Category Archives: Writing

Emerging Writers Program

Posted on August 12, 2021 by boz

DreamWorks Theatricals and Music Theatre International have announced their Emerging Writers Program, a new partnership that will select diverse individual writers and writing teams of librettists, composers, and lyricists to develop musical adaptations of DreamWorks Animation titles for the MTI … Continue reading →

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Blob Opera

Posted on December 21, 2020 by boz

You can create your own songs with the free Blob Opera, a machine-learning experiment created by David Li with Google Arts & Culture, modeled on the voices of opera singers Olivia Doutney (soprano), Joanna Gamble (mezzo), Christian Joel (tenor), and … Continue reading →

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Making Musicals: Finding Your Next Idea

Posted on May 2, 2020 by boz

As soon as you’ve completed one musical, start the next. Don’t wait for a reading or a production — or anything. Of course, continue to pursue those avenues, but particularly if you’re a new writer, you need to keep your … Continue reading →

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Making Musicals: Where to Send Your Work

Posted on April 30, 2020 by boz

Once you have a finished script of your short musical, what next? Well, let the world know about it. There are hundreds of opportunities for your work to be noticed. Below is just a sampling of those with a long … Continue reading →

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Making Musicals: Workshops and Productions

Posted on April 29, 2020 by boz

After a series of private, closed, and open readings, you will probably be anxious to see your musical on stage. Before you rush to book a theater, though, it’s a good idea (creatively and financially) to take one more step … Continue reading →

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Making Musicals: Feedback and Rewrites

Posted on April 28, 2020 by boz

As you have readings of your musical, people will give you their opinions — whether you asked for those opinions or not. So, how do you make sure that you get useful feedback and avoid useless (or harmful) feedback? One … Continue reading →

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Making Musicals: Rehearsals and Readings

Posted on April 27, 2020 by boz

Once you have a workable draft of your musical, you need to hear it read aloud. There are three main types of readings to consider: a private reading (unrehearsed), a closed reading (rehearsed), and an open reading (staged). The first … Continue reading →

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Making Musicals: The Accompaniment

Posted on April 24, 2020 by boz

A lead sheet shows the essential elements of your song: lyrics, melody, and harmony. It is the basic work of a composer. The melody’s notes are written on a single staff of music, the lyric’s words are written below the … Continue reading →

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Making Musicals: The Harmony

Posted on April 23, 2020 by boz

Harmony is the most advanced building block. It is the pitches above and below the melody, grouped together into chords. You might imagine melody as the horizontal sounds and harmony as the vertical sounds of your song. The notes in … Continue reading →

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Making Musicals: Music First

Posted on April 22, 2020 by boz

If you have experience with music, you may want to begin by writing the melody instead of the lyrics. One good way to compose a song is to build it in small pieces, bit-by-bit from motif to phrase to period. … Continue reading →

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