As a professional, year-round musical theatre largely focused on producing lesser-known and new musicals, The Winter Park Playhouse believes wholeheartedly in the importance of fostering the development of new works. Thus the Playhouse created and launched The Florida Festival Festival of New Musicals in 2017.

The Florida Festival of New Musicals has been created to advance and elevate the original American art form of musical theatre by fostering the development of new musicals and the artistic growth of writers and composers.

The festival will showcase six brand new, never-before-produced musical works and will bring together writers and composers from around the nation, with patrons, artists, press, producers and directors. The first act of each selected musical will be fully read and sung concert-style, without staging, by varying casts of professional actors and musicians. Patrons will have the unique and exciting opportunity to see musicals in the early stages of development and offer valuable feedback to the writers in a post-reading talkback.

The festival is led by Playhouse Artistic Director Roy Alan. It is the only one of its kind in the region, similar to musical theatre festivals featuring new works that take place in New York City, Seattle, Chicago, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles. It provides a unique insight into how a new musical comes to life.

Each submitted application will be read, evaluated and critiqued by a panel of industry professionals. The panel will make their final selection of six musicals in March. Along with members of the artistic community, the general public is encouraged and invited to attend and be engaged in this unique and exciting theatrical experience.

General admission
(single ticket for the reading of one new musical)
$10

Florida Festival Fun Pass
(Purchase 6 readings and only pay for 5!)
$50

To purchase festival tickets, click on the button above or call the box office at 407-645-0145. The online ticketing system will automatically apply the Festival Fun Pass pricing to your cart after you have selected a performance of each new musical.

Ciao Bambino

Music, Lyrics, & Book by Elizabeth Allen Turner (Miami, Florida)
Orchestrations & Arranging by Andreas Häberlin (Berlingen, Switzerland)

An original Italian-American, family-friendly musical, Ciao Bambino's music and lyrics were composed by Elizabeth Turner whose great-grandparents arrived at Ellis Island from Italy, providing her with unique insight into the Italian immigrant experience and inspiring her to craft a uniquely cultural musical.

Khan!!! The Musical! An Unauthorized Parody TREK-tacular

Music, Lyrics, & Book by Brent Black (Philadelphia, PA)
Co-conceived and additional material by Alina Morgan (New York, NY)

It is 2366, and Data the android is presenting his campy musical adaptation of The Wrath of Khan. In this sci-fi send-up, an older Captain Kirk is experiencing a "coming of middle age" story when his nemesis Khan escapes exile and vows revenge. The ensuing cat-and-mouse game sparks an adventure that includes Vulcan tap dancing, Kirk's long-lost son (a William Shatner impersonator), and of course... mutant space chickens!

NAKED

Book & Lyrics by Germaine Shames (Tucson, AZ)
Music by Tareq Abuissa (Madison, WI)

When a second-tier American art museum unexpectedly receives Manet's Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe on loan for a landmark exhibition, the curator's wife learns a lesson in art history, l'amour, and the necessity of following one's dreams.

Thirty Seconds: A Musical

Book & Lyrics by Michael Rogers (New York, NY)
Music by Bill Wandel (Howell, MI)

It's the 1950s and a virtuous young adman soars to success by taking credit for the ideas of his creative partner, a talented woman, who suppresses her own desire for advancement and recognition out of love.

Stone Crossed

Music, Lyrics, & Book by Philip David Stern (Burlington, VT)

In the land of Arkose, a fault line divides two groups of people who have been taught to fear each other and to not cross the trembling divide. When young Stoney accidentally steps into the other territory, he meets Jewel and their lives are changed forever. Against the rules they decide to run away but circumstances arise leaving Stoney and Jewel and the two groups in crisis. In the end, through the help of the healer, both sides realize they are more the same than different, and they must walk into the future as one.

The Goldilocks Variations

Concept by Steve Wolf (Seattle, WA)
Music by Charles Baker (Everett, WA)
Book and Lyrics by Steve Wolf and Charles Baker

Tensions have simmered in the Bear household for years, and when sullen teen Goldilocks walks away from her own family drama, she lands squarely in another. With a nod to Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon, four very different versions of the story we all thought we knew are told to a reporter whose job is on the line.

The Winter Park Playhouse is deeply grateful to the following sponsors
for their generous support to help make the
2022 Florida Festival of New Musicals possible!

PRESENTING SPONSORS

Dr. Judith Marlowe and Mr. Gordon Blitch

SPONSORS