NMI’s RESOURCE CENTER for musical theatre writers

insider tips

glosssary of terms

FREE format video

public domain ideas

FREE curriculum video

theatre archives

Welcome to the musical theatre writers’ Resource Center.

This is a FREE page hosted by New Musicals Inc.
As of September 1, 2024, we are NO LONGER maintaining a list of Producers and Theatres, or a Contests Listing. We have found we are no longer able to keep those lists properly up-to-date.
BUT we encourage you to check out the offerings from our friends at MusicalWriters.Com who have a wealth of resources for musical theatre writers!
What you can still find on this page is:
  • an idea library of thousands of royalty-free public domain stories and plots
  • a glossary of musical theatre terms (with audio/video examples)
  • access to short videos filled with tips and advice from NMI staff
  • access to critical feedback options and format guidelines from NMI

Enjoy!


FORMAT LIKE A PRO


Watch this FREE video to learn how to implement the FORMAT GUIDELINES specifically designed by New Musicals Inc. Make sure your script and score look professional and are ready to go into development.

Want more tools to help you get your formatting right?

*** VISIT OUR FORMATTING PRODUCTS PAGE ***



LIBRARY OF IDEAS (Royalty Free)

FREE ACCESS to a library of 1000+ downloadable royalty-free stories, plays, plots and other inspiring indeas we’ve found in the public domain for you. There’s a brief excerpt of every item in the library, so you can take a quick glance to see whether or not you want to read the whole text. In addition, the NMI staff has made annotations and recommendations for many of the titles in the library about their potential to become musicals. Save hundreds of hours of research and reading!


Here are some random samples from our listings of story ideas in the public domain:

      • The Sorcerer (by W.S. Gilbert)
      • The Patriot and the Banker (by Ambrose Bierce)
      • The Dog whose Ears were Cropped (by Jean de La Fontaine)
      • The Ass Carrying Relics (by Jean de La Fontaine)
      • The Appropriate Memorial (by Ambrose Bierce)

      *** LINK TO COMPLETE LIBRARY OF IDEAS ***


IMPROVE YOUR CRAFT


New Musicals Inc. offers a whole series of professional online LABS for bookwriters, lyricists, and composers who are serious about improving their craft. This video is a FREE sample of one of the lecture videos from the all new Lyric Lab 1 - Fundamentals.

FREE PROGRESSION HANDOUT


NEED SOME FEEDBACK?


Have you written a musical? Are you working on one? NMI has smart, professional, detailed dramaturges who will help you make sure you are on the strongest path to fulfilling the promise of your work. From video and audio feedback packages to one-on-one dramaturgical sessions, we have what you need to take the next step forward. We even have an annual contest that results in a workshop and concert reading in Los Angeles.

"We really did appreciate all your help - you’ve got just the right tone to critique. It’s a matter of 'A Spoonful of Sugar Helps The Medicine Go Down'!”
                    ~~George Stiles
          (Mary Poppins, Honk, Soho Cinders)

*** Check out NMI's Feedback options ***


MUSICAL THEATRE ARCHIVES


Here's a sample of items from our vault of historical photos, and musical theatre trivia about events that happened THIS month in the past:

      • November 22, 1965     Man of La Mancha began its original 6-year Broadway run today.
      • November 14, 1996     Twenty years after it originally played on Broadway, Chicago opened in an incredibly successful revival production which preserved Bob Fosse’s style and vision for the original, but jettisoned the sets, the costumes, and any sense of period. Walter Bobbie (director) and Anne Reinking (choreographer; she also starred in the revival production, having also been a replacement for Gwen Verdon in the original production) won their first Tony for the show.
      • November 10, 1949     Anne Reinking, muse of Bob Fosse, star of Over Here!, Dancin’, and Chicago (see below), was born today.

      *** Click to access the full archives. ***


INSIDER TIPS AND ADVICE


Here is one of our videos with insider tips and advice:


GLOSSARY OF TERMS


Here are some samples from our Glossary of definitions of musical theatre terms. We will be adding to this over time - as well as adding actual sample scores and sound recordings. Check back often!

      • Stage Directions Format:

        Tips on formatting stage directions and asides.

      • Tessitura:

        The range which comprises most notes of a vocal range; the general range of a character.

      • Crossover:

        Music composed to accompany a brief moment in between scenes when characters literally cross from one side of the stage to another

      • Bass:

        The lowest male voice. Often associated automatically with character roles, either sinister or comic. True “bass” is very rare in musical theatre. Changes timbre below a low G and above middle C.

      • Stranger exposition:

        Information exchanged between characters who know little or nothing about one another.  See Neighbor exposition (above).  Because strangers don’t know much about each other, they’re useful to the bookwriter to deliver information which neighbors/friends wouldn’t exchange.  It makes perfect sense for a stranger to mention that he has a sister, Stella, who is the youngest daughter in his family; or to explain a custom or bit of history to someone who is unfamiliar with it.

      *** Click to access the full glossary. ***


Rodgers and Hammerstein – 1951. From the New York Public Library collections.


Poor Pierrot
Loved his fair Pierrette.
How should he know
That a girl may vow and forget?

--Otto Harbach