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 Stronger (by August Strindberg)
      • The Humble Peasant (by Ambrose Bierce)
      • At Heaven’s Gate (by Ambrose Bierce)
      • The Guardian Of The Threshold (by Rudolf Steiner)
      • The Wedding Jest (by James Branch Cabell)

      *** 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 6, 1989     Maltby & Shire’s Closer Than Ever, a revue compilation of some two dozen of their “trunk” songs from the past 30 years, opened Off-Broadway 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 22, 1965     Man of La Mancha began its original 6-year Broadway run 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!

      • Professionalism:

        At NMI, we try to treat our members as professionals. Some would say that the difference between a professional and an amateur is a paycheck. But here are some more useful ways of thinking about the differences:

        Professionals arrive for rehearsals a few minutes ahead of time; amateurs allow themselves to be late.

        Professionals show up prepared; amateurs show up unprepared.

        Professionals take responsibility for their work ethic and creative process; amateurs often look for someone to blame.

        Professionals seek out constructive feedback; amateurs get defensive and think of feedback as criticism and judgment.

        (etc.  You get the idea.)

      • Swing rhythm:

        musical notation in which notes with the same value are performed with unequal durations, usually as alternating long and short. If the word “swing” does not appear, these notes are played with even values.

      • Double rhyme:

        Perfect rhyme in which the accent involves two syllables; the first syllable is accented, the second is unaccented. Such as:

        fatal/natal
        screaming/steaming
        daughter/water

         

        (also called “Feminine Rhyme”)

      • ABAC:

        A refrain structure in which an initial A section is followed by a section of contrasting musical material (“B section”), followed by a repetition of the initial A section, and concluded with new material (“C section”). Lyrics change in each section, but there is usually a repeated lyric in the same location of each A section (e.g., lyric is repeated either the beginning or the end of the A sections). Generally this corresponds to a refrain of typically 8-bar sections. ABAC refers to the structure of the Refrain, not the structure of the song.

      • Page numbers — paginating integrated script and score:

        A screen capture of a session integrating script and score and adding running page numbers.  This video demonstrates using Acrobat, but the principles of pagination would apply to any pdf integration program.

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


Midtown Theater exterior, Broadway (West 99th Street – West 100th Street) east side . 1933. Photographer: Wurts Brothers Source: [Collection of photographs of New York City.] / [Wurts Brothers, photographer] / Sherman Building / Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy


Maybe I can’t live to love you as long as I want to.
Life isn’t long enough baby, but I can love you as long as I live.
Maybe I can’t give you diamonds and things like I want to,
But I can promise you, baby, I’m gonna want to as long as I live.

--Harold Arlen