The appointment comes as part of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre’s annual effort to “develop, present and promote new works of musical theatre,” an MSMT release states. “ Peterson’s role is to evaluate recording and script submissions of new musicals and to help determine which new works are presented at the alliance’s Festival of New Musicals held each fall in New York City.”
The National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) has hosted the Festival of New Musicals since 1989. The annual event serves as a forum for the alliance’s 150 members to “celebrate new musicals being produced and presented by creative and talented people across this country and beyond,” the release states.
Since its inception, the festival has introduced 237 new musicals and 493 new writers from around the world.
More than 75 percent of new works presented at the festival go on to subsequent productions and tours and are printed in publishers’ catalogues and recorded on cast albums, according to the release.
Peterson’s role on the Festival for New Works Committee is to listen to the hundreds of recordings and to read the accompanying 20-page script submissions required by the committee to be considered for selection to present the work during the festival. That process continues until mid- March when the committee picks semi-finalists.
Peterson then listens to the semi-finalists’ full recordings and reads the full scripts and helps determine the finalists who are given 50 minutes to present part of their work at the festival in front of industry professionals.
“This is an exciting initiative and a great way to encourage the growth and progression of this unique and much-loved art form,” Peterson said in the release. “It’s illuminating to see new musicals. One thing becomes clear: writing a musical that truly hits its audience, is hard work.”
Peterson’s commitment to the Festival for New Works Committee is two to three years. During that time his goals, as outlined by NAMT, are to identify new musicals that are diverse in ethnicity, subject matter, style and concept; to nurture composers, lyricists and book writers and spark new collaborations; and to stimulate networking opportunities between members of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre and other theater professionals.
news@timesrecord.com
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