NAMT executive director Kathy Evans was also enthusiastic about The Break Up Notebook, as well as the entire program. The other musicals included Casey at the Bat by Tom Child and Gordon Goodwin, The Chocolate Tree by Marshall Pailet and A. D. Penedo, The Gypsy King by Randy Rogel and Kirby Ward, Kingdom by Aaron Jafferis and Ian Williams, Tinyard Hill by Mark Allen and Thomas M. Newman, and Writing Arthur by David Austin.
Evans reported that “every show had a champion,” which bodes well for the repercussions from the kind of busy weekend that three years ago yielded The Drowsy Chaperone and, prior to that, introduced Striking 12, which was produced Off-Broadway last year and was well received.
Evans agreed that this year’s frame was especially interesting for having no well-known participating creators; all of them were chosen by a committee unaware of who had written what. Overall, the festival was “very successful,” she said. “There was a tremendous turnout and feedback.” As evidence, Evans said 40 to 50 of the musical theatre producing community gathered to talk about the festival the day after it closed. Just as some of the work brought the attendees to their feet, some of the pieces made them want to stick around.