Isaac Robert Hurwitz (Executive Director & Producer of NYMF) announced that The New York Musical Theater Festival will partner with South Korea"s Daegu International Musical Festival (DIMF) by introducing a production exchange, beginning with this year"s festival. Hurwitz and DIMF Executive Chairman Bae Sung Hyuck have selected the new musical My Scary Girl, with book and lyrics by Kyoung-Ae Kang and music by Will Aronson, for the inaugural partnership; the show, which was originally presented at DIMF in 2008, will be presented during the first week of the NYMF"s three-week long festival this fall. In November at NYMF"s annual gala, NYMF and DIMF will also award one of this year"s NYMF musicals with a full production at DIMF"s 4th annual festival in June 2010, with all production costs provided and an additional cash prize for the winning musical"s creators.
NYMF and DIMF share a dedication to supporting and promoting the next generation of musical theater writers, ensuring that musical theater stays vibrant as an art form and an industry while celebrating the important role musical theater plays in their respective communities. Hurwitz says, "By collaborating on an international level, NYMF has an exciting chance to build on the significant impact we"ve had in our first five years. Our production exchange will provide NYMF not only the ability to introduce exciting new American musical theater talents to Korea"s passionate musical theater fan base and burgeoning musical theater industry, but also the tremendous opportunity to introduce Korea"s best new musicals to New York, the city known around the globe as the home of musical theater."
The Daegu International Musical Festival (DIMF) is the exclusive international musical theater festival in Korea. Established in 2007, DIMF features both "homegrown" Korean musicals and top-notch international productions, along with three weeks worth of exciting musical theater events. Over the past three years, DIMF has firmly established itself as a showcase for gifted artists and a diverse marketplace for the musical theatre industry, growing to be a major hub for Asian performing arts through the support of Korea"s for purchase at (212) 352-3101 or www.nymf.org.
