Send Us Your All-American Musicals!

All Writers Encouraged to Apply – DISCOVER: New Musicals Staged Reading Submissions Now Being Accepted Through September 15, 2013.

Baayork Lee, Artistic Director of National Asian Artists Project (NAAP), announces the return of NAAP’s DISCOVER: New Musicals program, a presentation of staged-readings of new one-act musicals presented in New York in winter 2013. This program complements NAAP’s REDISCOVER series, in which Asian casts perform traditional musicals. (The most recent presentation of the REDISCOVER series was Hello, Dolly! in May, 2013.)

Interested writers may apply to DISCOVER: New Musicals by submitting a one-act musical and completed one-page application form to NAAP. Applications are available online at www.NAAProject.org now. Submissions will be accepted anytime thereafter until September 15, 2013. A panel of musical theatre professionals, headed by Baayork Lee, will select the productions to be produced. The selected projects will be announced by September 30, 2013. Auditions and rehearsals will take place in October and November. Staged readings will be presented on a Monday in late November or early December. WRITERS OF ALL ETHNITICIES ARE ENCOURAGED TO APPLY!

The submitted musical can be in any style, but of no longer than 30 minutes in running time. The submission may be an excerpt from a longer musical, but must feel complete in itself. The project must not have yet been produced in the northeast U.S. The material DOES NOT have to be Asian-American in theme or character. Selected musicals will be produced as staged readings with casts of professional actors of Asian-American heritage chosen by each creative team through open auditions with casting director Michael Cassara. (Note that there is not a company of actors to choose from and casts are not shared; auditions and casting will be completely open.)

NAAP will fund, produce, and invite industry professionals to the musicals presented. If a selected project’s writing team needs assistance in finding directors, NAAP will facilitate this process, but the writing team will make the final selection of the director. The purpose is to serve the writer while gaining exposure for talented, underserved artists of Asian descent.

For details on the evaluative criteria and submission process, please visit NAAProject.org. Submission deadline is September 15, 2013 by 5:00PM. For information, please email sduthler@naaproject.org.

NAAP’s mission is to provide professional opportunities to artists of Asian heritage; engage children of these communities in performing and visual arts to encourage presentation and literacy skills and foster creativity; to broaden the public’s thinking of and exposure to Asian artists.

Baayork Lee, NAAP’s Executive Artistic Director, has performed in a dozen Broadway shows and created the role of Connie in A Chorus Line. As Michael Bennett’s assistant choreographer on A Chorus Line, she has directed many national and international companies. Her directing credits include The King and I and Bombay Dreams (national tours), R&H’s Cinderella (NYC Opera), Barnum (Australia), Carmen Jones (Kennedy Center), Porgy and Bess and Jesus Christ Superstar (European tours), Gypsy and A New Brain. Her choreographing credits include Mack and Mabel (Shaw Festival), Cocoanuts, Camelot, Damn Yankees, Helen Hayes nomination for Animal Crackers and South Pacific (all at Arena Stage),and Goya, Sly and The Merry Widow (Kennedy Center). Ms. Lee is a Founder of NAAP with professional theatre artists Steven Eng and Nina Zoie Lam.

For more information on NAAP, please visit www.NAAProject.org.