On Monday, April 11th at the Colony Theatre in Burbank, the Academy for New Musical Theatre will present the third annual Got Musical!, a sneak preview of brand-new musicals in development for producers across the country, giving an insight into the Academy's process for creating new musicals from scratch specifically for producers and theatre companies.
Musicals to be showcased include nine new shows currently in development for producers:
Windjammers by Robin Share and Clay Zambo -- songs and stories about shipping on the Great Lakes.
A Midsummersausage Night's Dream by Joanne Koch, Bill Johnson and Larry Todd Johnson - a fanciful retelling of Shakespeare in the land of the Cheeseheads.
Duplexity by Eric Dodson and Jake Anthony -- a envisioning of The Parent Trap for the gay community.
The Max Factor Factor by Adrian Bewley, Chana Wise, and Joseph Blodgett -- Two gay leading men from rival studios in repressed 1930's Hollywood.
Madwomen of Manhattan by Marian Partee, Patricia Zehentmayr, and Cindy O'Connor -- a woman finds herself in a very unusual loony bin with some very famous inmates.
Manson's Girls by Scott Guy, Mitchell Glaser, and Todd Syswerda - the story of Charles Manson from the point of the view of the women in his life.
The Ring by Eric Dodson and Alan Ross Fleishman - Will the high school reunion of some old rivals unearth TRUTH or...CAT FIGHTS?
The Big Ol' Orange County Beauty Pageant by Sachi Oyama, Brad Beaver, and Tom Adams -- what's behind the usual cat fights at a beauty pageant?
In the Mind of Olympians by writers from both sides of the pond --- comparing and contrasting the upcoming 2011 Olympics with the last games held in London in 1948.
The excerpts will be presented by members of the Academy Repertory Company (Elise Dewsberry, Ellen Dostal, Scott Guy, Evelyn Halus, David Holmes, Christopher Maikish, Sari Rose Poll, Andrea Press, Tedd Szeto, and Peter Welkin); and Guest Artists Jamie Baer, Noel Britton, Jordan Kai Burnett, Alex Chester, Randy Guiaya, Evan Laffer, and Minta Mullins. Musical Direction by Ross Kalling.
Guy explains that the ANMT development process is fairly simple: the producer generates or approves an idea; the creative team creates a paragraph-sized version, then a half-dozen-page version, and eventually a 15-minute first pass. At this point, the producer either shuts down the project, or agrees to produce a public reading of the work. If a producer approves of the project after the first 15-minute pass, the Academy supports table readings and workshops of the work, nurturing it through first draft. Then, the producer produces a public reading of the work at his expense. After the producer has fulfilled his obligation by producing the reading, he is under no obligation to produce the musical; but if he does produce the musical, the Academy expects the producer to do so under terms approved by the Dramatists Guild.
"We've found this to be a win-win situation for the writer and for the producer," says Artistic Director Elise Dewsberry, "and we're excited to share this funny, artful and stimulating evening and showing off our innovative business model for developing new musicals for independent producers and theatre companies."
Got Musical! takes place at 7:30pm on Monday, April 11th at the Colony Theatre in Burbank. Tickets are $10. For more information, and to make a reservation, please visit www.anmt.org and click on Got Musical!
