NAMT has revealed the roster of new musicals for the 37th Annual FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS, which is slated to take place on Thursday, October 23 and Friday, October 24, 2025, at New World Stages.
Registration Now Open!
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.
The FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS, which was created to celebrate the new musicals that were being produced and presented around the country, has introduced musical theatre producers to 300 musicals and 575 writers from around the world. More than 85% have gone on to subsequent readings, workshops, productions and tours; been licensed; and/or recorded on cast albums as a direct result of the Festival. Past Festival shows include Come From Away, Lempicka, The Drowsy Chaperone, Lizard Boy, Teeth, Gun & Powder, King of Pangea, Benny & Joon, Darling Grenadine, Ordinary Days, It Shoulda Been You and Thoroughly Modern Millie, among many others.
FESTIVAL MUSICALS
This year, a committee of 23 theatre professionals selected eight new musicals out of 537 submissions. The musicals chosen for 37th ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS are:
Alice Bliss (Book by Karen Hartman, Music by Jenny Giering, Lyrics by Adam Gwon, Based on Laura Harrington’s novel); 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); Love Is Dead (Book & Music by Brett Ryback, Book & Lyrics by Jeff Luppino-Esposito); PARTICLE (Book by Selda Sahin, Autumn Reeser & Derek Gregor, Music by Derek Gregor, Lyrics by Selda Sahin); ROJA (Book, Music & Lyrics by Jaime Lozano & Tommy Newman); Soft Magical Tofu Boy(s) (Book, Music & Lyrics by Kevin Wong); Wakeman (Book, Music & Lyrics by Jenn Grinels).
Creative Teams and casting for each musical, as well as further Festival programming details will be announced soon.
MEET THE FESTIVAL MUSICALS
Meet the selected writers & musicals:
Alice Bliss
Book by Karen Hartman
Music by Jenny Giering
Lyrics by Adam Gwon
Based on Laura Harrington’s novel
2007, Upstate New York. When Alice’s dad gets deployed to Iraq, she’s furious, with no one to hate but her mom. Alice valiantly shoulders her way through tenth grade – driving lessons, first love, and all – trying to keep Dad safe by acting perfect at home. A heartstopping, richly harmonic score buoys this fresh, surprisingly funny look at girls and women on the frayed edge of America, taking the heat of war.
In 2011, Alice Bliss was commissioned by Playwrights Horizons. It has been developed with Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, residencies at Goodspeed Musicals and the Orchard Project. Playwrights Horizons presented multiple readings directed by Mark Brokaw. In 2019, Alice Bliss won the Weston Playhouse New Musical Award. Development continued with a workshop at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley in December 2021, alongside a residency at the Montalvo Arts Center. A planned world premiere at TheatreWorks in June 2023, directed by Mark Brokaw, was ultimately cancelled.
Karen Hartman was the first playwright honored by Amplify (formerly VOLT), a festival of three simultaneous off-Broadway premieres: New Golden Age (Primary Stages, Blackburn Finalist); The Lucky Star (Directors Company); and Goldie, Max & Milk (MBL). Awards: Guggenheim, Henry (Best Musical), Hodder, McKnight, Jerome, New Dramatists, Loewe, Fulbright. Prose: New York Times, Washington Post. Publication: Concord, DPS, Playscripts, TCG. Current projects include In The Mood, a new musical based on the “Swing Youth” of Hamburg, and a film adaptation of her award-winning play Roz and Ray. Hartman founded and leads The Hundred Day Reckoning, a Creative Response to Hard Change.
Jenny Giering’s current projects include Alice Bliss (Adam Gwon, lyrics; Karen Hartman, book) commissioned by Playwrights Horizons (Weston Playhouse New Musical Award, Goodspeed’s Mercer Colony, Orchard Project Residency, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, Theatreworks/Silicon Valley New Works Festival); and What We Leave Behind (co-written with Sean Barry; TheatreWorks Writer’s Retreat, Weston Theater Company Writers Retreat, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, Sundance Theatre Lab, Theatre Aspen’s Solo Flights Festival) which received its first production at Theatre Raleigh starring Jessica Phillips this September. Her awards include the Jonathan Larson Award, the Constance Klinsky Prize from Second Stage and the Tilles Music Chair from Chicago Shakespeare Theater.
Adam Gwon’s musicals have been produced on six continents in ten languages. Off-Broadway: All the World’s a Stage (Keen Company – Drama Desk nomination, Off-Broadway Alliance Award winner, Best Musical), Scotland, PA (Roundabout – Drama Desk nomination, NYT Critic’s Pick), Ordinary Days (Roundabout, Keen Company revival – Drama League nomination); Regional: Witnesses (California Center for the Arts – Craig Noel Award, Outstanding New Musical), String (Village Theatre), Cake Off (Signature Theatre – Helen Hayes nomination, Bucks County Playhouse), Cloudlands (South Coast Rep), The Boy Detective Fails (Signature Theatre), Bernice Bobs Her Hair (Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma); West End: Ordinary Days (Trafalgar Studios).
FINN
Created by Chris Nee, Michael Kooman & Chris Dimond
Book and Lyrics by Chris Dimond & Chris Nee
Music by Michael Kooman
Finn is a young shark who doesn’t fit in with his dull grey pack. When he’s introduced to the colorful world of fish, Finn realizes that he may be a fish at heart. FINN is a heartwarming coming-of-age adventure for the whole family.
FINN was commissioned by the Kennedy Center, where it premiered in November 2024. The planned 2026/2027 tour was cancelled in the wake of the Trump administration’s takeover.
Chris Nee is the creator and executive producer of Disney Junior’s “Doc McStuffins“ & “Vampirina” before founding her own production company, Laughing Wild, where she created and EP’d “Ridley Jones,” “Ada Twist” and “We the People” for Netflix. She’s won multiple Emmy Awards, NAACP Awards, an Annie Award and a Peabody Award. She’s had an amazing ride in film and television working on series that range from “Sesame Street” to “The Deadliest Catch.” But right now, she’s thrilled to be back in a room making theatre. Website: laughingwildprod.com
Michael Kooman and Christopher Dimond are an Emmy-nominated writing team for the stage and screen. Their musical Romantics Anonymous (written with Emma Rice) debuted to rave reviews at Shakespeare’s Globe. They wrote more than 150 songs for “Vampirina,” an animated Disney TV series reaching over 100 million viewers in 115 countries. Other television work includes Netflix’s “Ridley Jones,” “Dead End: Paranormal Park,” and “Spirit Rangers.” Their stage projects include The Break, The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes (NAMT Festival ’14, Village Theatre), Orphie & The Book of Heroes (The Kennedy Center), The Enlightenment of Percival Von Schmootz (Adirondack Theatre Festival), Judge Jackie: Disorder in the Court (Pittsburgh CLO), and Dani Girl (NAMT Festival ’11). Awards and honors include the Fred Ebb Award, a Jonathan Larson Grant, the Mary Rodgers/Lorenz Hart Award, the Samuel French Next Step Award, the Burton Lane Award, and the Harold Adamson Award. Their debut album, “Out of Our Heads,” and the world premiere recordings of Romantics Anonymous and The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes are now available on iTunes and Spotify. Learn more at www.koomandimond.com.
The King of Harlem
Book, Music & Lyrics by John-Michael Lyles & David Gomez
The King of Harlem follows the story of Mercy Wheatley, an up-and-coming Black prize fighter who is engaged to marry Sarah, but after a chance encounter with Federico García Lorca, all of the plans Mercy made begin to collapse in the name of desire.
In 2020, The King of Harlem was accepted into both the second Musical Theatre Factory (MTF) MAKERS Cohort and the Dramatists Guild Fellows Class of 2021. The following year, it was supported by the Rhinebeck Writers Retreat and a Dramatists Guild Foundation-funded research trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma, deepening the team’s historical and thematic exploration. In 2022, MTF produced a cold reading at Playwrights Horizons, and with a grant from NYSCA, the team mounted a 29-hour Equity reading directed by Raja Feather Kelly. That same year, the piece was named a finalist for the American Playwriting Foundation’s Relentless Award. In 2024, it had a 29-hour reading at Montclair State University with support from NAMT (Writers Residency Grant), and MTF jointly funded an additional 29-hour reading at the same institution. In 2025, with support from The Bridge, the team will produce a new 29-hour reading and finalize the fifth draft of the piece.
John-Michael Lyles is a Vivace-winning, multi-hyphenate creative! “How to Stay Bright” is his debut EP. He wrote additional music for the Second Stage production of We’re Gonna Die, participated in the Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellowship ’21, Musical Theatre Factory’s 2nd MAKERS Cohort, the 2021 Rhinebeck Writers Retreat and The 5th Avenue Theatre’s First Draft: Raise Your Voice. Co-writing book, music and lyrics with David Gomez for The King of Harlem (2022 Finalist for Relentless Musical Award). As an actor, he’s originated two roles on Broadway: “Thought 3” in A Strange Loop (Obie) and “Eli” in The Heart of Rock & Roll!
David Gomez is a songwriter, librettist and playwright. With John-Michael Lyles he co-created The King of Harlem, which has received support from the Lucille Lortel Theatre’s 121 Project, The Dramatist Guild Fellows Program, The Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, The American Playwriting Foundation, and Musical Theatre Factory’s MAKERS Cohort. With composer Jude Obermüller he created the lyrics for Miss Havisham’s Wedding, The Blue Shoes, and Feet Keep Me Flying. Recent commissioned musicals include Adelita (Paramount Theatre, IL) and Sugarplum (Music Theatre Kansas City). David is a Chicano theatre artist invested in continuing the tradition of corridos which use popular song forms to celebrate Latine stories. @gomez_zdavid
Love Is Dead
Book & Music by Brett Ryback
Book & Lyrics by Jeff Luppino-Esposito
Love Is Dead is a new comedy about a heartbroken woman and a sexy ghost. Her life is falling apart; his already did. Maybe together they can overcome the existential horror of dating and romance in the modern age.
Love Is Dead was developed with the assistance of a 29-hour staged reading at Coachella Valley Rep in April 2024.
Brett Ryback is an actor, composer/lyricist, and writer. He is the recipient of the ASCAP Foundation’s Cole Porter Award. His musical podcast “In Strange Woods” hit #1 on Apple’s fiction chart and was an iHeartRadio Award nominee. Works include: Passing Through (Goodspeed); Joe Schmoe Saves the World (NAMT Fest ‘16, ASCAP/Dreamworks Workshop); Nate the Great (TRW); Free Speech Zone (Austin Film Festival Semifinalist). His award-winning plays Weïrd and A Roz By Any Other Name are both published in “The Best American Short Plays 2007-2008.” He lives in LA with his husband and their miniature schnauzer, Hilde. www.brettryback.com
Jeff Luppino-Esposito is the lyricist and co-librettist of the ghost rom-com musical Love Is Dead. He is best known for his work as a writer, lyricist and director on the musical podcast “In Strange Woods,” an iHeartRadio Award nominee for “Best Fiction Podcast.” His other notable writing and directing credits include the stage show Nantucket! The MusACKal, the short film “How She Was,” and the mockumentary pilot “Hall Stars” for Nickelodeon. You can preview his work at: www.JeffLE.me
PARTICLE
Book by Selda Sahin, Autumn Reeser & Derek Gregor
Music by Derek Gregor
Lyrics by Selda Sahin
PARTICLE is a multi-dimensional coming-of-age story set in the world of elite gaming. Will Cora help her team win the high-pressure Interglow championships — and what about her twin brother Seth, the one left behind? At its heart, PARTICLE is a story about connection and the transcendent power of love.
PARTICLE was written during the pandemic over Zoom by a bi-coastal writing team. The musical was also developed during a two-week workshop at Michigan State University, a workshop at Nazareth College, and a 29-hour reading at Missouri State (co-produced by Broadway Unlocked).
Selda Sahin’s musicals Modern, Off Season (with Derek Gregor) and PARTICLE (with Gregor and Autumn Reeser) are being developed throughout the country. Developments have included, among others, the ASCAP Stephen Schwartz and Grow-A-Show Workshops, The Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, and The Village Theatre Festival of New Musicals. She was commissioned to write the libretto to the opera Steele Roots at The Atlanta Opera and wrote the original songs for the feature film American Reject and short film GRIND (starring Anthony Rapp). She wrote the music and lyrics to the musical All Fall Down which was directed by Lonny Price.
Autumn Reeser has enjoyed a long career playing strong female leads in shows like “The OC” and “Entourage,” and starring in romantic dramas on the Hallmark Channel. She continues to perform live with theater group The Workjuice Players, currently on a 20-year anniversary world tour with their stage show, The Thrilling Adventure Hour. In recent years she’s executive-produced multiple films for Crown Media, as well as co-writing and directing additional projects for stage and screen. She’s also expanded her reach online, where she has built a conscious community and mentorship program known as Earth School.
Derek Gregor’s musical Unlock’d (with Sam Carner) is the recipient of a Richard Rodgers Award and Kleban prize. His musicals Modern, Off Season (with Selda Sahin) and PARTICLE (with Sahin and Autumn Reeser) development has included, among others, the ASCAP Stephen Schwartz and Grow-A-Show Workshops, The Rhinebeck Writers Retreat and The Village Theatre Festival of New Musicals. His musicals ISLAND SONG and Techies! (with Carner) are licensed through Broadway Licensing Global. His musical In A Sunshine State received a production via San Diego State’s New Musicals Initiative. With Sahin, he wrote the original songs for the feature film American Reject and short film GRIND (starring Anthony Rapp).
ROJA
Book, Music & Lyrics by Jaime Lozano & Tommy Newman
Fusing traditional, Mexican folk music and Mestizo folklore, ROJA is a new twist on the Little Red Riding Hood story. At the edge of the desert in Northern Mexico, Roja rescues a mischievous, magical coyote who offers her the chance to see her father again — what follows is a miraculous journey for all ages.
ROJA was created and developed in residency at the Forestburgh Playhouse in May of 2024. It was presented in a table reading with The New Group in Manhattan that same summer. In September of 2024, it was further developed and presented with assistance from the Forestburgh Playhouse “In the Works-In the Woods” Festival in Forestburgh, NY. ROJA has since been developed in part at Rhinebeck Writers Retreat in 2025. It also received a generous grant for development with funding from the Pipeline Arts Foundation in May of 2025.
Jaime Lozano is a Mexican multi-hyphenate musical theatre storyteller considered by Lin-Manuel Miranda as the “next big thing” on Broadway. American Theatre Wing’s Jonathan Larson Grant 2022. Rhinebeck Writers Retreat 2025. Goodspeed Musicals’ Johnny Mercer Grove Writers 2025. Pipeline Arts Foundation winner 2025. Dramatists Guild Fellow 2024-2025. Lincoln Center Resident Artist 2023. Joe’s Pub Working Group 2020-2022. The Civilians R&D Group 2020-2021. JACK Resident Artist 2021. Lincoln Center Resident Artist 2023. Selected works: El Otro Oz – formerly The Yellow Brick Road – (TheaterWorksUSA and The Atlantic Theater Company, Winner of The Off-Broadway Alliance Award for Best Family Musical 2023-24), Carmen La Cubana (European Tour), Children of Salt (NYMF 2016 “Best of Fest” Production), A Never-Ending Line (Comédie Nation in Paris, France & Off-Broadway), Desaparecidas (JACK). Broadway: Real Women Have Curves (dance arrangements). Albums: “A Never-Ending Line,” “Jaime Lozano and the Familia: Songs by an Immigrant” released by Broadway Records. “Songs by an Immigrant Vol. 2,” released by Concord Theatricals Recordings. Film: “In The Heights” (orchestrations), “Tick, Tick… Boom!” (cameo). His project “Jaime Lozano & The Familia” has performed sold-out concerts at venues such as Joe’s Pub, 54 Below, The Green Room 42, Two River Theater, and as part of the prestigious Lincoln Center’s American Songbook Series. Currently working on Frida, The Musical, ROJA and his anticipated new album: “Songs by an Immigrant Vol. 3.” BFA: Music & Composition, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León; MFA: NYU/Tisch, Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program (Full Tuition Scholarship); part of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. Proud member of the Dramatists Guild of America, AFM Local 802, BMI and GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY member. www.jaimelozano.net @jaimelozano
Tommy Newman is a composer-lyricist-bookwriter whose shows include: Band Geeks! (NAMT Fest ’09), The Single Girl’s Guide (NAMT Fest ’13), Tinyard Hill (NAMT Fest ’07). Off Broadway: We the People: America Rocks (Theatreworks USA), 29 (NYU Steinhardt), El Otro Oz (Theatreworks USA and The Alliance Theatre), The Teacher from the Black Lagoon and Other Stories (Theatreworks USA). Recent selected works include: With Bells On, Our Lady of 7-Eleven, Jenny’s Damned Ex, Savage and Roja: A Nuevo Musical, created with Jaime Lozano. Tommy is currently a full-time professor with Troy University’s Department of Theatre and Dance. www.tommynewman.com
Soft Magical Tofu Boy(s)
Book, Music & Lyrics by Kevin Wong
Three brothers have a magical ability: to conjure images and sounds into the air. But what good is that in a hard, unmagical world? Soft Magical Tofu Boy(s) is a colorful journey through a queer Asian fantasia brimming with pop divas, anime princesses, disapproving ancestral spirits and more.
Soft Magical Tofu Boy(s) was commissioned in 2022 by the Musical Stage Company in Toronto, with funding from the Aubrey and Marla Dan Fund for New Musicals. It has been developed and supported by the Musical Stage Company along with fu-GEN Asian Canadian Theatre Company through a series of workshops in Toronto from 2023-present. It was developed with the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center as part of the 2024 National Music Theater Conference in Waterford, CT. In 2024, it won the Playwrights Guild of Canada’s Dan School of Drama & Music Award for Best New Musical.
Kevin Wong is a composer-lyricist, singer/musician and dramaturg. His musicals include: Recurring John; Polly Peel (with Julie Tepperman); Out of Stock; Drama 101 (with Steven Gallagher); In Real Life (with Nick Green); Believers (with Ali Joy Richardson), Take Me Back (with Amir Haidar); and Soft Magical Tofu Boy(s). Kevin streams weekly on Twitch (twitch.tv/kevinywong). He is the only three-time winner of the Playwrights Guild of Canada’s Tom Hendry Award for New Musicals. Recordings include: “Small Ways to Move” and “Covers” (on streaming services everywhere).
Wakeman
Book, Music & Lyrics by Jenn Grinels
Wakeman is a folk-rock/Americana musical inspired by the incredible true story of Union soldier Sarah Rosetta Wakeman (alias Lyons Wakeman). With powerful lyrics, rich harmonies and unforgettable melodies, this deeply human story and stirring journey of self-discovery will captivate theater and music lovers alike.
Wakeman (fka Rosetta Project) was recently a selection in Village Theatre’s Festival of New Musicals, and was developed as part of the Circle in the Square Theatre School’s Emerging Writers Residency. Other development took place at Bridgetown Conservatory in Portland, Oregon, Tower Theatre Foundation in Bend, Oregon, and at Lewis & Clark and Reed Colleges with Dr. Jenna Tamimi. Wakeman was inspired by an idea conceived with Jasper Grant.
Jenn Grinels is an award-winning singer/songwriter and began her career in musical theatre after studying at UC Irvine. Grinels played “Yitzhak” in the West Coast Premiere of Hedwig and the Angry Inch and spent years portraying “Janis Joplin” in Beehive. After completing her first album, Grinels built a fanbase through nonstop touring, releasing numerous singles, five additional albums, and via Patreon. With Wakeman, Grinels combines her experiences with theatre and songwriting. In 2024 she was a Kleban Prize Finalist, Artist in Residence at Circle in the Square Theatre School, and Wakeman was a Village Theatre Festival of New Musicals selection.