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:

Hyacinth Halvey (by Lady Gregory)
Love In A Wood; Or St. James’s Park. (by William Wycherley)
The Travelling Man (by Lady Gregory)
The Other Woman (by Sherwood Anderson)
Why The Sea Is Salt (by Sir George Webbe Dasent)

*** 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:

September 17, 1933 Dorothy Loudon, who received her first of 3 Tony Award nominations for her breakout role in 1969’s flop The Fig Leaves are Falling – despite its having run only four performances – was born today. The biggest triumphs of Loudon’s long career were her boozy, frowzy Miss Hannigan in Annie (Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical) and the widow Bea in Michael Bennett’s Ballroom.
September 12, 1933 Bela Lugosi, famous for his 1931 film portrayal of Dracula, made his Broadway musical debut in Murder at the Vanities.
September 6, 1985 A concert version of Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman’s legendary musical Follies played two nights only at Lincoln Center. All 5,500 tickets sold out in less than three hours. The all-star cast included Barbara Cook, Lee Remick, Elaine Stritch, Carol Burnett, Mandy Patinkin, George Hearn, and Comden and Green, among others.

*** 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!

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..
ASCAP:
A service organization which collects and distributes royalties on behalf of songwriters in film, television, theatre, etc. www.ascap.org
Baritone:
The middle-ranged male voice, generally thicker and more resonant than a tenor. Often associated automatically with maturity, physicality. Changes timbre below C and above F.
Book:
Refers to the dialogue AND storyline/structure of the musical. The “book” is often conceived of by the entire collaborative team, although the actual dialogue might be written by one person alone, the bookwriter.
Tetrameter:
A line of poetry with four feet, such as Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.

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

Fanny Brice, circa 1920’s. From the Musical Theatre History collection of the Library of Congress.

I’m sitting on top of the world.

--Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young