Five movie musicals from the New York Film Academy (NYFA) were selected by the Tampa Bay Arts & Education (TBAE) Network to premiere on Tampa Bay cable channels this September. The Official Selections were part of the TBAE Network’s TBAE Film Showcase, a worldwide submission festival that includes documentaries, features, shorts, music videos, and other media from around the globe.
The films aired on the Tampa Bay Arts & Education Channel, available on Spectrum 636 and Fios 34, to 1.3 million viewers. The films were also available to livestream from https://watch.tbae.net. The TBAE Network is a non-profit organization, established in 1987 to bring cultural, artistic, and educational works to the city’s cable offerings.
All five movie musicals from the Academy were produced by the Professional Conservatory of Musical Theatre (PCMT) at NYFA. The PCMT at NYFA offers aspiring musical theatre actors a one-of-a-kind opportunity to develop their skills as triple threat performers by studying with faculty who are working professionals on Broadway, and includes courses in Shakespeare, Ballet, Pop Rock, and Modern Dance, among many others. One of the top musical theatre colleges in New York, the PCMT at NYFA has graduated numerous successful alumni.
Here are the five Movie Musicals that premiered on the TBAE Film Showcase this September:
Kaya: Taste of Paradise
Directed by NYFA instructor Paul Warner, a prolific and award-winning film and theatre director and writer, Kaya: Taste of Paradise is an original movie musical that sheds light on New York City’s underground disco scene. Set prior to the dawn of the AIDS epidemic, the film focuses primarily on LGBTQ youth, many of whom are homeless.
Alma Mater
Directed by NYFA instructor Nathan Brewer, whose credits include Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center, Alma Mater is set in Fall 1993 at Beecher College during Alumni Weekend. Exploring issues of feminism and breaking social conventions, the musical comedy tells the story of warring student groups Riot Grrrls and the Women of Substance, double-booked for the same space and struggling to find common ground.
Plus One
Directed by NYFA instructor TJ Mannix, an actor with over 20 years of experience in New York City film, TV, commercials, improv, and musical theater, Plus One is an epic musical that spans three generations of women, two unexpected pregnancies, and a time-traveling secretary with the key to their futures.
Bang! Boom! Pow!
Directed by NYFA instructor Stephen Nachamie, whose credits include Small Town Confessions, Little Shop of Horrors, and She Loves Me, Bang! Boom! Pow! is a musical full of superheroes, supervillains, and superpowers. Set in the fantastical city of Metrocenter Six, the cast includes Emmy winner John Wesley Shipp (NYPD Blue, The Flash) and brings as many laughs as it does catchy musical numbers.
Hold Your Peace
Directed by NYFA instructor Nathan Brewer, who also directed TBAE Film Showcase Selection Alma Mater, Hold Your Peace is about a bride who entrusts four attendants with her something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. A musical comedy about finding what you really need, the bride quickly realizes she made a big mistake.
In addition to the TBAE Film Showcase, two of the movie musicals will be screening publicly in October. Plus One will be playing at the Sunscreen Film Festival on October 6, at 7:15pm PDT. Tickets and more information can be found here.
Kaya: Taste of Paradise will be screening at the Orlando Film Festival on Tuesday, October 23 at 4pm EDT. Tickets and more information can be found here.
The New York Film Academy congratulates the students and faculty of the Professional Conservatory of Musical Theatre at NYFA on their hard work, and encourages everyone to check out these movie musicals, online or at the above festivals!