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:

      • Monsieur Lamblin (by George Ancey)
      • The Raspberry Worm (by Andrew Lang)
      • The Diary Of A Madman (by Guy de Maupassant)
      • The Cat and the Fox (by Jean de La Fontaine)
      • The Gay Old Dog (by Edna Ferber)

      *** 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:

      • October 30, 2003     Just in time for Halloween, Wicked, the musical about two witches, landed on Broadway.
      • October 27, 1925     Jane Connell, who created the role of Agnes Gooch in Mame in 1966, was born today. She reprised her role in the film version of Mame and again in the 1983 revival. In 1986 she was nominated for a Tony Award for Me and My Girl, and appeared again on Broadway in Crazy for You in 1992.
      • 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:


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!

      • Writing Musical Theater:

        by Allen Cohen and Steve L. Rosenhaus. Palgrave, Macmillan, 2006.

      • Alto:

        The lowest female voice, generally heavier than other women’s voices. Often associated automatically with worldliness, power. Changes timbre below about G and above an A.

      • Diegetic music:

        Music which occurs within the actual world of the characters. e.g., the characters are in a nightclub where there’s music, or they put a quarter into a jukebox, or pick up a guitar and start to sing.

      • 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.

      • Linear prosody:

        In which the meaning of the lyric matches “meaning” of the music; broken linear prosody is when lyric’s meaning is broken by pauses or elongations in the music. (See prosody; linear prosody refers to horizontal, forward motion created either by the lyric or the music)

         

        An example of broken linear prosody:

        SHE HELD UP THE BABY.  IT SMELLED

        (music plays a little underscoring)

        THE ROSES.

         

        An example of beautiful linear prosody (Now from A Little Night Music):

        Now as the sweet imbecilities tumble so lavishly onto her lap
        Now there are two possibilities: A) I could ravish her; B) I could nap.

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


Flyer for the pre-Broadway booking (beginning March 7, 1940) of Higher and Higher at the Shubert Theatre (New Haven, Conn.) 1940. From the Billy Rose Theater Collection, New York Public Library.


There’ll come a time,
Now don’t forget it,
There’ll come a time
When you’ll regret it.
Oh! Babe,
Think what you’re doing.

--Henry Creamer