Campbell, Champlin, Naughton, et al. Win NYMF Excellence Awards

The winners of f the New York Musical Theatre Festival 2006 NYMF Awards for Excellence have been announced. The awards will be presented at a gala ceremony to be held on Sunday, November 12 at the Hudson Theater (145 West 44th Street).

Christian Campbell, Donna Lynne Champlin, Laura Daniel, Marisa Echeverria, Chistopher Fitzgerald, Jeff Hiller, Greg Naughton, Jeremy Shamos, and Max Von Essen are the winners of the Outstanding Individual Performance Awards.

The award for “Most Promising New Musical” goes to Kingdom; the “Theater for the American Musical Prize” goes to River’s End; the “Excellence in Musical Theatre Writing (Music)” goes to Have a Nice Life; the “Excellence in Musical Theatre Writing (Lyrics)” goes to Three Sides; and the “Excellence in Musical Theatre Writing (Book)” award goes to both Desperate Measures and Gutenberg the Musical. The “Verizon ‘Best of Fest’ Audience Prize” goes to Smoking Bloomberg.

The “Excellence in Direction & Choreography” goes to Igor Goldin, Ron De Jesus, Ray Leeper, Mia Michaels, Jeff Shade, and Lisa Stevens for Common Grounds, and the “Excellence in Design” Award goes to the team behind Journey to the West (set design by John Rager, costume design by Elizabeth Cox, lighting design by Maggie M. Bailey, sound design by Brian Hsieh). The award for “Outstanding Ensemble Performance” goes to the cast of Have a Nice Life (Emily Skinner, Michael Berry, Michelle Blakely, Kevin Carolan, Jacquelyn Piro, Charles Hagerty, and Nicole Ruth Snelson).

The winners were selected by a jury composed of theater artists, producers, and journalists including Jennifer Costello (Live Nation), Robert Diamond (BroadwayWorld.com), Frank Evans (BMI), Peter Filichia (Newark Star-Ledger/TheaterMania), Tim Jerome (National Music Theater Network), Clifford Lee Johnson III (Manhattan Theatre Club), Beverly MacKeen (New World Stages), Matt Windman (AM New York), and Wayman Wong (Playbill.com/New York Daily News).

As previously announced, the gala will also honor Kevin McCollum, producer of The Drowsy Chaperone, Rent, Avenue Q, [title of show], and the upcoming High Fidelity and In The Heights. Drowsy‘s Bob Martin will serve as Master of Ceremonies for the evening, which will feature performances by fellow Drowsy cast members Sutton Foster and Beth Leavel, Anthony Rapp, John Tartaglia, the cast of [title of show], and other celebrity guests. The evening’s entertainment will be directed by Casey Hushion.

For tickets and more information, visit www.nymf.org or phone 212-664-0979.