What are the elements that make up a musical? How do lyrics, music, and dialogue combine to tell a compelling story? I’ve created a series of 20 exercises that will help you answer those questions. By the time you reach the end, you will have created the plot, characters, dialogue, music, and lyrics for an original musical of 10 to 20 minutes that can be performed. You can do this alone, with a partner, or in a group.
As you go through these exercises, you’ll find selected examples from dozens of musicals to illustrate specific ideas. At the end of this page, I’ve also listed 24 essential shows (and 48 suggestions for further exploration) to examine more completely, for you to see how the ideas I talk about work together in a whole show. … Now, let’s begin.
THE BEGINNING
THE BOOK
The next four lessons will help you build the framework of your musical and begin to create your script, from finding an idea to writing the dialogue.
2. Idea
3. Outline
4. Characters
5. Dialogue
THE LYRICS
The second five lessons will help you finish the first draft of your script by showing you how to build your songs through their lyrics.
6. Song Moments
7. Lyrics
8. Organizing Your Lyric
9. Rhymes
10. Organizing Your Rhymes
THE MUSIC
The next five lessons will help you complete the score to your musical, by breaking down the three basic elements of music and showing you how to put them back together.
11. Rhythm
12. Melody
13. Music First
14. Harmony
15. Accompaniment
THE PERFORMANCE
Once you have a full draft of your musical, you’ll want to hear it. The next four exercises review the performance process from rehearsal to production — plus some tips on where to send your finished work for productions and awards.
16. Rehearsals & Readings
17. Feedback & Rewrites
18. Workshops & Productions
19. Where to Send Your Work
THE NEXT BEGINNING
As soon as you’ve completed one musical, start the next. We end this series with some suggestions for finding your next idea. And don’t forget to check out the list of essential musicals worth exploring.
ESSENTIAL MUSICALS
Stage musicals
Show Boat (then Porgy and Bess and The Mikado)
Oklahoma! (then Annie Get Your Gun and Pal Joey)
Guys and Dolls (then Kiss Me, Kate and The Pajama Game)
My Fair Lady (then Hello, Dolly! and Oliver!)
West Side Story (then The Music Man and Bye Bye Birdie)
Gypsy (then Carnival and Nine)
The Fantasticks (then Little Shop of Horrors and The Threepenny Opera)
Fiddler on the Roof (then Man of La Mancha and Les Misérables)
Cabaret (then Rent and Urinetown)
A Chorus Line (then Dreamgirls and Dear Evan Hansen)
Sweeney Todd (then Evita and Ragtime)
Hamilton (then Wicked and The Book of Mormon)
Screen musicals
42nd Street (then Love Me Tonight and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs)
Top Hat (then Swing Time and Pinocchio)
The Wizard of Oz (then Girl Crazy and Holiday Inn)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (then Stormy Weather and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers)
Meet Me in St. Louis (then Cover Girl and Easter Parade)
An American in Paris (then Funny Face and Summer Stock)
Singin’ in the Rain (then The Band Wagon and Gigi)
A Star Is Born (then Jailhouse Rock and New York, New York)
Mary Poppins (then Yellow Submarine and The Muppet Movie)
All That Jazz (then Fame and Nashville)
Beauty and the Beast (then The Lion King and The Nightmare Before Christmas)
Frozen (then Moulin Rouge! and La La Land)