NEW YORK, NY. (July 30, 2012) – The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) has announced the winners of the NYMF 2012 Awards for Excellence. Awards are voted on by the NYMF jury.

The NYMF 2012 Awards for Excellence are as follows:

Excellence in Writing – Music: Michael Ogborn (Baby Case)

Excellence in Writing – Lyrics: Michael Ogborn (Baby Case) and Ellen M. Schwartz (A Letter To Harvey Milk) (tie)

Excellence in Writing – Book:  Jerry James (A Letter To Harvey Milk)

Excellence in Direction: Jeremy Dobrish (Baby Case)

Excellence in Choreography: Jenn Rapp (Prison Dancer)

Excellence in Production Design: Kendra Bell, Aaron Sherkow (Le Cabaret Grimm)

Outstanding Orchestration: Stephen Ferri, Andrew Fox, Adam Michael Kaufman (Foreverman)

Outstanding Ensemble Performance: The cast of Prison Dancer (Cosmo Clemens, Marc dela Cruz, Andrew Eisenman, Albert Guerzon, Jose Llana, Jeigh Madjus, Nathan Ramos, Catherine Ricafort, Enrico Rodriguez, and Moses Villarama)

Outstanding Individual Performances: Enrique Acevedo (Zapata! The Musical), Jessica Burrows (Himself and Nora), Tom Deckman (Arnie The Doughnut), Michelle Federer (How Deep Is The Ocean?), Jeff Keller (A Letter To Harvey Milk), Ryan Kelly (Living With Henry) Leslie Kritzer (A Letter To Harvey Milk), Jillian Louis (Flambé Dreams), Jeigh Madjus (Prison Dancer), Kevin B. McGlynn (Flambé Dreams), Stacey Seargent (Central Avenue Breakdown), Haley Selmon (Le Cabaret Grimm), Graham Skipper (Re-Animator The Musical), Morgan Weed (Swing State)

Theater for the American Musical Prize: Stuck (Book, Music, and Lyrics by Riley Thomas)

“Best of Fest” Audience Prize: Baby Case (Book, Music, and Lyrics by Michael Ogborn)

Most Promising Musical Award: A Letter To Harvey Milk (Book by Jerry James; Music by Laura l. Kramer Lyrics by Ellen M. Schwartz; Based on the short story “A Letter To Harvey Milk” by Lesléa Newman)

The Daegu International Musical Festival Production Award and The New World Stages Development Prize will be announced in the coming weeks.

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This year’s NYMF Jury included: Dan Bacalzo (Managing Editor, Theatermania.com), Dale Berke (NYMF member), Donna Lynne Champlin (actor), Michael Dale (Chief Theater Critic, BroadwayWorld.com), Ken Davenport (producer), Linda D’Onofrio (NYMF Board member), Jason Eagan (Artistic Director, Ars Nova), Frank Evans (writer, producer, BMI), Lily Fan (Producer), Peter Filichia (author, theatre critic: Newark Star-Ledger), Erik Haagensen (Editor, Backstage), Lily Hung (Assistant Director of Career Development at NYU – Tisch School of the Arts), Tim Jerome (actor, founder of National Music Theatre Network), Matthew Murray (theatre critic, TalkinBroadway.com /All That Chat), Tamara Tunie (actor, producer), and Keith Varvey (writer, actor).

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Now in its ninth year, the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) is the largest annual musical theatre event in America and is widely regarded as the essential source for new material and talent discovery. NYMF provides a launching pad for the next generation of musicals and their creators to ensure the continued vitality of one of America's greatest art forms. Hailed as the "Sundance of Musical Theatre," NYMF discovers, nurtures, and promotes promising musical theatre artists and producers at all stages of development, and inspires a diverse audience through vibrant, accessible, powerful new work.

NYMF is the flagship program of National Music Theater Network, Inc., a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization. NYMF 2012 is presented in association with BroadwayWorld.com, Production Resource Group, and TheaterMania.com, and is supported by  American Eagle Outfitters, Back Stage, BroadwayBox.com, BroadwayInsider.com, Clear Channel Spectacolor, Disney Store Times Square, Fox 5/ WNYW-TV, King Displays, NASDAQ OMX, New World Stages, Next Magazine, PMD Promotions, The Port Authority of NY & NJ, Queerty.com, Thomson Reuters, TheMenEvent.com, Times Square Squared, and Yelp. Major supporters include The ASCAP Foundation, BMI Foundation, Inc., The BWF Foundation, Con Edison, The Nathan Cummings Foundation with the support and encouragement of Jamie Mayer Phinney,  The New Musical Development Foundation, The Jerome Robbins Foundation, The Rodgers & Hammerstein Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, and The Theater League.  NYMF is supported, in part, by funds from the New York City Theater Subdistrict Council, LDC, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council and from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.

For more information, please visit: www.nymf.org