Issuu

2026

Monday, January 5, 2026 ★ 7:30 p.m. Honoring Joan Lader Emcee Julie James

Neidorff-Karpati Hall ★ Manhattan School of Music ★ New York City

N AT I O N A L A S S O C I AT I O N o f T E AC H E R S o f S I N G I N G

national musical theatre competition FIRST PRIZE: Florence Birdwell Award ◾ $10,000 cash PLUS a concert at the 2026 San Antonio NATS National Conference ◾ Performance slot in Susie Mosher’s Line-up at Green Room 42 ◾ Career Coaching Session with Spencer Glass of Spencer Glass Coaching ◾ $1,000 Gift Certificate from Hal Leonard Corporation ◾ Headshot Session with Michael Hull of Michael Hull Photography

SECOND PRIZE: Linda J. Snyder Award ◾ $3,500 Cash ◾ Voice Lesson with Joey Harrell of Broadway Vox ◾ Audition Coaching Session with Kathy Dietch of Audition Bootcamp ◾ $500 Gift Certificate from Hal Leonard

THIRD PRIZE:

FOURTH PRIZE:

FIFTH PRIZE:

◾ $2,500 Cash ◾ One-on-One Coaching Session with Matthew Corozine of Corozine Studios

◾ $1,500 Cash ◾ One-on-One Coaching Session with David Sabella of Sabella Vox Studios

◾ $500 Cash ◾ Three Voice Lessons with Kelly Gabrielle Murphy of KGM Vocal Studio

Louise Lerch Award

Bill Hayes Award

Adam Guettel Award

National Musical Theatre Competition Adjudicators Preliminary Audition Adjudicators

New York City: Kasey RT Graham Rona Siddiqui Louis DiPaulo

Video Submissions: Priscilla Bagley Kelly Gabrielle Murphy Stan Brown Christopher Sanders Zach Dietz Amy Siedel Ali Ewoldt Scott Susong Elena Shaddow Josh Tower Eric Fotre Leach Erin Wilson

Semifinal Adjudicators Jason Styres Danny Sharron Cara L. Reichel

Final Showcase Adjudicators

Marc Bruni Adam Guettel Matt Redmond Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer

Thanks to the National Opera Center for hosting the Live Preliminary Auditions

2026 NMTC Competition Team

Alisa Belflower, NATS Vice President for Auditions and NMTC Coordinator Mark McQuade, NATS National Coordinator for Competitions and Auditions Jen Jimenez, NATS Development Director Kelly Balmaceda, NATS Director of Events and Programs Allen Henderson, NATS Executive Director Beth Buchanan, Marketing and NATS Communications Manager

S E M I F I N A L I S T S A N D CO L L A B O R AT I V E P I A N I S T S

NATIONAL MUSICAL THEATRE COMPETITION SEMIFINALISTS

Amanda Angeles

Grace Bobber

Melissa BurkeManwaring

Aryssa Leigh Burrs Baltimore, MD

Sadie Fridley

Taylor Goodwin

Columbia, SC

Olivia Hellman

New York, NY

Anika Padwekar

Christopher Richie

Chicago, IL

Long Beach, CA

New York, NY

Katryna Marttala New York, NY

New York, NY

Mobile, AL

Washington, DC

Bryanna Cuthill

New York, NY

Marin Donohue

Sarah Fernandez

Courtnee’ Hood

Michelle Colette Ingle

Ava Jones

Brianna Kaleen

Paloma Maia

Rachel Schoenecker

Hannah Sullivan

Hannah Sywulski

Kate Waldron

Luke Weber

Atlanta, GA

New York, NY

Madilyn Crossland

Brooklyn, NY

New York, NY

Texarkana, AR

Portland, OR

New York, NY

Miami, FL

New York, NY

Dallas, TX

Brewerton, NY

NATIONAL MUSICAL THEATRE COMPETITION PIANISTS Live Preliminary Collaborative Pianists

Semifinal and Final Showcases Collaborative Pianists (New York)

Aaron Jodoin and Nolan Bonvouloir

Jacob Carll, David Fraley, Aaron Jodoin, Jan McDaniel, and Justin Ramos

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T H A N K YO U T O O U R S P E C I A L G U E S T S

2026 Honoree

Joan Lader

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◾ NMTC 2026 honors Joan Lader — a distinguished voice teacher and coach whose fourdecade career has guided countless singers and actors across Broadway, film, opera, and popular music. ◾ Her expertise in vocal health and artistry has earned her the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theater (2016), the Estill Lifetime Achievement Award (2025), and recognition as an “Unsung Hero” by the American Theatre Wing (2023). ◾ Through her many workshops, educational programs, and publications, Joan’s influence continues to inspire and impact the next generation of performers and teachers.

W HE TT MA

Julie James

Adam Guettel

Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer

Oyoyo Joi

Acclaimed SiriusXM Program Director and radio personality Julie James.

Tony Award-winning composer, lyricist, and teacher Adam Guettel.

With 8 Broadway roles among her stage and screen credits, award-winning actor, Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer.

With Broadway, Off-Broadway, and national touring credits, actor Oyoyo Joi.

Memories from 2024 (left to right): Actor, NMTC Committee member, and Florence Birdwell student, Tiffan Borelli with her husband Ross Kenneth Urken; Michael Maliakel, 2014 NMTC Winner; L Morgan Lee, 2022 Tony Award Nominee; Florence Birdwell Award winner Berri Harris; Past NATS President Linda Snyder; NATS President Diana Allan; Tony Award-winning composer Adam Guettel; Seth Rudetsky, Broadway pianist and host of Sirius Radio’s “On Broadway;” Broadway music director and conductor Andy Einhorn.

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First Prize – Florence Birdwell Award Long-time NATS member Florence Birdwell has made a remarkable impact on musical theatre and the students who studied with her during her time as professor of voice at the Bass School of Music at Oklahoma City University from 1946 to 2013. Birdwell taught her students how to transform from a singer to an artist. She taught them to understand and empower themselves, to celebrate life, pain, and love, and to communicate what they had to say in order to better connect both with themselves and with others. Many of her students have achieved wonderful careers including Kelli O’Hara and Kristin Chenoweth. She cared deeply about her students, and with that care came a demand for excellence. She taught people to be both vulnerable and strong. She devoted her life to others through teaching for an incredible 67 years! NATS is carrying her inspiration forward. In a deliberate way, we are infusing this competition with her insight and her spirit so that we do more than acknowledge her legacy, we build on it.

Second Prize – The Linda J. Snyder Award Dr. Linda Snyder, who served as NATS President from 2016 to 2018 and currently holds the position of NATS Historian, has made indelible contributions to the field of vocal performance. At the University of Dayton she taught voice, lyric theatre and related courses, served as Chair of the Department of Music and as Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Prior faculty positions included Illinois Wesleyan University, New York University, and Interlochen Center for the Arts (Michigan). As a soprano soloist, Snyder has graced stages throughout the USA and Western Europe, (CUT “captivating audiences”) with performances in recitals, oratorio, and opera/musical theatre productions. Her solo recordings, “Nocturnes: 20th Century Music for Voice, Horn, and Piano” and “Praise and Joy: Sacred Song Favorites,” have garnered critical acclaim. Snyder has nurtured a generation of accomplished singers and voice teachers, with her students performing on Broadway, in professional opera, and in regional theatres. Her work as a musical director/conductor, stage director/producer, and coach-accompanist includes over fifty musicals and opera productions. As UD Professor Emerita, she continues her research and presentations in the area of women composers on Broadway.

Third Prize – The Louise Lerch Award Longtime NATS member and former NATS Foundation President Louise Lerch worked extensively with the NATS Foundation and as a music reviewer for the Journal of Singing. Louise was a consultant to Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation for the Musical Theatre Collection for Teens and Kids (1995–2002). Her books have sold worldwide and have been used by many Broadway performers. Lerch taught at TWU, Brookhaven College, Texas Wesleyan College, Interlochen Arts Academy, University of Oklahoma, SMU, and Eastfield College, where she was Director of the Center for Studies in American Musical Theatre. Lerch touched the lives of thousands of students who have gone on to perform on Broadway, at Disney theme parks, and beyond. She is remembered for her generosity, and big heart. Her students affectionately referred to her as ‘Mama Louise’ and she treated each one as special. This prize is made possible through a generous donation from Jolie Stratton.

Fourth Prize – The Bill Hayes Award Bill Hayes’ remarkable career has spanned over 70 years, featuring nearly every musical and theatrical medium during that time. His early career was boosted by a long run on the weekly television variety show Your Show of Shows, in which he sang everything from opera to hit parade standards. In addition, he danced and acted in comedy skits with other pioneering TV stars, including Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca and Carl Reiner. He left the show in 1953 to be a lead in the original cast of Rogers and Hammerstein’s Me and Juliet. Hayes’s credits include over fifty roles in musical theatre and nearly that number in straight theatre productions including Carousel, South Pacific, Bye-Bye Birdie, Camelot, 1776, Sweeney Todd, and The Music Man. In 1970 he accepted the role of Doug Williams on the daytime television drama Days of Our Lives. Hayes received the Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.

Tony Award-winning composer and lyricist, Adam Guettel, is also a leading supporter of NMTC. In both 2023 and 2025, he generously hosted and taught the NMTC fundraiser: “Adam Guettel & The Broadway Voice,” an inspiring performance class for musical theatre students with an invited audience. To honor his passion and belief in the artistic potential of musical theatre, NATS is pleased to name our only unnamed prize in Adam Guettel’s honor. Guettel’s work in musical theatre is innovative and unparalleled. He wrote the music and lyrics for The Light in the Piazza, with a book by Craig Lucas, which premiered on Broadway at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater in 2005, and won 6 Tony Awards, including Best Score and Orchestrations for Guettel. In 2019, his work on Aaron Sorkin’s To Kill a Mockingbird was nominated for a Tony Award for best score. His off-Broadway musical Floyd Collins, with a book by Tina Landau, won the Lucille Lortel Award for best musical, and the Obie Award for best music. A new production of Floyd Collins played on Broadway in the Vivian Beaumont Theater in 2025 and received 6 Tony Award nominations including Best Revival of a Musical. His musical, Saturn Returns (recorded as Myths and Hymns) was produced at the Public Theater in 1998. His musical, Days of Wine and Roses had its world premiere in 2023 at the Atlantic Theater Company’s Linda Gross Theater in New York City, and then opened at Broadway’s Studio 54 in 2024. For Days of Wine and Roses, Guettel was nominated for best score at the Tony Awards and won the Frederick Loewe Award. His several shows in development include his musical Millions directed by Bartlett Sher with a book by Bob Martin. Millions made its world premiere at the Alliance Theatre earlier this year. Adam Guettel is a former student of tonight’s honoree, Joan Lader, and has also been inspired by the work of Florence Birdwell introduced to him through her student Kelli O’Hara. Adam Guettel has won the Stephen Sondheim Award (1990), the ASCAP New Horizons Award (1997) and The American Composers Orchestra Award (2005). He attended Yale University, and received an honorary doctorate from Lehman College in 2007. He was made an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music in 2019. Adam Guettel is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America.

MARC. J FRANKLIN

Fifth Prize – The Inaugural Adam Guettel Award

A B O U T T H E N AT I O N A L M U S I C A L T H E AT R E CO M P E T I T I O N

elcome to the National Musical Theatre Competition (NMTC) hosted by the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS). Established in 2011, it is the first national competition for emerging professional musical theatre performing artists. At the heart of NMTC lies a commitment to nurturing aspiring musical theatre performers, providing a platform where passion meets opportunity. With a growing legacy of cultivating talent, this competition serves as a launching pad for emerging artists, fostering their growth and paving the way for future successes. Participants from across the nation converge to showcase their musical theatre skills, competing not only for recognition and prizes but for the chance to further their careers in this vibrant industry. Tonight’s performers advanced through both the national preliminary auditions

Michael Maliakel The Great Gatsby

Linedy Genao

The Great Gatsby

and the semifinal callbacks to earn their way to this stage tonight. NMTC isn’t merely a competition; it's a transformative experience. Participants immerse themselves in a world of creativity, discipline, and camaraderie, guided by esteemed teachers and mentors who lend their expertise and insight throughout the process. As we gather to witness this year’s competition, we celebrate the dedication, perseverance, and artistry of these performers. Their commitment to the craft and their pursuit of excellence embodies the spirit of musical theatre. We extend our deepest gratitude to all participants, supporters, and mentors who contribute to the success of NMTC. Together, we foster the next generation of musical theatre stars, ensuring that the magic of this art form continues to inspire and delight audiences for years to come.

Jacob Keith Watson Ragtime

Deon’te Goodman Hamilton

NMTC Award-Winning Alumni More than 1,500 singers/actors have participated in six previous competitions since the National Musical Theatre Competition premiered in 2012. Since gracing this stage, NMTC alumni have appeared on Broadway in The Great Gatsby, Ragtime, Aladdin, Dear Evan Hansen, On Your Feet, Bad Cinderella, Phantom of the Opera, Merrily We Roll Along, Hello Dolly, Carousel, Amelie, 1776, Violet, New York, New York, Into the Woods, KPOP, Wicked, Ain’t Too Proud, Fiddler on the Roof, Harmony, and Funny Girl, and more. They also have appeared in countless off-Broadway productions, national tours, cruise line productions, and regional theatres. Some have joined our ranks at the National Association of Teachers of Singing and are mentoring the next generation of musical theatre performers.

In addition to prizes, some of our participants find representation through their stellar performances here, while others refine their audition skills under the competition’s rigorous discipline. Many leave empowered by a newfound confidence in their capacity to thrive in the world of musical theatre. Everyone leaves with new friends and an expanded professional network.

NMTC First-Place Winners 2024 Berri Harris 2022 David Young 2020 Lauren Carr 2018 Nathaniel Sullivan 2016 Missy Wise 2014 Michael Maliakel 2012 Jacob Keith Watson

N AT S .O R G

Thank you to all who helped make NMTC possible National Musical Theatre Competition Committee Alisa Belflower – Coordinator Sue Matsuki – Chair Brian Birdwell Robyn Birdwell Tiffan Borelli Stephen Coker Barbara DeMaio Nathan Gunn Jen Jimenez Lisa Reagan Love Jennifer Mather Catherine McDaniel Jan McDaniel Cassie Okenka Meredith Pyle Frank Ragsdale Matt Redmond Jerry Steichen Lara Teeter Katie Travis Sarah Wigley

Our Generous Supporters Erin Anderson Julia Bachman Brian Baez David Baldwin Alisa Belflower Mel Beron Brian Birdwell Robyn Birdwell Maura Brigham Mary Brown Bonacci Geraldine Bryan Bob Bryan Kate Bullock Mackenzie Bykowski Jennifer Caraluzzi Jeffrey Carter Sprite Chu Stephen Coker Rebecca Combs Matthew Corozine Susan Dennis

Kathy Dietch Kyle Dillingham Reid Evans Beth Falcone Jen Fellman Melinda Fitzgerald Ava Frances Robert Gagel Anjane Girwarr Spencer Glass Marilee Greene Deborah Hall Joey Harrell Tim Hausmann Kelly Holst Elisabeth Howard Michael Hull Saki Inoue Elisabeth Keller Olivia Konteatis James Koudelka Julie and Josh Krugman

Lynn Kulik Sarah La Barr Sarah Larkin Kimberly LarkinBattista Cynthia LawrenceCalkins S.D. Lewis Lisa and Greg Love Will Mann Sharyn Mapes McKay Marshall Ann Martin Jennifer Mather Susan Matsuki Alana McDermott Melissa McKamie Andrew McNamara Francesca Mehrotra Ruthie Ann Miles Kyra Miller Anthony Morgante Susie Mosher

James Mosser William and Melissa Mueller Josmery Mulvahill Kelly Gabrielle Murphy David Neal Julian Novoa Taylor Okey Nancy OlsenHarbich Jacqueline Parker James Pecore Susanne Phillips Jason Plymette Donna Poirier Janet K Rabe-Meyer Frank Ragsdale Brian Reavey Nancy Rhodes Colin Rockson Ned Rockson Mike Ruckles

Chad Ruyle David Sabella Donna Schaffer Saachi Sethii Linda Snyder Gerald Steichen Marita Stryker Nora Terzo Kate Theis Christine ThomasO`Meally Anne Tofflemire Heidi Tolson Craig Tompkins Jenny Tucker Zoë van Tieghem Michael Warren Richard Weidlich Alexa Williams James Worley Manhattan School of Music

Please support the National Association of Teachers of Singing National Musical Theatre Competition As we gather to celebrate the extraordinary talents of our 2026 National Musical Theatre Competition finalists, we invite you to join us in supporting the future of aspiring artists like these. Your generous contribution can make a profound impact, nurturing the dreams and aspirations of young singers striving to make their mark in the world of musical theatre. Together, let's invest in the future of the performing arts and empower these gifted individuals to reach new heights in their artistic journeys.

2026 NATS National Musical Theatre Competition