Polyphone Festival of New and Emerging Musicals s a nationally recognized festival of the emerging musical at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. For the last five years, we’ve brought composers, librettists, directors, choreographers and music directors from the field onto the campus of the Ira Brind School of Theater Arts at UArts to work with student casts and creatives on never before produced musicals. Each year we program four new musicals. Each musical is cast from around 150 auditioning students, workshopped and rehearsed for six weeks, and teched for three days. During the festival week, each musical receives three performances. The final presentations are off-book, staged concert productions with a full band and lighting design. The process allows the authors to make changes over the rehearsal period and see a musical on its feet for the first time. On the last day of the festival, we perform all four shows in a 12-hour marathon on two stages. This year Polyphone will be housed in the Philadelphia Arts Bank Theater and The Wilma Theater on S. Broad St. Each year Polyphone plugs over 100 undergraduate theater students into the process of new musical development. In the process we support emerging artists with a paid opportunity to make their work, give students on-the-ground training in the creation of new work, and give adventurous new musicals time and space to develop, free from the pressures of commercial interests, producing theaters, or reviews. Past Polyphone Artists include: Polyphone has also developed musicals by UArts students, which have gone on to further development at Ars Nova. The American Theater Wing’s documentary, Working in the Theater AS A POLYPHONE AUTHOR YOU RECEIVE: ELIGIBILITY: Please Note: Polyphone Festival performances employ minimal costumes and props, and no scenic design. Authors may submit no more than two musicals, each as a separate application. The festival staff is especially motivated to program voices and stories that are traditionally underrepresented in the musical theater canon. Complete the following two steps to submit for Polyphone 2020: Polyphone was co-founded in 2015 by César Alvarez and Joanna Settle. Questions about Polyphone? Email Submission Administrator Jen Jaynes: jjaynes@uarts.edu
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
POLYPHONE FESTIVAL OF NEW AND EMERGING MUSICALS 2020
DUE MONDAY AUGUST 12, 2019 11:59pm (See below for how to submit.)
WHAT IS POLYPHONE?
Joanna Settle (co-founder), César Alvarez (co-found and founding Artist Director), Sam Pinkelton, Storm Thomas, Derek Lee McPhatter, Maggie-Kate Coleman, Erato A. Kremmyda, Michael R Jackson, Germono Toussaint, Christian, Jaclyn Backhaus, Andrew Neisler, Annie Tippe, Jeanna Phillips, Michael R. Jackson, Stephen Brackett, Malika Oyetimein, Joshua Gelb, Dan Fishback, Orion Johnstone, Andrew Butler, Andrew Farmer, Kent Nicholson.TAKE A LOOK!
AMERICAN THEATER WING’S DOCUMENTARY ABOUT POLYPHONE:
Polyphone is a hybrid educational and creative opportunity. Polyphone guest artists are asked to play the role of educator and artist during the rehearsal period.
APPLICATION:
DUE AUGUST 12, 2019 11:59pm
The Polyphone Festival line-up will be announced in early October 2019
