Coming Soon!
23rd to 29th July 2013
York New Musical Festival 2013
It seems a long time ago in late 2011 when Jim Welsman, Keith Humphrey and I sat down to plan an event that would showcase a few new musicals. We felt there was little scope for new writers to perform their shows in this area. Apart from various venues and theatre groups in London and the Fringe in Edinburgh there was little opportunity for anything in between. The York New Musical (not for profit) Association was born.
The First Festival
Sipping tea and coffee at Jim’s we knew we had at least Keith’s ‘Boiling Frog’ and my ‘Armada’ we could put on,and there had been another local musical called ‘Black Potatoes’ so that was three.
The plan we formed was to have a main theatre programme with another performance area, a studio, for shows that were works in progress. If we spread the word we estimated we might manage to attract a weekend of shows from the afternoon through to the next evening.
The 2012 Festival was sadly postponed. Our bid for Arts Council funding was not successful and the model we planned was not sustainable. Our eyes turned to a different approach for 2013 and with generous support from various quarters we have been able to launch the Festival at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre from 23rd to 29th July inclusive.
Whilst our planning committee now includes Robert Readman and Mike Rogerson most of the leg (and finger on keyboard) work has been done by Jim without whom this event would not be happening.
We have some exciting shows in prospect ranging from a couple of read-through musicals to a professional company and also an American show from off-Broadway.
We hope this will become an annual event and will put York on the map as a potential home for new musical theatre. We have a fabulous facility in the ‘Jo Ro’ and I am proud to be associated with this new venture.
Please do come and support us...we have some enticing offers..the Silver and Gold VIP tickets which will give you unlimited access to the whole Festival for a rock bottom price and will help us to break even and plan for 2014.
Rob Winlow
Please come and join us.
York New Musical Festival
View trailer at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kyBlmrx9G4
Website: www.ynmf.co.uk