NYMF's Next Broadway Sensation
Congrats to NYMF's NEXT BROADWAY SENSATION winner Shawna M. Hamic!
On October 3, she beat out NNBS finalists Mike Harrison and Omar Lopez-Cepero for the audience fav vote and walked away with the Broadway Sensation title. The proceedings were hosted by Kate Shindle and all captured live by TheaterMania, which sponsored the competition and webcast the finals. Check out the footage at www.theatermania.com and see Shawna's amazing performance for yourself!
As part of her prize, Shawna will receive her very own solo concert at the Zipper Factory Theatre. Stay tuned for details...
Sponsored by TheaterMania, NYMF's Next Broadway Sensation, formerly known as Broadway Idol, returned for Round 3 in 2008! Produced by The New York Musical Theatre Festival, this talent competition seeks to find the newest musical theatre star with the help of special celebrity judges, our fancy musical director Christopher D. Littlefield and director David F. Chapman, and audience votes.
NYMF's Next Broadway Sensation is open to singers aged 18 and over who have tons of Broadway flair but no Broadway credits. This year's competition was held Fridays, September 19th and 26th during the Festival at The Zipper Tavern at 11pm, with the grand finale happening on Friday, October 3rd at The Zipper Theatre at 11pm. Open auditions were held on Friday, September 12th from 10am to 7pm at Roy Arias Theatre Center, located at 300 West 43rd Street on the 5th floor. Call backs were held on Saturday, September 13th from 6pm to 10pm.
In 2007, the competition was held at Stitch Bar & Lounge on Friday nights during the festival; the three themed rounds included "My Favorite Things" where contestants sang their favorite tunes from any Broadway show, "Broadway Rocks!" where remaining contestants sang a rock song from a Broadway show, and "Star to Be" where the finalists sang one song from a Broadway show pre-Oklahoma! and one song from a Broadway show post-Hair.
Celebrity judges including Anthony Rapp, Marc Shaiman, Lonny Price, Manoel Felciano, and Stephanie D'Abruzzo advised the crowd before they text messaged in their votes.
Last year's winner, George Psomas, beat out nine other contestants to win his very own cabaret concert and the title of Broadway Idol 2007 -- and shortly thereafter made his Broadway debut in SOUTH PACIFIC! Psomas, a native of Wyckoff, NJ and a graduate of Muhlenberg College, won the 2007 competition with renditions of "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" from Roberta, and "Being Alive" from Company. Psomas' regional credits include Judas in Godspell, Rocco in Once Upon a Time in New Jersey, and Levi in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. His debut solo concert performance was held on August 4, 2008 at the Zipper Factory Theatre in midtown.
This year's competition is sponsored by
and supported by
