Member Rep Election – NOMINATIONS DUE ON DEC. 6 PLEASE NOTE that your current Member Representative to the Board, Michael Gordon Shapiro, is happy to serve another term. In the event that we do not receive any other nominations by the deadline, there will be no election and Michael will be elected by acclamation. ELECTIONS TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS NMI’s By-Laws empower you, as members of the Academy for New Musical Theatre, to elect one person of your own choosing to serve on the Board of Directors. This person will have full voting privileges, and will be an equal member of the Board. The term is for one year, beginning at the January 2022 Board meeting. There will be an election every year for this position on the Board. RESPONSIBILITIES OF NMI BOARD MEMBER The Board member’s responsibilities include: Attending six Board meetings Articulating members’ concerns to the Board Articulating Board’s concerns to the members Serving on one Board committee The NMI Board member is exempt from having to put in additional volunteer hours. Aside from normal member fees, there is no additional financial requirement. Board meetings are currently scheduled for 4:00pm on January 12, March 9, May 11 and July 13. Sept/Nov meetings have not yet been scheduled, but are likely to be the second Wednesday afternoons of September and November. Board meetings typically take place at NMI with an option to attend electronically via videoconference. IF YOU WANT TO BE ON THE BALLOT Here are the steps to follow, if you’re interested in being considered for election to the Board: Find an NMI or ARC member to nominate you. Nominations must be sent by email to scott@nmi.org no later than December 6, 2021 worded as follows: “I, ___________________, do hereby nominate __________________ as a candidate for the Board of Directors of New Musicals Inc.” Nominees must send by email to scott@nmi.org a paragraph, written by the nominee, to accompany his name on the ballot, no later than December 13, 2021. This statement may be about anything of the nominee’s choosing, but must be a minimum of 100 words and a maximum of 300. The nominee may choose to state his or her personal goals for the organization in the next few years; or may identify a portion of NMI which needs attention and a proffered solution; etc. Every nominee will have his or her name and paragraph placed on the ballot. Members of New Musicals Inc (which includes General Members in goodstanding in NMI as well as actors in ARC) may nominate whomever they want. Participants in Core Curriculum and Performers’ Workshop are not considered members of NMI and can neither nominate nor vote (unless the participant is already a General Member or member of ARC). The nominated person must be (and must remain) a member in good standing at NMI or ARC, and is eligible to serve on the Board of Directors, according to its By‑Laws and the rules governed by law. The current By-Laws, for instance, bar the Executive Director from serving as a Board member, and there are certain restrictions which might bar a member who stands personally to gain financially and directly, without benefit to the rest of the membership. VOTING PROCEDURES A list of the nominees’ names and their statements will be included in the Weekly Email which will be emailed to all NMI/ARC members on December 15. A copy of the statements will also be emailed to the Board. Each NMI General or ARC member in good standing as of November 30 will be eligible to vote. Physical, paper ballots (along with a ballot box in which to place your vote) will be available at NMI at the following times: Friday, December 17 from 2:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and Saturday, December 18 from 11:00 am-5:00 p.m. If you wish to vote electronically, you may send your vote to admin@nmi.org - but if you wish to have your vote be anonymous, you will need to vote in person at NMI. Voting Envelopes will be tallied in the presence of a Board member and the Executive Director. The nominee who receives the most number of votes will be elected to serve on the Board of Directors for a one year term, effective January 12, 2022. In the case of a tie, a new ballot with only the tied nominees’ names will be disseminated, with a posted deadline for ballot-return. In the case of only a single nominee, the candidate will be elected pro forma, without a vote. If no nominees are submitted, the Board will convene without a Member Representative until the following year’s nominations. The new Board member’s first Board meeting will be January 12, 2023 at 4pm. –Scott Guy
Executive Director
Musical Tribute to Veterans on Veterans’ Day 2021 On Veterans’ Day, New Musicals Inc hosted a special online concert to help celebrate the day and pay respect to veterans around the world. The concert featured excerpts from the musical webseries, “So Proudly We Hailed” which honors veterans by dramatizing and musicalizing their story in their own words. The 75-minute concert is now available to view online for free at: https://youtu.be/JffGdi9FZe0.
Link: https://youtu.be/JffGdi9FZe0
SEARCH FOR NEW MUSICALS – NMI team wins First Place! Winners of the prestigious international Search for New Musicals for 2021 were announced today at New Musicals Inc. in Los Angeles. First Prize goes to It’s Always Off-Season at the Chalet Flamingo by Julia Sonya Koyfman and Dusty Sanders.
Second Prize goes to Abduction with book by T.J. Pieffer; music by Becki Toth and Brad Kemp; and lyrics by T.J. Pieffer and Becki Toth.
Third Prize goes to A Bridge to the Moon with book, music, and lyrics by Michael-Ellen Walden, Ruchir Khazanchi, and Emmet Smith.
The Search for New Musicals accepts entrants from around the globe; winners receive awards worth up to $25,000 in workshop productions, concert readings, feedback, and developmental support. “We are thrilled to sponsor the Search,” says Elise Dewsberry, Artistic Director of NMI. “We love seeing what writers are creating; and of course our mission is to nurture the folks who are writing musicals, so announcing the winners of the Search is one of my favorite things to do all year!” It’s Always Off-Season at the Chalet Flamingo is a wacky farce about a woman trying to get rid of a disaster-laden hotel without upsetting her wife who believes the hotel is inhabited by ghosts of her relatives. Complete with international jewel thieves, FBI agents, seances, explosions, and many many possums, this uplifting musical has a sassy score and a timeless message about the true meaning of love. Abduction tells the story of high school senior Pippa Peterson who must convince her town of an impending extraterrestrial threat during their beloved Corn Fest. This snappy sci fi comedy is fast paced, but grounded with heart and community. A Bridge to the Moon, set in the face of an environmental crisis, follows three grieving siblings who are tasked with holding their island and family together. Written in collaboration with the American Music Theatre Project, this lively eco-fable celebrates the power of a child’s dreams and the risks we will take to care for our community. Instagram @abridgetothemoon It’s Always Off-Season at the Chalet Flamingo will receive a series of readings and workshops at NMI. Abduction will receive an NMI staff table reading with feedback. A Bridge to the Moon will receive a Detailed Analysis from an NMI dramaturge. NMI is committed to an ongoing search to find and nurture promising new musical theatre. If you’ve written a musical, and you would like some honest, constructive, detailed feedback on how to make your musical better, you can submit your musical to NMI for dramaturgical feedback at levels from evaluation to analysis to table reading to workshop to concert reading. Past winners of the Search have included: The Water by Jeff Hylton, Tim Werenko, and Georgia Stitt (2008); Greenbrier Ghost by Susan Murray and Clay Zambo (2009); Gilbert & Sullivan on Wall Street by Charles Veley and Arthur Sullivan (2010); Emerald by Chris Burgess and Denise Wright (2011); Mad Bomber by Charles Monagan and Richard deRosa (2012); It Happened in Roswell by Terrence Atkins and Jeffery Lyle Segal (2013); Off the Wall by Sarah Rebell and Danny Abosch (2014), Invisible by David Hollingsworth and David Orris (2015), Spellbound: A F@#$*d-Up Fairy Tale by Ben Boecker (2016), Bravo by Cristian Guerrero, Steven Schmidt, and Andrew Moorhead (2017), The Bully Problem by Michael Gordon Shapiro (2018); Entertaining Murder by Chris Burgess (2019); and The Foursight Saga with book by Wayne Self, lyrics by Wayne Self and Scott Wilkinson, and music by Scott Wilkinson (2020). All musicals submitted (at any level) to NMI by July 15, 2022 will be automatically entered in the Search for New Musicals for this season. Winners of the 2022 Search will be announced by November 15, 2022. Information on submitting to the Search is available by visiting www.nmi.org.
NEW MUSICALS ONLINE! This week we’re bringing you the next episode in “129 Ways to Get A Man” - based on an actual article from McCall’s Magazine from 1957. Tip #24 - Settle for leftovers! It’s a strange but exciting time at New Musicals Inc, as we explore the short-form online musical. Please visit us online for a new musical experiment every week. Free.
Link: https://nmi.org/15-minute-musicals-2021-crimes-and-misdemeanors/
HOW TO GET NO FEEDBACK FROM ELISE – new vlog post Announcing the 50th post from NMI Artistic Director Elise Dewsberry’s popular vlog series “How to Get NO FEEDBACK from Elise”. The first in a short series of excerpts from the opening lectures of the 2021-22 Core Curriculum: Story, Story, Story. You can see the post on Facebook, or on NMI’s blog page at the link below.
Link: http://nmi.org/nmi-resources/elises-video-blog/
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