National Alliance for Musical Theatre has announced the lineup of new musicals for its 33rd annual Festival of New Musicals. The festival, consisting of eight new musical theatre pieces, will be presented in person October 20–21, as well as via live stream presented in collaboration with Broadway On Demand.

“After navigating last year's pandemic-driven circumstances by presenting a fully online Festival, we are happily evolving further to meet this year’s needs. Our hybrid Festival, which will include both the vital community-building of an in-person event and the enhanced accessibility of a digital presentation, is designed to give as many people as possible the chance to discover this year's group of extraordinary artists," said Executive Director Betsy King Militello.

Since it began, the festival has introduced over 300 new musicals to industry professionals and more than 85 percent of the shows presented have received further development opportunities. Some past festival shows include Come From Away, Lempicka, The Drowsy Chaperone , Benny & Joon, Ordinary Days, Striking 12, It Shoulda Been You, Interstate, and Thoroughly Modern Millie.

Casting for each musical and further programming details will be announced soon. Festival registration will open later in July at NAMT.org.

Read on for more information about this year's festival titles.

AZUL
Book by Melis Aker and Tatiana Pandiani
Music by Jacinta Clusellas
Lyrics by Jacinta Clusellas and Ruben Dario
"In an epic world of magical realism, Bluebird, an idealist poet, seeks a better life in a new land. Years later, in present-day Jackson Heights, Rita, a composer, struggles to forgive her father, understand her roots and reconnect to a land she has never known."

Fanny and Stella
Music and lyrics by Eamonn O'Dwyer
Book by SEVAN
"London, 1870s: Frederick Park and Ernest Boulton were unremarkable middle-class boys growing up in Dulwich, who fled their suburban upbringing to live as Fanny & Stella in frenetic Victorian London. A run-in with the law casts them in their own coup de théâtre: the sensational show-trial of the 'He-She Ladies.' Dominating the press and scandalizing the nation, the investigation exposed every sordid detail of their wild lives."

Little Duende
Music and lyrics by Robi Hager
Book and lyrics by Georgina Escobar
"In the land of Elflán, life and beauty flourishes. Adelita, an adventurous and curious young elf, is eager to find what lies beyond the horizon. When the evil spirit of La Mancha kidnaps her mother, Adelita is forced to travel north to the land of the Hadaseñas in hopes of being reunited with her again."

Māyā
Book and music by Cheeyang Ng
Book and lyrics by Eric Sorrels
"Māyā is many things: it's a philosophy of Hinduism; the idea that the world around us is really an illusion; and a girl's name. Set in the British Raj in 1930, Māyā is the story of a struggling poet in need of an awakening, not unlike India herself. When Gandhi's non-violent Independence Movement arrives on Māyā's doorstep, she is thrust into one of the most turbulent political climates in history. When she commits herself to the cause, she begins to shatter the illusions that have been deceiving her to discover the difference she'll really make."

Missing Peace
Book, music, and lyrics by Kalani Queypo and Kyle Puccia
"Chase wakes up from a coma, his past a blur. To his family's surprise, Chase is happy and free until the dark memories begin to flood back like quick cuts of a movie trailer that just don't add up. As Chase grapples with his attempted suicide, bad choices he's made and the people he's hurt along the way, he begins to work through his pain and heal relationships with those he loves the most."

Private Gomer Jones
Written by Marshall Pailet
"1914. Young Gomer Jones has ambitions to join the Welsh army. But since he's lost his hearing, he needs the help of a nurse with ties to the Deaf community to fake his way past the recruiters. And so begins Gomer's journey as a deaf soldier pretending not to be a deaf soldier. He loses friends, his moral compass and his humanity. And then, through a series of moments in an increasingly senseless war, he finds himself again."

Senior Class
Book, melodies, and lyrics by Melvin Tunstall
Music by Greg Borowsky
"When the senior class musical production of My Fair Lady is canceled due to budget cuts, two theater nerds in Harlem convince the school to do a one-night-only, royalty-free staging of Pygmalion. When they meet a subway dancer named Alizé, art begins to imitate life as they try to transform her into their perfect Eliza Doolittle. However, this new modern-day Eliza schools them all as she proves she can Doolittle and so much more."

TL;DR: Thelma Louise; Dyke Remix
Book and lyrics by EllaRose Chary
Music and lyrics by Brandon James Gwinn
"We start with T and L suspended in mid-air over the Grand Canyon—they promptly make out and then, with the help of their newfound queer community (The Band), seek a queer future that has never been modeled for them, the happy ending they deserve."