I hope it's Ok with Bk to just completely quote Isaac Hurwitz's open thoughts win the end of NYMF here. I find it fascinating that he seemed to suggest NYMF when it had worked was about the people, because it then seems logical then when those people who'd drove NYMF so successfully gave way to other people, it naturally changed.
From Isaac Robert Hurwitz
"I’m up late tonight, still processing the news of NYMF’s closure. NYMF utterly consumed my life for for most of a decade, and it’s where I met so many folks I care about to this day. So I’m filled with all sorts of emotions.
When Kris Stewart convinced me to help start the festival, I could never have imagined I’d spend a decade of my life in the trenches. I just knew he had an inspiring idea and a passionate group of folks ready to tilt at windmills in pursuit of what everyone else said was an impossible dream. And at 24, I was happy to find a home in that passionate, ambitious, artistic community.
For me, what made NYMF a dream worth fighting for over the next ten years was not the shows — though I still cherish so many of the shows! — but the people. What a community: from that first group of founding producers; to the industry folks who lent their support; to the hundreds of authors, directors, actors, designers, producers, interns, and other young theater professionals who in the following years cut their teeth, started collaborations, and worked their asses off together; to the thousands of die-hard fans who came from across town or around the world to soak in the festival and chat with fellow musical-lovers.
I know all too well how hard it is to keep a festival spinning forward, how much NYC and the theater industry have both changed in the last 16 years, and how many other festivals have faded away at least partly as a result. That doesn’t make the moment any less sad. But while the curtain may have come down on the festival itself, I am heartened by the knowledge that a massive cohort of theater-makers who shared the NYMF experience is just coming into its own now. I see you everywhere. I am delighted when prefect strangers who saw me give many curtain speeches over the years STILL come up to me at the gym or at jury duty to tell me what their favorite NYMF show was.
And above all, I am profoundly grateful for the community of believers — both the industry leaders who provided mentorship and support, and the starry-eyed newcomers who provided passion and (oh so much) labor — who kept the festival alive so long.
Thinking of you all with love and affection."
Author
Topic: IF IT'S TUESDAY IT MUST BE FRIDAY AND OTHER LATE-NIGHT RUMINATION (Read 4361 times)