The Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire, IL, has announced that THE BOWERY BOYS, which was presented as a World Premiere at the theater during their 2008 season, has been selected to be featured at the National Alliance for Musical Theatre annual Festival of New Musicals. Held in New York City every fall over two days, the 22nd annual offering is Thursday, October 21 and Friday, October 22, 2010.
In 1989 the Festival of New Musicals was created to provide members of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre with a forum to celebrate the new musicals that were being produced and presented around the country.
THE BOWERY BOYS was created and developed by the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, Illinois, premiering the new work as part of their 2008 season.With Book and Lyrics by David H. Bell; Music by Jeremy Cohen; and Co-creator Aaron Thielen, THE BOWERY BOYS is a musical that follows the journey of Dick, a streetwise kid, and his gang of bootblacks trying to "Make It through the Day." The backdrop of the show is Five Points New York in 1876. Loosely based on the writings of American writer Horatio Alger, this musical deals with the great distance between the American mythology and the much darker and more ominous truth about life in the tenements of the time.
NAMT's Festival of New Musicals is the premiere industry event, which brings together theatre industry leaders to discover eight new musicals in 45-minute staged readings. According to American Theatre Magazine, "It's an industry-only event, and it happens for only two days, but it makes a major impact in the world of musical theatre."
Past Festival productions includeTHE DROWSY CHAPERONE; THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE; CHILDREN OF EDEN; and Jason Robert Brown's SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD.