently, XY was one of three finalists for the 2022 Relentless Award, the largest prize presented to an unproduced musical. I am now excitedly exploring what’s next for XY and am seeking partners for a full production. I hope and would love to share the piece onstage with you soon.
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Oliver Houser (Fest '18). Photo courtesy of the artist.
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Perhaps the most meaningful part of my NAMT experience was the personal transformation it inspired. XY tells the story of an intersex man learning to embrace his authentic self. Five years into working on the show, I discovered a variation I was born with and received surgery for is on the intersex spectrum. But it wasn’t until meeting members of the intersex community on international intersex awareness day at the 2018 NAMT Festival that I even registered I could claim the identity for myself. Two years ago, following an incredible breakthrough in therapy, I received the stunning clarity that I had been writing a musical about my own life. I am so proud to stand in the world as an intersex man, and I have my experience at NAMT to thank. Incidentally, mark your calendars: International Intersex Awareness Day is on October 26!
Since presenting XY at NAMT, I am proud to have received the inaugural Stephen Schwartz Award, and my and Hunter Bird’s newest musical She Reached for Heaven—inspired by Johan Harri’s TED Talk, which posits the opposite of addiction isn’t sobriety, it’s connection—received fabulous readings at Nashville Repertory Theatre’s Ingram New Works Festival in June, and Red Mountain Theatre’s Human Rights New Works Festival last month. Our connections to Red Mountain Theatre and the Warren Miller Center for the Performing Arts, where we also developed the piece, come from our experience at NAMT. Hunter and I are excited to find partners for She Reached for Heaven as we embark on finding a first production for the piece.
I am so proud to be a NAMT alum. There is no greater celebration of new musicals—and one more helpful for writers— than the NAMT Festival. I look forward to seeing you there to celebrate this year’s offerings together!
With excitement,
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Oliver Houser
Festival of New Musicals Alum
Book, Music & Lyrics for XY (Fest '18)
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Just moments before heating up tech rehearsal for their one-night-only concert presented by Prospect Theater Company and National Asian Artists Project, we whisked up a chat with Festival Alumni Jord Liu and Deepak Kumar to get the sweet scoop on their delicious Festival hit, Baked! The Musical!
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Deepak Kumar & Jord Liu. Photo courtesy of the artists.
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NAMT:
So why don’t you tell us who you are and what brings us to this moment?
Together:
We’re Jord Liu and Deepak Kumar. <laughter>
Deepak Kumar:
We’re musical theatre writers that are famously not based in New York, if I’m allowed to say that. We’re bookwriters, composers and lyricists that like to tell stories that, I dunno, what do we like to tell?
Jord Liu:
We like to tell stories of stereotype-defying Asian Americans that work through the tensions inherent in hyphenated identities and achieve… end of sentence.
DK:
We like to write musicals.
JL:
I was trying to recall an artist statement I wrote for something. <laughter>
NAMT:
What did you want to achieve by coming to the 34th Annual Festival of New Musicals a year ago?
JL:
I remember saying over and over to a lot of people that at least for us, it was the holy grail for new musicals. Neither of us studied theatre. We didn’t know a ton of people in the industry at that point. We both still felt like we were unproven and untested. I think that’s what NAMT meant to us, at least that’s what it meant to me. It meant the start of my musical theatre career. I view it as the beginning of things. Read More.
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Exclusive Invitation:
NAMT FESTIVAL MIDDAY CABARETS
We're excited to share this special invitation to a sneak-peek of the Festival with The Table Read-ers! Swing by New World Stages to check out two 20-minute Midday Cabarets each featuring a different musical creator or team. Grab lunch and come back to the Stage 5 for some wonderful words & music from these talented composers, lyricist and playwrights, performed by some of their favorite singers.
ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26
12:40PM
TERESA LOTZ
1:10PM
ROSS BAUM
ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27
12:10PM
HOPE VILLANUEVA & WILLIAM YANESH
12:40PM
JULIA SONYA KOYFMAN & HAYLEY GOLDENBERG
How to Attend:
Walk-up registration is available free of charge for Midday Cabarets! Please arrive to New World Stages (350 W 50th Street). Proceed to the lowest lobby level and check in at the registration desk. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to showtime.
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RISE Theatre (Representation, Inclusion, & Support for Employment), a program of Maestra Music, seeks to build a more equitable and inclusive theatre industry by centralizing DEIA tools and resources through a network of partners and a national personnel directory that focuses on folks from underrepresented backgrounds, including but not limited to people of color, women, trans, nonbinary, deaf, and disabled theatre professionals. Join today, find your next project, and discover your new team at www.risetheatre.org.
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The Call Board is brought to you in partnership with NAMT Member New Musicals Inc. Create a free account at NMI's Musical Theatre Resource Center and check out more contests, submission opportunities and professional development resources. Look below for a selection of their upcoming submission deadlines.
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Want to add to this listing? Spot an error or old info? Reach out to us at newworks@namt.org.
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Rohan Dhupar leading a rehearsal for his thesis project Why Storms Are Named After People. Photo by Maiya Sabapathy.
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NAMT:
Tell us who you are and your relationship to NAMT?
Rohan Dhupar:
I’m Rohan Dhupar, and I use he/him pronouns. I’m an early career director and choreographer working in the fields of musical theatre and contemporary dance. I’m from Toronto, Canada, and I’ve been based in London for two years. I participated in the Festival Directing Observership in 2022, where I observed Alan Muraoka on The Pelican, which was an amazing experience. I have been so thrilled to maintain contact and be involved with the NAMT family since then.
NAMT:
Can you share any key takeaways or insights about your Festival Observership?
RD:
One valuable aspect of the Observership was seeing what the rehearsal process is like for a musical that is still in an earlier stage of development—so something that’s still evolving versus mounting a full production. There is a great deal of dramaturgy that happens in the room and collaboration with the writers, the director, the music director, with stage management and with the actors. That was an interesting context to be placed in, coming from a choreography background where everything is quite process driven. It challenged my preconceived idea of directing in musical theatre, which was more aligned towards a final product per se. The experience helped me understand what it is like to do the research and table work as a director without leaving my comfort zone. Read More.
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Pearl Studios is the official rehearsal studio for the NAMT Festival of New Musicals and we're excited to partner with them again this year for our 35th Anniversary. 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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Want to contribute to the Table Read? Send in your idea.
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The stories in this newsletter are by and about our readers. If you have an idea for a piece or are about to engage in a writing/reading/planning/production process, let us know.
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