Submit to the Festival

2025 Festival Submission Requirements, Process and Application

All writers are eligible to submit an application free of charge. Please review below for full details on the application process.

Please note: NAMT does not accept submissions outside of this process. Please follow the instructions below to submit a musical for the Festival. Materials received outside of the Festival submission process will not be reviewed. NAMT Staff does not select Festival Musicals. NAMT Members select the Festival Musicals through an anonymous submission process. 

STEP 1: Is Your Show Eligible?STEP 2: Compile InformationSTEP 3: Work SamplesSTEP 4: Supporting MaterialsSTEP 5: The Selection ProcessSTEP 6: If You're Selected

2024 Festival Submission Info Session

Note: The below video is last year’s info session. While the guidelines are similar to last year, we do suggest you attend the 2025 Festival Submission Info Session on November 15th.

2025 Festival Submission Info Events

November Office Hours: Nov 4th, 2024 6pm to 8pm ET (ZOOM)
Drop in during our Submission Office Hours, where you can address any outstanding submission questions one-on-one with a NAMT staff member. Sign in to our digital waiting room, and someone will be with you asap!

2025 Festival of New Musicals Submission Information Session: Nov 15th, 2024 @ 4pm ET (ZOOM)
NAMT New Works Director Frankie Dailey and NAMT New Works Associate Skye Cone Ivey will walk you through the application process for this year’s Festival of New Musicals in this free webinar. Registration is required.

January Office Hours: Jan 6th, 2025 6pm to 8pm ET (ZOOM)
The Submission Office Hours will take place on Monday, January 6th from 6pm ET to 8pm ET.  You may sign in and see a NAMT Staff Member at any time during this period as they are available to assist you.

About the Festival

Now in its 37th year, NAMT’s Festival of New Musicals is the cornerstone of NAMT’s mission to be a catalyst for nurturing musical theatre development and production.

In 1989, the Festival of New Musicals was created to provide a forum to celebrate the new musicals that were being produced and presented around the country. Since then, the Festival has introduced musical theatre producers to 300+ musicals and 565 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!

Held over two days in New York City every fall, the Festival produces 45–minute presentations of eight new musicals before an audience of over 800 industry professionals with the experience and resources to move the work forward. We look for new musicals at all stages of development from the broadest possible range of voices.

Festival Purpose and Goals

The Festival’s immediate goal is to connect writers with producers, particularly NAMT Members, and extend the development trajectory of presented musicals by establishing new creative partnerships. Over time, the long–term goals are to expand the musical theatre repertoire, advance the musical theatre art form and support the field.

QUALITY & RANGE

Showcase quality new musicals by musical theatre creators of all identities and backgrounds with a wide breadth and depth of stories, styles, sizes and stages of development.

CONNECT WRITERS & PRODUCERS

Encourage a forum to spark new collaborations and ventures.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT THROUGH CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Provide musical theatre artists with a professional networking & breakthrough opportunity showcasing their creative talent.

DEVELOPMENT & PRODUCTIONS

Encourage future development and productions of selected new musicals.

Our 36th Annual Festival of New Musicals will take place on October 23 and 24, 2025. 

We never take any royalties from our writers or ask them to pay for their participation in the Festival. The Festival is funded solely through sponsorships, grants and donations contributed by government agencies, foundations, organizations and individuals.

Step 1: Is Your Show Eligible?

Any new musical can be submitted for consideration as long as it meets the criteria below.

Must-Haves:

• • The Musical must be complete and ready for readings, workshops and/or productions.
  • The Musical should have a demo that is an accurate representation of the music and style of the show and at least 50% of the score must be available to submit on demo.
  • The Musical must have full underlying rights clearances for any pre-existing material used (music, source material, etc.) in the script.
  • The Writers must be ready for readings, workshops and/or productions at the time of submission and available for presentations in October 2025 at the Festival.

Your Project is Ineligible to be Submitted if:

• • The Musical is already being licensed through a professional licensing house.
  • The Musical has been produced on Broadway. [Shows that have had readings, workshops and/or productions (including regional or Off-Broadway) are still eligible.]
  • The Musical has already been submitted to the Festival three times. Each project can only be submitted three times for review by the committee.
  • The Musical has already been selected for the NAMT Festival of New Musicals as one of our main presentations (excludes shows presented as part of our supplementary programming including concerts, cabarets & showcases).

You should also consider:

• • Writers are writers-only for the NAMT Festival process and may not direct, music direct or star in their presentations. No exceptions.
  • Writers must be available for all rehearsals in person in New York City. Rehearsals may begin as early as October 12, 2025. NAMT does not provide housing or travel assistance.

Still have questions? Check out the Eligibility FAQ.

Step 2: Compile Your Information

Please note the following deadlines for the 36th Annual Festival of New Musicals:

• December 17, 2024: Early Deadline for All Submissions
• January 7, 2025: Late Deadline for All Submissions ($40 fee applies)

Shows submitted by the early deadline require no fee for submission. Shows submitted after the early deadline will be charged a $40 late fee, which must be paid by credit card on the submission portal.

All the information you need about the writers and (if applicable) agents, production/development history and more is outlined in the application, but you should read this entire page before prepping your materials.

Step 3: Fill Out the Online Application: Work Samples

You will be asked to upload a PDF of the script and a PDF of a 20-page excerpt with all identifying information removed.

All script submissions must adhere to the following or your application could be rejected:

Step 4: Fill Out the Online Application: Supporting Materials

Proof of Rights

• • If the musical contains any copyrighted material, please submit a signed letter from the authors and underlying rights holder or their legitimate representative stating that underlying rights have been secured for you. Alternatively, please submit a copy of your contract with all financial information redacted. In order to be eligible for the Festival, we must see:
    • Length of agreement and standards for renewals/extensions (the length of the agreement or option to extend should extend past the Festival by at least 18 months)
    • Definition of all parties involved, clearly stating that the Writers submitting to the Festival are party to this agreement
    • An indication of whether this will be the sole theatrical version permitted of the piece

    • Clauses indicating who has artistic control over the piece and what approvals are needed at what stages

  • This Proof of Rights document is exempt from the submission requirement to eliminate identifying information. Please be sure all parties’ information is included. This document is not submitted to the committee as a part of the Festival evaluation process, and is only utilized for administrative clearance.

Still have questions? Check out the Supporting Materials FAQ.

Step 5: The Selection Process

To evaluate the submissions each year, NAMT assembles a committee of its members from across the world.  The committee uses an anonymous evaluation process. Committee members are given no additional information beyond the title of the show, the full script, excerpt script, the demo and basic general demographic information about the writers if optionally submitted. The identifying information you provide in the application is seen by the NAMT office staff only, not the selection committee. Our process is based on the practical possibilities and passion points of the submitted piece rather than who wrote it, the history of the piece or the awards it has won.

Round 1 (January-March)

Round 2 (April-May)

Step 6: If You Are Selected

The eight shows selected each year to be presented at the NAMT Festival are given the full support of NAMT to ensure a quality presentation and experience for everyone involved. NAMT takes on full responsibility for producing the Festival, including financial and administrative components.

We expect writers to be hands-on throughout the entire process, from casting through sound check and the presentations. Being part of the NAMT Festival as a writer is a time-consuming, intensive process, and writers who participate need to be able to commit fully and enthusiastically.

Writers are required:

• To be at all rehearsals (starting about 10 days out from the Festival dates)
• To be present at all Festival-related events and promotional activities happening around rehearsals and the Festival so they can maximize their experience and exposure. NAMT will do its best to outline these commitments upon your acceptance, but maximum scheduling flexibility in October is key to participate in this process.

Each writer will be given an honorarium in appreciation of their talent and time and to help cover any related personal expenses. Writers will pay no fees to NAMT, nor will NAMT take any percentage of future royalties.

After the Festival, each writer will become a NAMT Festival Alumni Writer, joining a group of over 500 past Festival writers, and will receive invitations to future Alumni events like roundtables and conferences. The writers will also continue to receive assistance from the NAMT team whenever possible to help further develop their musicals and their careers.

Still have questions? Check out the FAQs.

If you have any further questions about the Festival or of the submission process, please contact New Works Assistant Skye Cone Ivey at skye@namt.org.

SUBMIT YOUR SHOW!

This page was last updated on 11/15/2024