Welcome to the Midtown International Theatre Festival (MITF)

Tentative Date: July, 2026
John Chatterton, Executive Producer
Jay Michaels, Manager, Marketing and Promotion

John Chatterton is reviving the Midtown International Theatre Festival (MITF). To understand today’s MITF, a little history is necessary.

FESTIVAL MANUAL

Welcome to
the Midtown International Theatre Festival (MITF)

American Theater for Actors

July, 2026

John Chatterton, Executive Producer

Jay Michaels, Marketing and Promotion

John Chatterton is reviving the Midtown International Theatre Festival (MITF). To understand today’s MITF, a little history is necessary.

History

The MITF is a theater festival, presenting plays, musicals, cabaret, and solo shows (including standup), with pieces as long as 120 minutes or as short as one minute, running over three weeks in July (with an initial, additional week of technical rehearsals).

John Chatterton started the MITF in 2000, as an offshoot of oobr (“the off-off-broadway review”). Chatterton suspended it in 2018, after 18 seasons. He has since seen an opportunity to revive it, making some changes to reflect what he learned during its previous incarnation. MITF was also a response to the existence of FringeNYC (the New York International Fringe Festival). One of the oobr writers suggested that New York needed a “Midtown Fringe” to compete with the downtown Fringe; no one stepped up to create such a festival, so Chatterton took the necessary steps and brought the MITF into being.

The original MITF was intended as a cooperative affair, in which, the house, the performers, and the MITF shared the gross equally. This model proved unworkable, and the festival moved to a model where it rented the theater spaces and charged the shows for taking part. The shows then received a share of the door. That model has persisted with a few changes since then.

There are two modes of participation in the MITF, Plan A and Plan B. (NOTE: A previous version of this manual stated that Plan A is no more. Not so fast! Popular demand makes us bring back Plan A, with new bells and whistles.)

Plan A requires a nominal participation fee: $300 if the show is in the Beekman, $400 if in the Sargent, and $500 if in the Cullum. There is an application fee of $25.

Plan B required the show to put up more money, defined by a Theater Usage Fee, or TUF. The TUF increased with the number of seats in the theater, the number of performances, and the percentage of the door the show wanted to receive.

PLAN A

Plan A is the more streamlined option, for shows that have a good chance of selling tickets but not a lot of capital.

Under Plan A, the festival takes from the box office an amount equal to 40 percent of the maximum number of tickets. In the Beekman, 40 percent of 35 seats is 14; in the Sargent, 40 percent of 65 seats is 26; and in the Cullum, 40 percent of 99 seats is roughly 40. So, respectively, the festival takes 14, 26, and 40 tickets’ worth of revenue from the gross for each performance and splits the remainder 50/50 with the show. A ticket’s worth of revenue is the highest price charged for one ticket, regardless of how many comp or discounted tickets are sold.

After the festival has deducted from the gross its 40 percent of the maximum possible, we split the remainder of the gross (if any) 50-50 with the show. If the show sells out all its tickets at full price, it will receive 30 percent of the door: (100 percent – 40 percent) / 2.

Part of the streamlined option (Plan A) is the application deposit. The application deposit is $300 for the Beekman, $400 for the Sargent, and $500 for the Cullum. The application deposit is due by December 1, 2025. If the application is approved later than this date, the application deposit is due when the application is approved. The application fee and application deposit are the only fees required by shows under Plan A.

PLAN B

The festival started with a straight split of the door. This model soon evolved into Plan A, described above. It became clear that we needed a method that guaranteed both the festival and the show a bigger share of the door. Hence, the Participation Fee (PF).

The Participation Fee

The participation fee is the fundamental concept of the MITF. It is a down payment by the shows against a share of the gross. The PF is roughly proportional to the running time of the show (including 45 minutes for setup and strike), the number of seats in the theater, the percentage of the gross contracted for by the show, and the number of performances. Table 1 – Participation Fee Per Performance as a Function of Seats and Running Time, Per 10 Percent of the Gross Contracted for, shows how the basic unit of PF varies with the size of the theater and the running time of the show.

Table 1 – Participation Fee Per Performance as a Function of Seats and Running Time, Per 10 Percent of the Gross Contracted for

		Running time (minutes, not including setup and strike)
		30 (PF = $1.25)	60 (PF = $1.50)	90 (PF = $1.75)	120 (PF = $2.00)
Size of Theater (seats)	35	$45	55	60	70
	65	$80	100	115	130
	99	$125	150	175	200

Note that the participation fee in Table 1 shows the cost of contracting for 10 percent of the gross. You may contract to receive from 10 percent to 90 percent of the gross. Ten percent means paying 1 X the PF. Twenty percent means paying 2 X the PF. And so on, up to where contracting to receive 90 percent of the gross requires a show to pay 9 X the PF shown in Table 1, per performance. The minimum PF, for a 30-minute show contracting to receive 10 percent of the gross in the small theater, would be $45 per performance. The maximum PF would be for a 120-minute show contracting to receive 90 percent of the gross in the biggest theater, or $1800 per performance.

Yes, live theater can be expensive to produce. Bear in mind that being in the MITF is cheaper than renting a comparable theater and mounting the show on its own. The rent for the largest theater at the MITF, for three exclusive weeks, would be double the maximum PF shown above. And mounting a show on its own means hiring people to run the box office, run around doing what’s needed to keep things going, and do basic PR and marketing. Not to mention paying for insurance. (Note: in the festival you still need to put in an effort to market your show. Consistently up to 90 percent of the festival audience comes from friends and relatives.)

Note also that your contracted percentage of the gross lets you earn back your PF, and then some, depending on the ticket price. The festival will be selling tickets at $25 for 30-minute shows, $30 for 60-minute shows, $35 for 90-minute shows, and $40 for 120-minute shows. A 120-minute show that sells 99 seats at $40 per ticket and contracts to receive 90 percent of the door will get back approximately $3600 per performance, or roughly double its investment in PF. Since it’s easier to fill a 35-seat theater than a 99-seater, less ambitious shows have an easier path ahead of them to break even on PF.

Table 2 – Maximum Gross Per Theater, According to Ticket Price

		Ticket Price (varies with running time)
		$25 (30 min.)	$30 (60 min.)	$35 (90 min.)	$40 (120 min.)
Size of Theater (seats)	35	$875	1050	1225	1400
	65	$1625	1950	2275	2600
	99	$2475	2970	3465	3960

Retainer

The festival requires that shows under Plan B pay a retainer equal to one-third of the PF in advance of signing a contract. The festival uses this money to pay a rental deposit on the theaters and other upfront costs. The shows receive a receipt for the retainer. The retainer is due Dec. 1, 2025. The festival pays the rental deposit (half the total rental) later in December, at which time the festival starts to issue contracts to the shows. The retainer is fully refundable: If insufficient shows sign up for the festival and pay retainers, the festival will cancel all or part of the performances and return all affected retainers to the corresponding shows, without diminution or any withholding.

The festival reserves the right to reduce the festival’s footprint – from three theaters to two, for instance – if insufficient shows sign up for a particular theater. Shows may then move to another theater, with an appropriate change in PF as necessary.

OTHER EXPENSES FOR PLANS A AND B

Other than the expenses inherent in mounting a show, such as staff, props, costumes, rehearsal, and actors, there are a few festival costs to be aware of in addition to the participation fees discussed above.

Application fee. There is an application fee of $25, payable by PayPal or Zelle, due on approval of the application. The application fee is non-refundable.

Program ads. The festival produces a handsome “Festabill,” or program, which lists the shows with blurbs (provided by you) and performance times. It is possible to buy ads in the Festabill. The Festabill is seen by every audience member, who might be enticed to see your show if you buy an ad in it.

Extra storage. The festival makes a certain amount of storage available, usually backstage, for prop storage and costumes. Sometimes the festival rents external storage space and makes it available to the shows at a reasonable cost.

Extra rehearsal time. A technical rehearsal is included in every show’s schedule. The amount of rehearsal time is directly proportional to the running time of the show. This rehearsal must include a run-through, so the festival can get a fix on the expected running time of the show. If a show wants extra rehearsal time, and if that time is available (usually during weekdays), it may rent the time from the festival at a reasonable cost.

MITF Awards. After the festival is over, usually in the fall, there is an awards ceremony for the participants. Judges are festival staff and cronies of the executive producer. Tickets are inexpensive, and there is a modestly priced cash bar.

Actors Equity

Many shows in the festival are Equity showcases. They are performed under the Equity showcase code, a fairly rigid set of rules designed to ensure that producers don’t exploit cast members who are Equity members. The producers of showcases in the festival are required to abide by the rules of the showcase code, but the festival does not sign the code. The festival does, however, do everything it can to ensure that shows aren’t forced to violate the code.

The festival also manages “comps,” or complimentary tickets. Equity comps are defined in the showcase code. The festival distributes comps according to the showcase rules. There are no reserved comps except as required under the code or by special arrangement with the festival. There are no comps other than those required by Actors Equity or by the festival itself. Comps do not count toward the total tickets sold under Plan B. (If a show wants to “comp” someone by buying that person a ticket, the ticket does indeed count toward the gross, under both Plans A and B.)

Festival Amenities

Being in the festival offers many amenities that producers normally have to arrange for themselves, usually at a price. The participation fee covers a lot of territory that otherwise would come out of the producer’s pocket, usually at less than it would cost at current market rates.

Publicity. The festival has a press agent/publicist/marketing expert who gets the word out about all the shows, sometimes with a special shout-out for a show that has a unique audience appeal. The show’s blurb (provided by the producer) is crucial here. There is still no substitute for a show’s own promotional efforts, since a large part of a show’s audience comprises friends and relatives of the show’s company. If a show has an individual responsible for promotion, the festival strongly recommends that that individual coordinate with the festival’s promotion staff.

Rehearsal time. The festival allocates time for a technical rehearsal and run-through for each show. Total time is three times the running time of the show, including setup and strike, both of which must be practiced in the tech rehearsal. The tech rehearsal must also include a run-through of the show. If the run-through exceeds the allotted time for the show, the festival tech director is instructed to notify the festival management, who will insist that the show make changes, possibly including canceling performance slots. There is time to change performance times online, but not in the Festabill, which will have gone to print already, though program inserts are available to announce the changes. If it is necessary and possible to change the performance slot of a show, and the festival gives a show a longer slot, the festival will adjust a show’s participation fee. Running overtime during performances is a finable offense. The festival reserves the right to stop an overlong performance if it is running into the next show’s time.

Storage space. Storage space in any festival is at a premium. Typically shows have to bring in and take out everything they use during a show, for each performance. This festival allocates some storage backstage in each theater. It is sufficient for a box or bag of props and a (6-foot long) rack of costumes. Sometimes the festival rents additional storage space, which it makes available to the shows at a reasonable price. The festival accepts no liability for loss of any stored items.

Performance space. The participation fee covers rental of the performance space, for as many performances as the show signs up for. Performance times, including setup and strike, are included in the rental.

Technical director. The festival has a technical director who is present during all rehearsals to ensure that our equipment is running properly and to deal with technical emergencies. This fact does not mean that shows should not have a technical person available to make sure that the show’s equipment, if any, is working properly. The festival at a minimum expects a show to have an operator to run the lighting board and implement the lighting cues.

Lighting designer. The festival hires one or more lighting designers to set up the lighting plot for each theater. The lighting plot is a generic assemblage of instruments designed to be useful to all shows. It is a serious offense, subject to a fine, for a show to touch a lighting instrument. The lighting designers are available to explain the lighting plot to the shows.

Each show must have its own lighting designer, whose job is to start with the festival lighting plot and define all light cues required by the show.

Equipment. The festival rents whatever equipment is necessary that the venue doesn’t provide and is responsible for getting it fixed if something goes wrong. The equipment includes at least one electronic keyboard, with 88 weighted keys, for use by the musicals, including the cabaret acts. There is no charge to use festival equipment. Shows must coordinate with the festival their use of festival equipment and immediately report any problems with it.

Air conditioning. Air conditioning is crucial in July, and the festival would never rent a theater space that didn’t have sufficient air conditioning, but things happen and sometimes the air conditioning breaks down. When this happens, the festival creates a lot of noise in the venue office, and things get fixed pronto. The theater venue is ultimately responsible for maintaining the air conditioning.

House management. Festival staff keep the audiences under control in the hallways and lobbies.

Box office. The festival runs the box office. It uses a commercial box-office company. All seating is general seating, unless the festival wishes to reserve specific seats. Gross box-office receipts (GBOR) are considered to be what the festival receives from the box-office company, after any deductions or taxes. GBOR is the basis for a show’s share of the gross, minus any special charges or fines.

Venue management. The festival has staff whose principal jobs are to see that shows adhere to the schedule and that the theaters are neat and orderly after a performance. Venue management keeps track of the shows’ times in and out of the theater, as well as times of their starting and final curtain. Early starting or late ending times are finable offenses. (It might seem all right if a show runs over but makes up lost time with a fast strike, but this can make a patron late for a show in another theater and upset the whole festival schedule.)

Scenery. The festival does not allow storage of flats and other large scenic pieces. It does provide a plentiful supply of “rehearsal cubes,” or blocks, made from sturdy plywood and painted semi-gloss black. (One show made creative use of these cubes with colorful cloth “booties,” which magically transformed the blocks into sectional furniture for a stylish Hollywood apartment.) Also one or more card tables for when a scene requires a table. (There are three sizes of cube, depending on how the sides of the cubes are cut out of an 8’ X 4’ piece of plywood. The festival provides a mixture of sizes for each theater.) If you must use larger scenic pieces, you need to bring them in from your external storage facility and set them up in 30 minutes and strike them in 15 minutes, along with the rest of your set. You should coordinate this activity with the festival staff during your tech rehearsal. The festival appreciates a heads up if you want to use large set pieces! (If you insist, you can buy extra setup/strike time by extending the slot your show requires, which might increase your participation fee.)

There are at least three sizes of cubes: 49”, 25”, and 17”. (There might also be some “legacy cubes,” left over from previous festivals.) There will be two large cubes, four medium cubes, and six small cubes in each theater.

17” cube

T25” 25” cube

49” cube

The Festabill. This handsome, full-color program contains everything a patron needs to know about the festival, including blurbs and schedules for all the shows. The page size is 5-1/2 X 8-1/2. The Festabill lists the author and director of each show, but not the cast or other personnel associated with it. Ads are available in the Festabill at a reasonable rate so shows can promote themselves to bigger audiences. Shows can make up their ads themselves and submit them as JPEGs or, if they leave the composition to the festival, submit copy only, which the festival will lay out and compose. One show only per ad, please! In addition to the Festabill, shows should have a separate program that lists all staff, for the convenience of audiences, including judges for the MITF Awards. (Ads cost $1500 per full page, $900 per half-page, $600 per quarter page, and $350 per eighth page. The back cover costs $2000. The inside back cover or inside front cover costs $1750. Shows receive a 30-percent discount on ads.)

Insurance. The festival is required to buy general-liability insurance by the venue. This insurance covers slip-and-fall incidents. The festival also buys workers’ comp, for injuries involving its own staff. The festival does not buy workers’ comp or volunteer-accident insurance for the shows. If Actors Equity requires such insurance of an Equity showcase, the show must pay for it.

Fines

The festival imposes fines for acts that egregiously impede the smooth running of the festival, such as running overtime, touching instruments, or misusing storage space. These fines start at $25 per occurrence and increase by $25 increments with each violation of festival rules. Fines are assessed out of a show’s share of the gross. If it seems unlikely that a show will sell enough tickets, the festival expects a show to pay fines in cash on demand. The festival has never had to expel a show for egregious behavior, but there’s always a first time.

If a show’s cast is not “off-book” at the tech-rehearsal run-through, or if the show runs over its allotted time slot (including setup and strike), the festival will cancel the show’s first performance and consider the performance slot to be an “extra rehearsal.” The festival will charge the show for the extra rehearsal at the going rate, said amount to be paid in cash on the spot. If the show’s production difficulties continue through this extra rehearsal, the festival will continue to convert performances to rehearsals and charge the show accordingly, at its discretion. The festival reserves the right to cancel a show, with no refund of festival fees, if the show is unable to present itself in a professional manner, ie off-book and on time. (This rule, while harsh, is the result of way too many shows in the past not being able to memorize their lines or run to schedule.)

Other Restrictions

No guns! No fire! No smoke! No strobes, unless they’re mentioned clearly in the program!

Special Performances

The Short Play Lab. A potpourri of plays no longer than 10 minutes each, performed over the last two days of tech week. Tickets are $25 for each of two programs of 10 plays each; there are two performances of each program. (One year the festival had two Short Play Labs, in two theaters.) There is a prize for the most popular show, determined by audience preference when the patron buys a ticket.

Vickie Phillips Cabaret. Vickie started performing a program of cabaret classics by Kurt Weill, Jacques Brel, and Charles Aznavour early in the festival, pretty much keeping up the work as long as she was able. She died in 2024. It seems appropriate to name the cabaret division after her. The entry fee for the cabaret division is $200. Tickets are $25, for a show not to exceed 90 minutes. There is a 30-minute technical rehearsal, in one of the smaller theaters, before the show. The festival makes the rented keyboard available to the show. The festival splits any gross sales over the entry fee with the show, 50/50. The division is curated.

Standup comedy. When wannabe comics ask on the street, “Do you like comedy?”, it is tempting to quip, “Sure. You got Chekhov?” But standup is welcome in the festival, on the same terms as any other show. If there’s enough call for standup and enough room, it will become a separate division. If comedians wish to do more than one performance, they can negotiate as if for a regular show.

Staged readings. The festival charges $200 for a staged reading, not to exceed 120 minutes. Staged readings are performed in the afternoons during the week. The festival’s electronic keyboard is available for musicals. Lights are straight up and down. The technical director will show a show’s board operator the very basics of using the light board. The festival does not sell tickets for staged readings. Staged readings are included in all festival publicity.

Next steps

To apply for the festival, fill out the application form (from the Web site). It’s in .doc format, so you can Email it back to us after you fill it out. The application asks a lot of questions about you, your show, and how you intend to promote it. Answer them as completely as you can. There is an application fee of $25 and a retainer equal to one-third of the participation fee (for Plan B only). Both are refundable if the festival does not go forward. Would-be participants can pay these fees by PayPal or Zelle. Our PayPal address is the same as our Email address: mitfxq@gmail.com. Send scripts, in .doc or .pdf format, at the same time as the application form, as well as video clips or sound tracks.

After the festival signs a contract with the theater venue (in December, 2025), it will issue contracts with all participants who are up to date on their application fees and retainers.

Schedule

The following is the projected schedule, subject to change until contracts have been signed with the shows:

Dec. 1, 2025 Application fees and retainers due

Dec. 31, 2025 Festival signs contract with theater venue

Jan. 31, 2026 Festival sends contracts to participants who applied in previous year. Latecomers will receive contracts on a first-come, first-out basis.

Feb. 28, 2026 Deadline for applications (may slip depending on circumstances).

July 5, 2026 Tech week begins.

July 12, 2016 First performance.

Aug. 1, 2026 Last performance; strike.

Aug. 2, 2026 (noon) Out of theater venue

Aug. 31, 2026 Final payments by festival to participants, by PayPal or online banking.

Sometime in the fall, 2026

MITF Awards

Contact Us

You can contact us by Email at mitfxq@gmail.com. John Chatterton’s personal phone is 646/207-2926. Email or call with any questions.

Jay Michaels can be reached at info@jaymichaelsarts.com

BELOW IS THE FESTIVAL APPLICATION. PLEASE DOWNLOAD, EXECUTE, AND SEND TO JAY MICHAELS AT INFO@JAYMICHAELSARTS.COM

APPLICATION FORM

Midtown International Theatre Festival

July 5 – Aug. 1, 2026

$25 Application Fee Payable by PayPal or Zelle to mitfxq@gmail.com

About You

Producer (company) name _________________________________________________

Person in charge ________________________________________________________________

Title _________________________________________________________________________

Address ______________________________________________________________________

Phone _____________ Email _____________________________________________________

Phone _____________ Email _____________________________________________________

Other social media _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

About Your Show

Title of show ___________________________________________________________________

Authors ______________________________________________________________________

Cast size _________________________

Genre (play/musical/cabaret/standup etc.) ____________________________________________

No. of pages, including lyrics but not including score ____________________________________

Estimated running time (minutes), not counting setup and strike ____________________________

Setup time (min.) (festival normally allows 30 min., unless you say otherwise) _________________

Strike time (festival normally allows 15 min., unless you say otherwise) ______________________

Will you have costumes that won’t take up more than a 6’ rack, which we will store? ____________

If so, the festival might ask you to store them somewhere else.

Will you be bringing in set pieces in addition to the cubes and tables provided by the festival? ______

If yes, do you have an external space to store these set pieces? _____

Will you be bringing in musical instruments beyond the keyboard and amp provided by the festival? List: _________________________________________________________________________

Will you be producing under the showcase code? ___________________

How many performances do you wish to receive? ___________________

About Your Audience

Who is your audience? __________________________________________________________

What is the theme of your show? __________________________________________________

How do you plan to get them to buy tickets? (Facebook, other social media, Eblasts; be specific.)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Are there any groups that might have a special interest in seeing your show? List:

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

Do you have personal connections with any of these groups? _____________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.