NMI’s RESOURCE CENTER for musical theatre writers

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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:

An Uncomfortable Bed (by Guy de Maupassant)
Gudbrand On The Hill-Side (by Sir George Webbe Desent)
Dapplegrim (by Sir George Webbe Desent)
Madame Hermet (by Guy de Maupassant)
Soria Moria Castle (by Sir George Webbe Desent)

*** 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.

*** CHECK OUT ALL THE LABS ***

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:

October 17, 1967 Hair opened at The Public Theatre for a brief Off-Broadway run of 50 performances, prior to a Broadway transfer a few months later.
October 23, 1972 Stephen Schwartz’s Pippin opened on Broadway, directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse.
October 14, 1930 The Gershwins’ Girl Crazy opened on Broadway, making a star of Ethel Merman, who stopped the show cold with “I Got Rhythm”.

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

INSIDER TIPS AND ADVICE

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

*** VIEW MORE INSIDER TIPS AND ADVICE VIDEOS ***

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!

Reprise:
Repetition of a section of a previously-heard musical number, usually with dramatic or ironic effect, usually truncated. (pronounced re-PREEZ)
Courtesy / Cautionary Accidentals:
A courtesy accidental, also called a cautionary or reminder accidental, is one that, according to the rules of accidental occurrence, isn’t strictly necessary before a note. But there are times when the composer wants to remind the player that an accidental is (or is not) in effect for a particular note. For example, in a measure containing several E accidentals, the first E in the next measure often has a courtesy natural attached, even though the E is technically canceled in the new measure. See also Cautionary Accidentals..
Recitative:
Passages which are sung, but not part of a structured song. (pronounced REH-suh-tah-TEEV)
Metaphor:
Metaphor is an implied comparison identifying the two things compared with each other. Note: A metaphor is a different grammatical construct from the simile. The simile deliberately and obviously says to the listener, “I am comparing X to Y, and telling you that they are alike” (“crazy like a fox”; “Life is a cabaret”). However, a metaphor is not a simile with the “like” or “as” missing. A metaphor uses imagery or language from one idea and inserts it into the other idea…from which the listener must infer the comparison.

Simile: My father is as steady as a ship.

Metaphor: My father navigates this family through the tempests of our lives.
Trochee:
A two-syllable unit comprised of a stressed accent followed by an unstressed syllable, such as When I take you out tonight with me.

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

Edwin Latell (vaudeville) . Location: The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts / Billy Rose Theatre Division .

It’s got to be love!
It couldn’t be tonsillitis;
It feels like neuritis,
But nevertheless it’s love.

--Lorenz Hart