About FNAM

The Festival was founded in 2006 by Marcia Seligson, Producing Artistic Director (1996–2006) of Reprise! Broadway’s Best and Bob Klein, founding board member of Reprise! and specialist in marketing the arts. By 2006 it was clear to Seligson and Klein that a renaissance in American theater was beginning to happen. Wicked had debuted on Broadway and was drawing huge audiences dominated by teenagers who had never seen a Broadway musical before. Where previously only a handful of successful musicals were “new” and ”American” now the number had doubled and tripled in a few short years. Away from Broadway, a new generation of composers, lyrcists and book writers were beginning to attract a substantial following. Names like Adam Guettel, Jason Robert Brown, Ricky Ian Gordon and Michael John LaChiusa were having shows produced off Broadway, on college campuses and in small theaters around the country. Their songs were recorded in a best seller by Audra McDonald.

Where Reprise! was dedicated to revivals of classic American musicals, Seligson and Klein decided it was the right time to develop an event to celebrate “the new” and to showcase the enormous body of creative and performing talent they had discovered in Southern California during the first decade of Reprise! Also to encourage a new generation to join the musical theater-going audience. The festival concept was designed to encourage theaters, large and small, high schools, colleges and cultural centers to participate. Seligson and Klein shared their ideas for the festival approach with the composer of Wicked, Stephen Schwartz and Michael Kerker, head of musical theater for ASCAP. Both were enthusiastic and offered their support. Schwartz became the honorary co-chair of the festival. Later Stephen Sondheim, Jerry Herman, Angela Lansbury and Jason Alexander also became honorary co-chairs.

After more than two years of planning, the festival debuted in May to June, 2008. It encompassed 43 events in 36 theaters that stretched from Santa Barbara to San Diego and included Santa Barbara’s Granada, the Rubicon in Ventura, Walt Disney Concert Hall, The Ford theater, Orange County Performing Arts Center, South Coast Rep and the Old Globe and 7 high schools and colleges, with major educational outreach activities.

Over 1,700 people were involved in the productions and more than 120,000 people attended events. In ’09, the Festival presented 34 more events in theaters from Santa Barbara to Santa Ana, 11 of these shows were world premieres, plus 8 one-acts created for us by Southern California high schools and our first original American TV musical, Glee. Live audiences reached over 350,000.

Supporters have included Los Angeles County Supervisors and the County Arts Commission and The Department of Cultural Affairs of the City of Los Angeles. The Festival is presented by The Bank of New York Mellon. Sponsors include the ASCAP Foundation, KUSC, the Flourish Foundation, the Rosenthal Family Foundation and Greenberg & Glusker attorneys.

David Holst
Chairman Bank of New York Mellon West
Michael Kerker
Director, Musical Theater, ASCAP
Joyce Maddox
Director, The William Grant Still Center
Steve Linder
Senior Vice President, IMG Artists
Bonnie Eskenazi
Partner, Greenberg & Glusker, Attorneys
Margaret Bates, M.D.
Noelle Hicks
Jewelry Designer, Arts Fund Raiser
Hunter Bird
Event Coordinator
Neil Danoff
Broadway & Off-Broadway Investor/Producer
Barry Blaustein
Writer/Director/Producer
Marcia Seligson, Linda Shusett & Bob Klein
Co-Executive Producers