Lineup Announced for 2016 New York Musical Festival

The lineup has been announced for the 2016 New York Musical Festival. The festival, formerly named the New York Musical Theatre Festival, will take place in July at various venues around Manhattan.

The 2016 Next Link Project will include musicals Dust Can't Kill Me by Elliah Heifetz and Abigail Carney; Forest Boy by Scott Gilmour and Claire McKenzie; and Newton's Cradle by Heath Saunders, among other shows.

On the lineup of Invited Productions are Mark Alan Swanson and Alan Harris' A Scythe of Time; Lauren Epsenhart and Jaime Lozano's Children of Salt; Jonathan Kaldor and Sebastian Michael's Icon, and Aya Aziz's Sitting Regal By the Window.

Developmental Reading selections include Randy Redd and Susan Blair Ross' Touché and Brad Alexander and Jill Abramovitz's Bread and Roses, among other shows.

The 2016 festival is curated by Rachel Sussman, who joins the organization as Director of Programming and Artist Services. This year's Grand Jury included Tony Award-winning actor Michael Cerveris, Obie and Drama Desk Award-winning actress Donna Lynne Champlin, Two River Theater literary manager Anika Chapin, creative director of Fox Stage Productions Isaac Robert Hurwitz, Tony Award-winning producer Jane Dubin, director of theatre arts program at the National Black Theatre Jonathan McCrory, Tony Award and Drama Desk Award-nominated actor and writer Tony Sheldon, playwright, lyricist, and actress Gretchen Cryer, Drama Desk Award-winning actor Santino Fontana, Tony Award-nominated Broadway actress Montego Glover, Broadway director West Hyler, Tony Award-nominated director Leigh Silverman, and Laurence Olivier Award-winning choreographer Sergio Trujillo.