NEW YORK NEW WORKS Theatre Festival

Listen in on how Gene Fisch Jr. tells Broadway Radio's interviewer James Marino about the New York New Works Theatre Festival. Get all the details of the festival here!

Taking center stage from August 29th - October 5th, the New York New Works Theatre Festival Mentors Talented Writers and Exposes them to a panel of Broadway Producers, Emmy and Tony Award Winners

Of all the independent annual theater festivals in Manhattan, New York New Works Theatre Festival (NYNW) is the only one that presents a group of condensed shows in an evening designed for the convenience of A-list Broadway folks and potential investors.

Read about the 2017 festival participant Ann P. Meredith and her play "Special" that has advanced to the semi finals of this year's festival

Taking center stage from August 29th - October 5th, the New York New Works Theatre Festival Mentors Talented Writers and Exposes them to a panel of Broadway Producers, Emmy and Tony Award Winners...

Jersey City playwright Alfred C. Martino's play "Waiting For A Friend" will premiere at the New York New Works Theatre Festival in September. The debut performance is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 7, at the Elektra Theatre, located at 43rd Street and Eighth Avenue near Times Square. 

The New York New Works Theatre Festival brings aspiring playwrights and Broadway producers together in a room with new plays and musicals in an combination elimination-by-audience vote competition and workshop...

A central Ohio playwright has had his play accepted for the New York New Works Festival 2015.  Robert Cooperman, an adjunct professor of English and theater at Ohio University, Lancaster, has written and directed The Flower Stand, which previewed this week at Capital University and will begin performances in competition next week in the Times Square Arts Center in Manhattan.

TEN COMMANDMENTS, a world premiere play written by John Doble – about what happens when a sexy reporter interviews the Republican Party’s foremost political operative – will be presented by the New York New Works Theatre Festival. The NYNW Festival is produced by Gene Fisch, Jr.

Almost entirely self funded, we have aggregated a cadre of Broadway Producers and Emmy Award winning writers to review the work of our participants.  When we factor in the wonderful space, the marketing (at our expense) for the individual authors, the nuances that we are undertaking to make this a terrific experience, we end up with an unbelievable event that we are quite proud of.  This is a “genuine shot” as the panelists can have a material effect on the careers of these young writers.

The New York New Works Theatre Festival has announced the 2015 group of distinguished panelists offering their expertise and guidance to this year’s participants.

Darling, a new play written by Erika Jenko, will be competing against various finalists on August 20th at 7PM for an industry panel as part of the New York New Works Theatre Festival.

Kelley Birney wanted to take her best friend Kristen Tumminello on a “writer’s retreat” in a cozy, hidden cabin as they developed a script that could change their lives. “But we didn’t have any money,” Tumminello laughed. Luckily, Birney, who works in Los Angeles as an actress and writer with television credits including It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and The Young and The Restless, received a surprise residual check. So she picked up Tumminello at the airport and they drove off into the wilderness for a weekend of solitude and brainstorming.

Voice teacher, performer, and writer, Debra Cook’s musical, Jilted to Perfection: A MorMom’s Love was selected to be a part of New York New Works (NYNW) festival. Cook’s production not only made its way from Park City, Utah to New York, but it also advanced to the finals round of the competition.

Our intent was to create a legitimate theater festival that incorporated the Broadway community into an environment that truly supported talented writers at little cost for the participants. Essentially, this is the first festival of its kind and we’re thrilled to be helping make the dreams of Broadway...

The hope of every playwright who enters new work in a festival is that he will meet a producer who might want to move his work forward commercially. Gene Fisch, Jr., Producer and founder of the New York New Works Theatre Festival, now onstage at the Acorn Theater in Theater Row through September 22, is determined to make that happen.

An interview with Gene Fisch, Jr, director of the New York New Works Theater Festival.

Read about where LGBTQ theatre is going and how this years festival might contribute to the future of LGBTQ Broadway.

Broadway World coverage of The New York New Works Theatre Festival 2016 participants.

Broadway's elite turned out in style for the finals of the 2015 New York New Works Theatre Festival! Industry leaders congregated at the sold out Elektra Theatre for a superb evening of performances that were mentored by the panel of Broadway Producers and Emmy Award winners.

Original live interview with Erin Wegner Brooks and Sandhi Santini on August 6, 2015; Interview with Malini Singh McDonald and Sandhi Santini dated August 13, 2015

Ohio University Lancaster adjunct English and theater professor Robert Cooperman will head to New York on Aug. 17. If all goes well, he will be going back to the city of his birth twice more before September is over. The Queens native is a playwright and his “The Flower Stand” will compete in the New York New Works Festival at the Times Square Cultural Center...

Some of Broadway’s most prominent players are donating their time to mentor the next generation of industry writers and those writers have been announced! Participants range in ages from 17 to 70 and include everything from a Vampire Rock Opera originating from Canada to an original musical by Denise McQueen and composed with music by Eagles legend, Don Henley!

Playwright Lieselotte Heil was featured on the front page of her hometown's newspaper. In Alderson, West Virginia, the locals are getting a taste of the show she wrote "Snapshots: Love Scenes From An Album Of Life" which is a part of the 2017 festival. Read the full article below.

Park City resident Debra Cook is taking her life story, told in 30 minutes through song, to New York to compete in the New York New Works Theatre Festival. Listen to the interview below:

Three Huntsvillians and a Florence-born, current Huntsville resident have advanced to the semi-finals of a New York theater festival. ‘Woosical, Jr. The Story of Rue’ is taking the New York New Works Theater Festival by storm...

At New York, New Works, Sleeping With Earrings On is the story of three sisters. While the middle sister, Maggie, is preparing to marry the woman of her dreams, tension between the sisters threaten to tear the family apart. Originally presented as a short play, “SWEO” won the top prize at the New York New Works Theatre Festival this year. 

Você conhece a Broadway ou tem o sonho de algum dia conhecer? No segundo episódio do Cultura em NY, Eloá Orazem nos levou para conhecer esse lugar que é o sonho de muitos atores e não é Hollywood – a Broadway!

If you’re a theater junkie with a soft spot for “new work” (like me), then you need to know about the New York New Works Theatre Festival. I was lucky to chat briefly with Festival Director Gene Fisch, Jr., and was amazed by what I learned.

In a scenario that is right out of a strange Sci-fy picture, the entire country is headed into lockdown and all theatre is dark. For how long? We don't know.

New York New Works Theatre Festival is an annual occurrence where the Broadway community comes together for an elimination-by-audience competition. Audience members see plays and musicals written by up-and-coming writers. At the end of each night the audience votes privately...

A variety of interviews with the New York New Works Theatre Festival 2016 participants 

Check out the radio special where Marcia McNair was interviewed on the Educated Hustle podcast, which is now available on TuneIn. Listen to her interview, along with her show Sistas on Fire and New York New Works Theatre Festival shout out.

Video recorded on 8/12/15.

Festival Coverage by Malini Singh McDonald of Theatre Beyond Broadway

If you’re a theater junkie with a soft spot for “new work” (like me), then you need to know about the New York New Works Theatre Festival. I was lucky to chat briefly with Festival Director Gene Fisch, Jr., and was amazed by what I learned.

…Philanthropist and Producer, Gene Fisch, Jr. has aggregated a distinguished panel of Emmy Award Winners and Broadway Producers to review the best aspiring writers from around the country. “The objective was to create one of the first festivals that legitimately introduces new writers to the industry’s decision makers. It’s the first festival of its kind as each panelist is either a Broadway Producer or is an executive involved with an Emmy Award winning show”, says Fisch.

“Happy If Happy When” is a fun,positive musical about a family who moves to a run-down farm to pursue a dream! The talented cast is headed by Mom, a dancer, played by Kimerer L La Mothe (Book, Music, Lyrics, Director), and Dad, a composer, played by Geoffey K Gee (Music, Arrangements, Music Director) seek artistic self-expression and freedom from the urban rat race.

Since their full-time debut in 2007, the WorryWoo Monsters have been helping children learn to cope with their feelings through stories and play. Each monster personifies a different emotion and has a corresponding tale that leads kids on a fun and educational adventure of self-discovery and acceptance. While kids know and love the storybooks and plush toys, the WorryWoo Monsters are excited to take New York City by storm and offer up a whole new experience through their abridged play Woosical Jr., The Story of Rue.

Check out these interviews a 2017 participant had about their show, "The Coward". LAMBDA and Ms. Magazine has interviewed several shows dealing with LGBTQ issues, and we are glad our festival was able to be included in these!