Last night, May 28, 2018, Theatre Now New York presented its Fifth Annual Festival of 10-Minute Musicals, SOUND BITES 5.0, on The Irene Diamond Stage at The Pershing Square Signature Center, to a sold-out house for the second year in a row. This annual, one-night only event showcases ten new musicals of up-and-coming musical theatre writing teams.
After a record-breaking amount of submissions this year, the ten musicals featured in SOUND BITES 5.0 competed for top festival honors including Best Musical, Best Direction, Best Choreography, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Music, Best Lyrics, and Best Book. The award winners were determined by votes from a judging panel of industry professionals, which included Kristy Cates, Ken Cerniglia, Ciera Iveson, Casey McLain, Matt Murphy, Stephen Nachamie, and Zach Zamchik. The audience also voted for their favorite musical, which earned the coveted Audience Choice Award. The awards were announced by Thicket & Thistle's What's Your Wish? at an awards ceremony in the Signature lobby immediately following the performance.
SOUND BITES 5.0 AWARD WINNERS
- BEST MUSICAL: The Almost In-Laws
- AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD: Dinosaur
- BEST DIRECTION: Angelique Ilo (Run This Town)
- BEST CHOREOGRAPHY: SIDNEY ERIK WRIGHT (Dead Flowers)
- BEST ACTOR: Kyle Olsen (The Almost In-Laws)
- BEST ACTRESS: Laura Shoop (Welcome to Ridgington)
- BEST MUSIC: Bystander (Eric Grunin)
- BEST LYRICS: Dinosaur (Zach Spound)
- BEST BOOK: Hospital Kids (Lisa Mongillo)
