The New York Music Theater Festival will be going up this fall in NYC from Sept 28 - Oct 18. This past weekend, all of the writers of the 25 NYMF 2009 musicals sat in a room and learned about what it takes to put on a musical. There were panelists (major Broadway producers in some cases) expounding on assembling a production team, marketing a show, selling tickets, re-writing scripts–it ran the gamut. (How do I know this? I am fortunate enough to count myself among these writers; my show, “Fantasy Football: The Musical?” will make its world premiere this fall at NYMF.)

What I found to be extremely interesting, however, was how much the word “trust” came up.

“Make sure you find a director you trust.”

“Don’t get involved with a marketing team you’re not absolutely sure you trust.”

Basically, the message was, work with the people you know. As I approach the 2 year anniversary of living in this City, I realize that I almost exclusively want to work with people I know. Sure, I meet new and fantastic people all the time, but they were generally introduced to me by people I know, so they’re a part of my extended network, and it’s like I know and trust them just based on the reference.

If you are among the hordes of college grads flocking to NY to make it, just make a ton of friends, and be someone that everyone trusts.

And don’t refer bad people. That earns you a lot of badness.