Original Musical to Spark Festival NYC

Spark Musical Theatre Festival NYC Seeking Submissions

Emerging Artists Theatre (EAT) is proud to announce the launch of the inaugural Spark Musical Theatre Festival NYC. Created in response to the evolving landscape of new musical theatre, the festival is dedicated to supporting the development of original musicales.

The festival will showcase both short and full-length musicales in various stages of development, providing writers, composers, lyricists, and creative teams with an opportunity to present new work before live audiences.

The company is now accepting short and full-length musical submissions. The deadline is midnight EST on July 31, 2026 at emergingartiststheatre.org/submissions. As always, there are no submission fees and artists receive a box office split once the audience guarantee is met. Applicants must be from the New York Tri-State Area.

The festival will run November 2 – 22, 2026, at The 28th Street Theatre (TADA), located at 15 W 28th Street in New York City.

Each participant is given the option of doing a talkback following their performance, during which they may ask the audience for feedback on their work.

Emerging Artists Theatre provides:

• 99-seat off-Broadway theater in the heart of Manhattan
• After the audience guarantee of 1 ticket sold per minute of performance is met, artists receive 50% of the box office
• Professional/Equity stage manager and technical staff
• Piano and music stands
• Curated talkback (where you decide what feedback you need)
• Safe and supportive environment
• Simple set pieces available (blocks, tables, chairs, small couch/bed)
• One technical rehearsal
• Rep light plot and sound system - typically, shows are limited to approximately 10 sound and 10 light cues for an hour-long performance