Elements of a Musical

The Scoreby John Kenrick(Copyright 2000, Revised 2003)

FantasiesThe glorious fantasies of MGM's golden age were so
potent that they have become part of our culture's ongoing
mythology. For example
Scene: a sad group of teenagers sits around wondering how to get
their parents, town or school out of serious financial trouble.
Suddenly, Mickey Rooney looks up with wide eyes and says, "Hey,
why don't we put on a show!?!" Judy Garland gushes with pride
and shouts, "Oh, Mickey!," the kids roar their approval, and after a
few weeks of writing, rehearsals, and assorted romantic
misunderstandings, the show triumphs in their barn, high school
gym, or local corral. The Shuberts are in the audience, and they
promptly move the show to Broadway and make the kids overnight
stars.
Would that it were that easy! Nowadays, every musical play or
film including the bad ones came into being through
tremendous craft, ruthless determination, and years of unrelenting
effort. In the 1800s, producers could throw a show together in a
matter of weeks, beef it up with songs by any number of different
composers, and raise the few thousand bucks needed to stage it all.
But musicals now cost millions to produce, and raising the funds
can take several years. Composing the score can take months
even years of painstaking effort and revision. To give a show a
sense of audible cohesion, it is now standard procedure for the
songs to be written by one songwriter or songwriting team,
working in close collaboration with the book writer. All these
people have a say in such issues as song structure, song type, and
song placement. Each of these is explained below, as is the
importance of rhyme.

Showtune Structure: AABAMost showtunes have a verse

and a chorus (or "refrain"). The verse sets up the premise of a song
and can be of most any length, while the chorus states the main
point of the lyric. For example, consider the title song to
Oklahoma!. The verse begins "They couldn't pick a better time to
start in life," and says how happy the leads will be living in a
"brand new state." The chorus starts with a joyous shout of
"Ooooo-klahoma," and then sings the praises of that territory.
While most composers concentrate their best efforts on the melody
for the chorus, there are exceptions. For instance, Jerome Kern's
opening verses to "You Are Love" or "All The Things You Are" are
ravishing.
Since the early 1900s, the choruses of American popular songs
have traditionally been thirty-two bars long, usually divided into
four sections of eight bars apiece the AABA form. This format
forces composers and lyricists to make their points efficiently
acting more as a discipline than a limitation.
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A is the main melody, repeated twice in part, so that it can

be easily remembered.

B is the release or bridge, and should contrast as much as

possible with A.

Then A is repeated a third time, usually with a melodic

twist to give the final bars more interest.

If you examine your favorite showtunes, you will find this format
used time after time. From Cohan to Jonathan Larson, all modern
Broadway composers have worked within this structure. In fact,
AABA remained the standard for all popular music until hard rock
threw many conventions out the window in the 1960s. Those

showtunes that do not use AABA tend to use a slight variation of

the form. A song may double the number of bars (four sections of
sixteen apiece), or simplify the form to something like ABA. Some
numbers introduce a third melody line at the end (AABC) but the
AABA structure and proportions remain the norm.

Song TypesSome people think that it is enough for a showtune

to be melodic and generally entertaining. That may have been true
in the days of Ziegfeld revues and screwball musical comedies,
when any song could be inserted into most any show regardless of
its connection to the action. Ever since Oklahoma, expectations
have changed. Now, each showtune must serve as a dramatic
element in a play or film by helping to develop character and/or
move the story forward. As much as everyone loves a showstopper,
it has to work as a cohesive part of the storytelling process
otherwise the only thing it really stops is audience interest. The
most memorable show songs tend to gel around three kinds of
character experiences
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Transition - a moment of change or conversion.

Realization - reaching an insight or new level of

understanding.

Decision - after long wrangling, a character finally makes up

his or her mind.

Traditional musicals carefully varied the placement of song types,

while musicals of the late 20th Century showed an increasing
reliance on placing ballad after ballad after ballad . . . yaaaawn! If
you are writing a musical, give your audiences a break and vary
their melodic diets. The types of songs commonly required in
modern musicals can be illustrated with these examples from
Lerner and Loewe's My Fair Lady

Ballads - usually love songs ("On the Street Where You

Live"), but they can also philosophize about any strong
emotion ("Accustomed to Her Face").

Charm Songs - let a character beguile an audience

("Wouldn't It Be Loverly").

Comedy Numbers - aim for laughs ("A Little Bit of Luck").

Musical Scenes - seamlessly blend dialogue and song,

usually with two or more characters ("You Did It").

If you prefer an even simpler approach, the great Bob Fosse said
that from a director's point of view there were only three types of
show songs. To illustrate, let's take examples from Bernstein and
Sondheim's West Side Story
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I Am songs Any song that explains a character, a group of

characters, or a situation. Examples: "The Jet Song," and
"Somewhere."

I Want songs These tell us what characters desire, what

motivates them. Most love songs fit into this category.
"Something's Coming" and "Tonight" are examples, with the
ensemble reprise of "Tonight" giving a rare (and dramatically
powerful) opportunity for every major character to
simultaneously express what they want. In "A Boy Like
That," we see two "I Wants" clash, only to wind up in
harmonious agreement on the undeniable power of love.

New songs This includes any number that does not fit the
other two categories, usually because they serve special
dramatic needs. For example, "Gee, Officer Krupke" let the
Jets express their frustrations and gives audiences a breather
from the tragic story line. "The Rumble" ballet would also fit
this category.

From the 1800s on, traditional musicals tried to include at least one
or two songs that might find popular success outside the show.
Many a musical did better business when one of its songs became a
hit, but the rise of rock pushed showtunes out of pop contention by
the mid-1960s. While this made showtunes less profitable, it also
took a burden off composers and lyricists. Now they can
concentrate on the dramatic needs of their shows, rather than trying
to artificially squeeze hits into a score. (Of course, more than a few
songwriters would still love the millions a few song hots would
bring them they just realize they are not going to get that kind of
song hit out of a Broadway score today.)

Song PlacementSongs in a musical libretto must be

strategically placed at emotional highpoints, those key moments
where dialogue is no longer enough. In Hello Dolly, when Dolly
Levi comes down the stairs of the Harmonia Gardens restaurant, it
would certainly be more realistic if the head waiter just looked at
her fondly and said "It's good to have you back, Madam" but what
fun would that be? Instead, Dolly and the waiters express the
overwhelming joy of their reunion by singing "Hello, Dolly!"
Where words are not sufficient, the music and dance take over,
bringing the show and its audiences to greater heights.
For a far different example, consider Kander and Ebb's "Pineapple
Song" in Cabaret. Turning this particular moment into song was a
stroke of genius one that many fine songwriters might have
missed. For most of us, there is nothing particularly exciting about
getting a pineapple as a gift. But when it is the first token of
affection exchanged between two shy middle aged people in the
midst of a severe economic depression, it becomes tremendously
important. The courtly manners of the grocer and the landlady, set
to a romantic tune, makes for one of the most enchanting moments
in all of musical theater. The music says what their restrained
words cannot, showing just how much each is attracted to the
other.

Because song placement is of vital importance in the development

of a musical, the composer and lyricist usually work closely with
the librettist (the script or "book" writer) to plan each number.
Once a show goes into production, the director and producers also
have a say in this process. Three song choices are of particular
importance
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The Opening Number sets the tone for the rest of the show.
It is not unusual for this song to be written after the rest of a
show is in place. The bawdy farce A Funny Thing Happened
On the Way To the Forum originally opened by proclaiming
that "Love Is In the Air," a bouncy song that left audiences
expecting a sweet romantic comedy. Consequently, it took
half an act for them to get attuned to the zany farce that
followed. Director George Abbott asked for a replacement,
and songwriter Stephen Sondheim came up with the raucous
"Comedy Tonight." From the moment the new opening was
introduced, the entire show got a better reception. (Note
shows that open with extended dialogue still set the tone for
the evening with their first songs, such as My Fair Lady's
"Why Can't the English Teach Their Children How to
Speak?")

The Main "I Want" Song comes early in the first act, with
one or more of the main characters singing about the key
motivating desire that will propel everyone (including the
audience) through the remainder of the show. In many cases,
these songs literally include the words "I want," "I wish" or
"I've got to." Classic examples include My Fair Lady's
"Wouldn't It Be Loverly," Carnival's "Mira," The Sound of
Music's "I Have Confidence" and "King of Broadway" in The
Producers.

The Eleven O'clock Number takes place about midway

through Act Two. It can be a ballad ("This Nearly Was Mine"

in South Pacific, "Memory" in Cats), charm song ("Hello,

Dolly!") or comedy showpiece ("Brush Up Your
Shakespeare" in Kiss Me Kate, "Betrayed" in The Producers).
It does not necessarily have to mark a climactic moment in
the plot, but it must be strong enough to energize the
audience for the final scenes. (Note: since curtain times are
earlier than in years past, this number now takes place around
10:00 PM.)
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The Finale should carry an emotional wallop, leaving

audiences with a powerful last impression. This is usually
done by reprising one of score's most emotion-packed
numbers. Showboat closes with a family reunion as Joe sings
another chorus of "Old Man River," and Les Miserables
brings on ghosts of the past to sing an encore of "Do You
Hear the People Sing?" The far less frequently used
alternative approach is to introduce a rousing new song, like
"You Can't Stop the Beat" in Hairspray.

A reprise is when all or part of a song is repeated to make a

dramatic point and (usually) to energize the end of a scene. In the
stage version of Funny Girl, Nick Arnstein sings a reprise of
Fanny's "Don't Rain on My Parade" to signify his need for
independence and end a crucial scene. Fanny later reprises the
same song at the end of the show to declare that life will go on
without Nick and to finish the final scene with an emotional
flourish.
From the 1800s through the 1940s, some musicals were so loosely
constructed that you could easily insert additional numbers by
most any composer. Al Jolson's best remembered songs (including
"Swanee") were interpolated into existing scores, and no one cared
that they had no connection to the story. All that mattered was
coming up with a hit that could stop the show.

To either develop the characters or push along the plot, songs must
be clear enough for an audience to grasp on first hearing. Anything
that confuses an audience damages the dramatic action of the play,
so lyricists must make their points in a precise, fresh manner, while
composers (and arrangers) must not drown out the words. In
August 2002, The New York Times chided the producers of the
long running Rent for allowing the high volume music to drown
out Jonathan Larson's all-important lyrics.
It remains a real mark of craftsmanship to write showstoppers that
are fully integrated into the rest of a show. Even mediocre musicals
are still expected to have a musical moment that makes the
audience roar with approval. While some weaker musicals like The
Lion King rely on clever staging to get people cheering, a
powerhouse song remains the most desirable way to stop a show

Lyrics: To Rhyme or Not to Rhyme?Creative and

entertaining use of rhyme has been a hallmark of musical theatre
since William S. Gilbert's elevated lyric writing to an art form in
the 1880s. Rhyme is one of a lyricist's most potent tools, giving a
song much of its comic or dramatic impact. It is easy enough to
find words that rhyme the trick is in how a lyricist gets from one
of these words to another. Fresh use of language and surprising
word arrangements are the hallmarks of great songwriting, and
these revolve around the careful placement of rhymes within a
song. For example, placing rhymes at the end of lines and within
them ("internal rhyme") can add comic impact
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Sondheim's "Chrysanthemum Tea" in Pacific Overtures

describes "an herb thats superb for disturbances at sea."

Cole Porter's "Brush Up Your Shakespeare" in Kiss Me Kate

has such ingenious rhymes as heinous with Coriolanus and
fussing with nussing ("nussing" is Porter's playful pseudoYiddish version of the word "nothing.")

Creative rhyme can make a difference in any type of showtune,

setting classics apart from pedestrian efforts. Porter's ballad "I Get
a Kick Out of You" has a famous five part rhyme ("fly-high-guysky-I") that audiences have loved since Ethel Merman first sang it
in Anything Goes (1934).
Obvious, tired rhymes, clichd phrases, or forced non-rhymes (like
those found in many rap songs) are distractions that can ruin the
effect of a show song. Theatergoers have the right to expect a
smooth, professional effort. Of course, the witless scores of
Footloose and Saturday Night Fever prove that some audiences
will tolerate anything if the volume is deafening enough. If you
want to write a musical, please take the approach that your
audience deserves something better. Every lyric in a musical must
help tell a story. The great lyricist Dorothy Fields, who's work
spanned five decades and involved such composers as Jerome
Kern, Jimmy McHugh and Cy Coleman explained it this way
"Sounds and rhyming can be beguiling only when they state
exactly what you should say. Don't fall in love with what you
believe is a clever rhyme it can throw you. Think about what you
want to say and then look for the most amusing or graceful way
you can say it."
That covers the bare-bone basics of what goes into a score. But
many promising scores sank into oblivion due to badly written
librettos. And so it is, justly or not, that most failures are blamed on
"the schnook who wrote the book."

ElementsofaMusicalTheBook(Libretto)byJohn
Kenrick(Copyright2000,Revised2003)

What is "The Book"?The book (also called the libretto) is

the least appreciated and yet most dramatically important element
of a musical. It is the narrative structure that keeps the score from
being nothing more than a disjointed medley of songs.
For many years, the main point of most shows was to showcase a
score and/or a major star. As a result, the books of most Broadway
musicals were a series of scenes, jokes and sight gags designed to
get from song to song. As long as the script provided excuses for
Al Jolson to sing a few hits or Marilyn Miller to do a dance
routine, theatergoers were satisfied. By the 1940s, audiences were
ready for something more, and shows like Pal Joey, Lady In the
Dark and Oklahoma! made it imperative that the book and score
interweave to tell a cohesive story. Now for a performer to stop the
show, the action had to build up to a key moment of song and/or
dance. This made for a much more satisfying kind of theatrical
entertainment.
More than one expert has observed that musicals with great scores
and weak books tend to fail, while those with mediocre scores and
solid books have a better chance of succeeding. After all, the first
job of every play or film musical or not is to tell a good story.

Key Book ElementsA musical book must do the following:

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Keep the story line clear and easy to follow.

Create characters that are easy to relate to, without resorting
to stereotypes. (Good luck!)
Create situations that call characters into song.
Move in and out of songs as smoothly as possible.

Hand over much (and sometimes all) of the plot and

character development to the songs and choreography.
% Make the audience care at all times. (If the action gets dull,
nothing guarantees an audience will stay to learn the ending!)
Andallthismustbedonewithinascriptthatseemsskeletal
comparedtoafulllengthdrama.Atleastfiftypercentofa
musical'srunningtimebelongstothesongsanddances.Small
wonderthatsofewplaywrightsarewillingtoattemptmusical
librettostheyareaseparateartform.

AdaptationsOnlyafewsuccessfulmusicalsuse100%original
storylines.Mostareadaptedfromnovels(LesMiserables,The
King&I),plays(Oklahoma,HelloDolly)orfilms(ALittleNight
Music,Nine,TheProducers).Othersareinspiredbyhistorical
figures(Rex,GeorgeM)oreventsintheheadlines(CallMe
Madam,Capeman).Whenselectingastoryforadaptation,the
creativeteammustfirstdeterminethatmusicwilladdtothe
effectivenessofthestory.Notallstoriessing,andrelentlessly
tragictalesarebettersuitedtograndopera.Themainrequirement
istohaveasituationthatallowscharacterstoexperienceawide
rangeofemotions.Itisinthetransitionsfromhopetojoyto
despairto(hopefully)finaltriumphthatcharacterscanfind
somethingtosingabout.
Sowhybotherturninganalreadyeffectivestoryintoamusical?
Sincetimeimmemorialpeoplehavefounditeasiertoconnectwith
sentimentssettomusic.Songshelpaudiencesrelatetocharactersl.
ThatiswhymurdermysteriesandFrenchfarcesusuallydonot
makegoodmaterialformusicaladaptationmanyoftheir
charactersareplotfunctions,notbelieveableindividualsweare
calledtocareabout.TheMysteryofEdwinDrooddoesnot
disprovemypointintheendwelearnthatEdwinisnotdead,so
itisnotreallyamurdermystery!

Gettinghistoricalfigurestosingcanbetricky,sincemanyinthe
audienceapproachfamouscharacterswithpreconceptions.1776
successfullymadeJohnAdamsandThomasJeffersonsing,inpart
becauseAmericanaudienceswantedtolikethem.(British
audiencesloathedthesameshow,forcingittocloseinjustafew
weeks.)HenryVIII'smurderousmaritalhabitsmadehim
desperatelyunlikableinRex,butsuchpopularfiguresasJackie
Robinson,MarilynMonroeandTeddyRooseveltallinspiredflop
musicals.

OriginalsSuccessfulmusicalswithtrulyoriginalstoriesarefew
andfarbetween.Whileitisneitherimpossiblenorundesirableto
buildamusicalonacompletelyoriginalstoryidea,itisjustnot
doneveryoften.Why?Manyhavetheorizedonthisissue,butno
oneIknowofhascomeupwithaconvincingexplanation.But
approximately9outof10successfulmusicalsarebasedonpre
existingstories,playsorfilms.Somemusicalspeoplethinkofas
completelyoriginalwereactuallyadaptations.Companywasbased
onaseriesofoneactplaysbylibrettistGeorgeFurth.And,despite
AlanJayLerner'sdenials,Brigadoonwasbasedinparton
FriedrichGerstacker'sGermantaleGermelshausen.
Someexamplesofhowtrulyoriginalstoryideaswerehatchedfor
hitmusicals
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BettyComdenandAdolphGreendevelopedtheideafor
BellsAreRingingfromthepictureofanoverworkedoperator
onthebackcoverofaManhattanphonebook.

MichaelBennettwasapproachedbytwodancerslookingto
createatroupeofBroadwaychorusdancersthatcould
developnewmusicals.Tapedworkshopsessionswith
variousdancerssharingtheirmemoriesledtothebirthofA

ChorusLine.
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ComposerMarvinHamlish'srockyloveaffairwithlyricist
CaroleBayerSagerwastheprimaryinspirationforThey're
PlayingOurSong.Ofcourse,ithelpedhavingNeilSimon
shapetheirstoriesintoatouchingbuthilariousbook.

SceneStructureAsinnonmusicalplays,theendingofeach
sceneinabookmusicalmustprojecttheactionforward,pointing
theaudience'sinterestintothescenestocome.Sincegood
showtunesoftencaptureamomentoftransition,realizationor
decision,asong(orabriefreprise)isoftenusedtobringscenesto
aneatclose.Thisiswhylibrettistsmustworkinclose
collaborationwithcomposersandlyriciststodeterminewhere
songsfitandhowtogetintosongasseamlesslyaspossible.
Audiencesnowcringeatobvioussongcues("Tellusaboutit,
Jane.")Ideally,thebookandscoreshouldbewritten
simultaneously,ratherthanhaveeitheronebuiltaroundtheother.

EndingActOneThemodernmusicallibrettoisalmostalways
writteninatwoactformat.Audiencesareaccustomedtoit,and
intermissionsales(refreshments,souvenirs)providetheatreowners
withcrucialincome.Ifnothingelse,anaudienceforcedtositfor
hoursistoughertoentertain.Toputitbluntly,ifyoudon'tgive
audiencesapeebreak,theywilltakeoneinthemiddleofcrucial
scenes!Thosewhowriteaoneorthreeactshowcanrestassured
thatotherswilleventuallyreformatittotwoacts.(Thisfactoflife
hasplaguedtheauthorsofManofLaMancha,aoneactthatis
frequentlyperformedwithanunauthorizedintermission).If
nothingelse,intermissionsforcebookwriterstomakesurethe
storygetssomewherebyareasonablepointatleastenoughto
makeanaudiencewanttocomebackforActTwo.Thefirstact
doesnothavetoendwithacliffhanger,butweshouldbecurious

toseewhathappensnext.ExamplesofmemorableActOne
endings:
FiddlerOntheRoofAhorrificpogromruinsTzeitel's
wedding.HowwillTevye'sfamilycarryon?
% MyFairLadyAsLizadancesoffwiththescheming
linguistZoltanKarparthy,willhersecretbeexposedand
ProfessorHiggins'workruined?
% AnnieWillanorphanfindherlonglostparents?
% LesMiserablesHowwillthemanycharacterswe'vemetin
ActOnegetthroughtheimminentrevolution?
Ifyouhavenothookedanaudiencebeforeintermissiontime,odds
areyouhaveafloponyourhandsThisproblemholdsespecially
truewithstageadaptationsofscreenmusicals.TheBroadway
versionofMeetMeInSt.Louisturned"TheTrolleySong"intoa
dreamsequence,robbingitofanysignificanceanddoingnothing
topointtothenextact.ThestageversionofStateFairendedwith
"It'saGrandNightforSinging"agreatsong,butonethatdid
nothingtosetupwhatlayahead.Bothshowsfaileddespiteclassic
scores,primarilybecausetheircinematicstorylinesdidnotadapt
welltothetwoactstageformat.
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EndingActTwoTheendofActTwoisevenmoreimportant.
Itiswhataudienceswalkoutwith,andapowerfulfinalscenecan
makeupforalotofshortcomingsearlierintheshow.Havinga
greatsonghelpsmanyshowsreprisetheirstrongestballadbut
thebookwritermuststructuretheplaysothatthelastscenepacks
agenuinewallop.
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TheSoundofMusichastheVonTrappsescapetofreedom
overtheAlpsasachorusofnunssing"ClimbEv'ry
Mountain."
AChorusLinebringsallthedancersbackforthesocko

dancenumber,"One."Althoughthisillogicallycontradicts
everythingthatoccursbeforehand(whenmostofthese
dancerswereeliminated),noaudiencereallycares.Itsa
sensationalcoupdetheatre.
% Anniehastheorphangirl'slonglostpoochSandypopoutof
agiftboxonChristmasmorning,winningaguaranteedcheer
fromtheaudience.
% SecretGardenhasUncleArchieembracehisnieceMaryas
theghostsofthepastdeparttothestrainsof"ComeToThe
Garden."
% TheProducershasBialystok&Bloomsurroundedbythe
marqueesfortheirfuturetasteless(andhilarious)hitslike
"DeathofaSalesmanOnIce."
Checkadozenofyourfavoritemusicals,andyouwillfindthat
mostofferasoliddramaticorcomickickaspartofthefinale.

RewritesAllwritershadbetterlikerewriting!Itisthenatureof
creationthatonehastoreshapeandperfectone'swork.Thisis
especiallytruewhenonehastoappeasethearmyofcollaborators
involvedinamusical.WiththeexceptionofKissMeKate,every
musicalthateveropenedoutoftown(orinNewYorkpreviews)
requiredbookrevisions.Someproblemsdonotbecomeevident
untilashowgetsonitsfeetinfrontofpayingaudiences.
Whenamusicalisinpreopeningperformances,twoissues
becomeparamount
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KeeptheplotlineclearPeoplewon'tsitthroughamusical
ifthestorydoesnotmakesenseatalltimes.Nearlyeveryone
knowsthebascplottoHamlet,butfewcouldmakesenseof
therockmusicalRockabyeHamlet.Althoughitwasdirected
bythegreatGowerChampion,thisincoherentmessdieda
quickdeath.

Getthecurtaindownby10:45PMItisnoaccidentthat
contemporarymusicalsareusuallylessthantreehourslong.
Thisavoidsexpensiveunionovertimechargesandgets
audienceshomeatadecenthour.Ifyouarepositiveyour
showisthenextLesMizandcanaffordtoruntill11:15,
morepowertoyoubutmyadviceistogetyourselfbetter
medicationandstartcutting.

AThanklessTaskWhenashowisintrouble,itiseasiestfor
thoseworkingonashowtoblamethebook.Afterall,itcosts
amazingamountsoftimeandmoneytoaddnewsongsorreplace
castmembers,whilechangingthebooksimplymeansorderingthe
authortocutorrevise.Ionceworkedonamusical(whichshallgo
nameless)thatwashavingadisastrouspreBroadwaytour.The
scoresucked,thedirectorwasinexperiencedandthebignamestar
washilariouslymiscastbuteveryoneinsistedthatthebookwas
toblame.Baloney!Thebookwasprobablytheonesolidthingthe
showhadgoingforit.Thankfully,thestarbecameillandtheshow
closedoutoftown,leavingthebookwriter'sreputationintactfor
betterprojects.
Nowthatmanymusicalsarevirtuallysungthrough,librettistsare
lessappreciatedthanever.TheinternationalhitPhantomofthe
OperaisoftenthoughtofastheworkofcomposerAndrewLloyd
Webber,whilelibrettistRichardStilgoeispracticallyunknown
outsideofhisownfamily.(Ofcourse,thesamecanbesaidfor
Phantom'slyricist,CharlesHart.)Insungthroughmusicalslike
thisone,wheredoesthebookwritingendandthelyricwriting
begin?Thereisnosetansweritvariesfromteamtoteamand
showtoshow.
Thebookwritergetsalmostnocreditifashowsucceeds,andmost
oftheblameifitfails.PeterStone,themostsuccessfullibrettist

alive,gotdemeaningreviewsfor1776,WomanoftheYear,Will
RogersFolliesandTitanicandreceivedTonyAwardsforeach
ofthem!Soitisnotsurprisingthatgoodlibrettistsarefewandfar
between.Mostofthepeoplewhomightoncehaveworkedin
musicaltheatretaketheirtalentstotelevision.Whocanblame
them?Whenwritingforasitcomcanbringasixfigureannual
salary,whyspendyearswritingamusicalthatmaynevermakea
cent?Andyet,themadnessstillinfectsafew.Thoseofuswho
lovethemusicalwillkeepourfingerscrossedinthenewcentury
andhopethatafreshcropofsolidlibrettistsaresettoappear.
Withthebookandscoreaccountedfor,whohastocomeonboard
tomakeamusicalhappen?
MakingaBroadwayMusical

KeyPlayers:TheProductionTeambyJohnKenrick
(Copyright2000,Revised2003)

So who is involved in the making of a Broadway musical? With

the exception of a few technical positions (such as sound design),
these roles have existed in varying forms since ancient times.
ProducerIn the past. solo producers (Florenz Ziegfeld, David
Merrick, Cheryl Crawford, etc.) had tremendous input into the
creation of a show. Many important Broadway musicals began
because such producers had an idea and then hired the composer
and writers. Now, producers don't come into the process until a
show is already written and tested. With production costs now in
the tens of millions, it takes teams of a dozen or more producers to
raise the funds for a show making it impossible for any one of
them to exercise creative control over a project. Independent
producers are often overshadowed by corporate producers like
Disney, who have the resources to make almost anything into a hit.

InvestorTraditionally, Broadway investors contributed no more

than a few thousand dollars each to a new show. This entitled them
to a pair of opening night tickets, a return on their investment if the
show was a hit, and a tax deduction if the show failed. Today,
investors contribute hundreds of thousands each, and there is little
chance they will see much profit. They want the prestige of saying
they have connections to show business. As a courtesy, all
Broadway producers make house seats available to each other for
purchase and each producer can access to these choice seats for
their investors. Some big-figure investors think their dollars entitle
them to creative input. In some cases, corporate sponsors get far
too much say in the creative process.
General ManagerGeneral managers handle the ongoing business
needs of a show paying salaries, dealing with complaints,
purchasing supplies, and making keeping the show's operating
expenses on budget. (Lower expenses make it possible for a show
to keep running when ticket sales drop.) General managers at the
Broadway level are usually in demand and tend to oversee several
shows at a time, hiring a Company manager to oversee the dayto-day needs of each production.
Stage ManagerThis is the battle commander who makes sure the
elements of a show come together successfully. For starters, the
stage manager (SM) schedules rehearsals and coordinates the
handling of all scenery, props, and costumes. For major
productions, the SM also has to maintain a master script, noting all
staging and technical cues this script then becomes the "bible"
which all future performances must conform to. During actual
performances, the SM is in charge of everything that takes place on
stage and backstage, overseeing every actor, set, technical issue
and prop. If a cue is missed or a performer takes liberties with the
material, the SM is expected to correct things and only if
necessary, call in the director and/or the producers to help keep
egos in line. Thanks to wireless communication, stage managers

are no longer glued to their traditional backstage command

podium. Now, the stage manager and a team of assistants (ASM's)
can be anywhere they are needed, using remote headphones and
computerized controls to communicate. Some Broadway stage
managers move through the theatre through each performance,
checking in on different members of the production team. The
complex demands of high-tech productions have made these men
and women more important than ever the unsung heroes who
hold shows together.
House ManagerTalk about hard working people who get almost
no credit! While the stage manager oversees the cast and crew, the
house manager takes care of everything that happens on the
audience's side of the curtain, coordinating the ushers, box office
managers, theatre custodians, ticket takers, bartenders,
souvenir sales team and more. If a theatergoer has a serious
problem, (noisy neighbors, ticket disputes, health crisis, etc.) the
house manager is called in.
Dance CaptainFor Broadway runs, national tours, and major
regional productions, a choreographer cannot be on hand to
oversee every performance. So a reliable and experienced dancer is
selected to oversee the musical staging. As a musical runs on,
dancers can easily miss a step or become unsure about nuances in
the staging and a sharp-eyed dance captain will quickly set them
back on track.
Casting DirectorWith encyclopedic memories, casting directors
stay up-to-date on the ever changing pool of acting talent in show
business. They must maintain massive contact files and be ready to
call in a wide selection of performers to fit any particular role.
When a director or producer wants to audition an actor (including
major stars), the casting director arranges it usually by contacting
an actor's agent. Actors (and their agents) make a point of getting
their resumes and photos in front of as many casting directors as

possible. Top producers of the past often had full-time casting

directors of their own, but most casting directors today are free
agents who work for a variety of producers.
AdvertisingProducers hire an advertising firm to design a show
logo, posters and window cards, print and TV ads, and all other
advertising materials. Theatrical advertising is so specialized that
only two or three New York firms handle every show in town.
Press RepresentativeThe more press coverage a show gets, the
better both before and after it opens. The Press Representative
maintains contact with every newspaper, magazine, radio and
television station, making sure that a show gets as much coverage
as possible. They arrange interviews, suggest special interest
features and create publicity events. Press reps also make sure the
critics are invited to previews and given VIP treatment.. They also
try to dispel any negative rumors ("Miss Bankhead hasn't touched
a drop since we started rehearsals!") that might lead to negative
coverage.
ActorsThought we'd never get to them, did you? For many years,
the performers in musical theatre were divided into two distinct
camps singers and dancers. With the rise of the directorchoreographers in the late 1950's, it became important for
Broadway-level performers to do it all. Into the mid-1960's, it was
possible for chorus performers to make a fulltime living in the
theatre, but stage work is now so uncertain that most professional
performers have back-up careers as waiters, bartenders,
administrative assistants, etc.
MakingaMusical

KeyPlayers:TheCreativeTeambyJohnKenrick
(Copyright2000,Revised2002)

Composer & LyricistThe composer writes the music the lyricist

writes the words. It is not unusual for one person to act as both
composer and lyricist. In most cases, composers leave the dances
or underscoring to the orchestrator and dance arranger. (See our
section on Elements of a Musical for more on scores.) Some
lyricists act as their own librettists. Only a very few people have
succeeded as composer, lyricist and librettist such as George M.
Cohan, Noel Coward, Meredith Willson and Jonathan Larson.
For many years, Broadway composers and lyricists made much of
their income from the sale of sheet music. With the change in
musical tastes and the near-disappearance of sheet music, they get
little beyond the chance to share 2% of a show's profits and (if
lucky) part of the long-term rights income if the show is ever
leased for international and amateur productions. The only way for
theatrical composers or lyricists to "strike it rich" is to become
their own producers - as Andrew Lloyd Webber did with his Really
Useful Company.
LibrettistAlso called the "book writer," the librettist creates the
book or script of a musical. In musicals where the dialogue is
almost completely replaced by music (Cats, Phantom of the
Opera, Les Miserables), the librettist is essentially responsible for
making sure everything weaves into a coherent dramatic flow.
Librettists are most often blamed when a show fails, and not
without reason. A show with a strong score and a bad libretto
usually fails, while a show with a so-so score and a great libretto
usually succeeds. (Note: The success of Footloose and Saturday
Night Fever seems to contradict this once-solid rule.) (Our section
on "Elements of a Musical" has more on musical books.)
DirectorUp to the 1940's, writers and producer's had the concept the director was expected to stage a show and supervise rehearsals
in a way that made that concept shine through. Starting in the

1950's, directors took an increasing degree of control over the

creative process. Today, few producers or writers have the clout to
overrule a top director's decisions.
ChoreographerThe person who stages the dances and musical
scenes of a show was once called the "dance director," but the title
changed when ballet choreographers like George Ballanchine and
Agnes DeMille began working on musicals. Since the 1940's,
many musicals have been staged by directors who also
choreograph. A choreographer must give a musical a sense of
movement that helps hold the show together visually.
Set DesignerUntil the 1970's, even the most lavish Broadway
productions used painted flats as sets, creating 3-D paintings that
were more suggestive than realistic. Since the 1970's, sets have
become increasingly realistic, taking up more space and far more
of a show's budget. Sets must move swiftly, allowing a show to
flow seamlessly from one scene to the next. Scenic effects can
make or break a contemporary musical, but you know a show is in
trouble if audiences leave the theatre "humming the sets."
Costume DesignerWhatever you see a Broadway actor wearing
onstage did not come off a store rack. Stage costumes have to stand
up to heavy use and daily cleanings and last for as long as
possible without looking threadbare or tattered (unless they are for
the beggars in Les Miz). Designers must balance sturdiness with
the needs of performers to dance and sing comfortably. When the
original Kiss Me Kate (1948) ran short of money, designer Lemuel
Ayers used heavy-duty curtain fabric for some of the period
costumes.
Lighting DesignerThis is one of the least noticed and yet most
crucial members of the creative team. Costumes, sets and actors
are not worth a damn if no one can see them. With the exception of
the music, nothing sets the mood for a scene as quickly or clearly

as the lighting. This is one of the least noticed and yet most crucial
members of the creative team. Costumes, sets and actors are not
worth a damn if no one can see them. With the exception of the
music, nothing sets the mood for a scene as quickly or clearly as
the lighting.
Musical DirectorThe musical director is much more than the
conductor of the orchestra. He or she is in charge of everything
involving the musical aspects of a show -- from song rehearsals to
maintaining musical performances through a show's run.
Consequently, the MD has a tremendous effect on the sound and
pacing of performances. An MD must be ready to smooth over
technical glitches, reassure uncertain understudies, and handle
anything else that might stop the music. The MD is also in charge
of hiring and managing the orchestra. In many cases, the musical
director is a frequent absentee, and hires a conductor to stand in at
some or all performances.
Sound DesignerThis technically demanding position was not
credited in Playbill listings until the 1980's. In the 1950's, a stage
manager just turned on some foot mikes at curtain time, allowing
basic amplification for the folks in the balcony. Now everyone in a
Broadway cast wears a wireless body mike to provide full
amplification a complex proposition when there are dozens on
stage. Through the 1990s, many complained that theatrical
amplification could be distracting, but technical improvements
have led to much more naturalistic sound in recent years. Technical
staff are on hand during all performances to check each piece of
equipment and continually adjust every microphone's input levels
a task managed from a bank of computers, usually stationed at
the rear of the orchestra section.
OrchestratorThe composer writes the melodies, but the
orchestrator determines what those melodies will sound like when
an orchestra plays them. For example - Richard Rodgers wrote the

melody of "Shall We Dance," but orchestrator Robert Russell

Bennett made its famous "BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!" sound a
reality. The challenge for orchestrators is to make sure their
arrangements do not drown out the singers a task made much
easier by electronic amplification. Most composers let
orchestrators create the overture as well as the underscoring and
scene change music.
Dance ArrangerComposers frequently allow dance arrangers to
handle the time consuming task of working with a choreographer
to score the dance sequences. Shows with minimal dancing may
not have a dance arranger at all, leaving that function in the hands
of the orchestrator.

HowToWriteaMusical
byJohnKenrickCopyright2000TextRevised 2009

The Bad NewsHave you noticed that almost all the books on
how to write songs, lyrics or musicals are written by teachers, not
working professionals? Real writers, composers and lyricists rarely
try to explain how they create, because the creative process is
unique what works for any one of them may not work for anyone
else. Teachers can offer theory and analysis of form, but that
doesn't shed any light on the act of artistic creation.
So lets settle this one right up front no one can tell you how to
create! A seasoned pro may offer pointers, and people with a wide
knowledge of the genre can tell you what forms and approaches
have worked up to now, but the bad news is that no one can give
you a method or road map to creating a musical.
To see how intensely personal the creative process is, let's compare
the approaches used by four great lyricist-librettists

William S. Gilbert wrote all his drafts in expensive leatherbound journals, saving every idea and deleted line for
possible use in the future. These meticulous notebooks are
still preserved after more than a century, providing a
goldmine for researchers. Gilbert always wrote a complete
version of the book and lyrics for a new comic opera before
submitting anything to composer Arthur Sullivan -- then, as
Sullivan composed, Gilbert would make revisions as needed.
Rehearsals usually led to more revisions, and the material
might be edited or even re-written or based on the reactions
of audiences.
When lyricist Larry Hart worked with composer Richard
Rodgers, they would talk through a potential project
(frequently collaborating with a co-librettist, such as Herb
Fields), deciding where the songs would go, which characters
would sing them, and what each song could do to develop the
characters & plot. Then Hart usually waited for Rodgers to
compose the melodies. Hart would listen to a new tune once
or twice, then dash off the lyrics with amazing speed,
scrawling on any available scrap of paper -- sometimes just
filling the spare space in a magazine ad. The libretto would
be rewritten through the final weeks of rehearsal, and was
subject to major revisions right up to its opening night on
Broadway.
Oscar Hammerstein II also worked with Rodgers, but in
their collaborations the book and lyrics were usually written
first. After the two men discussed the dramatic intention of a
potential song, Hammerstein retreated to his Pennsylvania
farm, where he curled into a chair and labored over every
lyric for days or weeks at a time, neatly organizing his ideas
on legal pads, then typing them out. While the first drafts of
scripts were finished long before the first rehearsal, they were
subject to extensive revision during pre-Broadway tryouts.
Alan Jay Lerner's habit of flying halfway around the world
to avoid writing commitments frequently left his

collaborators in a frustrating state of limbo, sometimes for

months on end. Lerner was so crippled by nerves that he
wore white cotton gloves to avoid chewing his fingers raw
while working on a new project. The books and lyrics for his
musicals were usually completed during high-pressure
tryouts, adding tremendous tension to the process. (After
creating My Fair Lady, Lerner had a recurring nightmare
about a group of friends coming into a hotel room to ask
what he had written after several days locked inside.
Surrounded by mounds of crumpled pages, Lerner dreamt he
would hold up a sheet and read, Loverly, loverly, loverly,
loverly whereupon his friends would cart him off to an
asylum.)
Each of these men had their share of hits and flops, so it is
impossible to define any method as right or wrong. Each writer,
composer or collaborative team must figure out (usually by trial
and error) what works best for them. The point is that they go
through the hell of creating no matter how uncomfortable or
terrifying that hell might be.

Compelling NeedIf you are going to write a musical, you are

setting out to offer an audience a story. What makes a musical
compelling, what commands audience interest? Music? Oh please!
A musical must have characters who need or want something
desperately, and that need comes up against an equally powerful
obstacle. The resulting conflict forces these characters to give their
all, risk everything and this is why audiences feel compelled to
see how these stories turn out. All successful book musicals
involve characters who have something or someone they are
willing to put everything on the line for. Some examples
%
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Rent offers a small army of characters who are willing to

face miserable poverty in pursuit of their creative dreams.
In Guys and Dolls, each major character is eventually willing
to radically redefine their life in order to marry the person

they love.
% Sweeney Todd will stop at nothing to kill those who sent him
to prison on a trumped-up charge. Audiences are fascinated to
see Todd's need for revenge consume everything he once
loved.
% Singin' In the Rain has movie star Don Lockwood
simultaneously trying to save his screen career and win the
love of Kathy Seldin, the girl he loves.
% In Wicked, gifted witch Elphaba is willing to abandon her
dreams of respectable success in order to stand up for what
she believes to be right.
How do you know if your story is compelling? Well, how
compelled are you to tell it? Do you care deeply about it, so deeply
that you must tell this story or die? Believe it or not, that's a very
good sign. If you are writing because you think you have a hot
topic others will go for, please double check your motives. It is
impossible to judge in advance what critics and audiences will
applaud for -- all the greatest talents have miscalculated at one
time or another. Your best bet is always to go with material you
care about deeply, a story and characters that you believe in.
Moss Hart once told Alan Jay Lerner that nobody knows the
secret to writing a hit musical . . .but the secret to writing a flop is
"to say yes when you mean no."
Those are the truest words ever spoken about musicals! If every
fiber of your being says "Yes!" to a potential project, it improves
the odds that others will care about it too.

What's It All About?When Jerome Robbins agreed to direct

the original Fiddler On The Roof, he asked the authors a crucial
question: "What is your show about?" They answered that it was
about a Russian Jewish milkman and his family, and Robbins told
them to think again. He wanted to know what the show was really
about at its emotional core what was the main internal force that

would drive the action and touch audiences both intellectually and
emotionally? (Many academics call this core the premiseof a
story.) Eventually, the authors realized that the show was really
about the importance of family and tradition, and about what
happens when a way of life faces extinction. This not only gave
them the idea for a magnificent opening number ("Tradition") it
also gave what could have been a very parochial show irresistible
universal appeal. This is why the fable of Tevya the RussianJewish milkman has moved audiences all over the world.
When writing a musical, you must eventually figure out your
premise, what your show is really about at its core. Then you must
make sure that every element of your material serves that premise
every character, every scene, every line, every song. Anything
that does not serve the premise is extraneous and should be cut.
That may sound ruthless, but it is the secret to building a really
good show.
A good premise gives your musical project wide ranging (if not
universal) appeal. This does not mean you should limit yourself to
common characters facing common challenges far from it! For
example, Sweeney Todd tells the story of a Victorian barber out to
kill the vile men who stole his beloved wife and sent him off to rot
in prison on false charges. But at its core, the show is really about
the terrifying cost of revenge, how past resentment can cost
everything our past, our present and even our future. This
premise makes Sweeney's story the audience's story.
Today, even a revue can have a premise. When Pig's Fly was a set
of hilarious songs and skits built around one gay man's obsession
with succeeding in the theatre -- despite everyone warning that he
would succeed only "when pig's fly." But the show's premise was
that the more outrageous or "over the top" a dream is, the more it is
worth pursuing. That theme resonated with gays and straights
alike, and When Pig's Fly enjoyed a long and profitable off-

Broadway run.

Things to Keep in Mind

Consider these key questions posed by the original producer of
1776 and Pippin -"The greatest question musical dramatists must answer is: does the
story I am telling sing? Is the subject sufficiently off the ground to
compel the heightened emotion of bursting into song? Will a song
add a deeper understanding of character or situation?" - Stuart
Ostrow, A Producer's Broadway Journey (Praeger: Westport, CT. 1999), p. 96.

If all songwriters and librettists answered those questions

diligently, audiences would be spared innumerable hours of
boredom. Dissect the worst musical you have ever seen (I am
serious about this; pick the one you hate the most), and odds are
you will find that the story does not really "sing," does not call for
the heightened emotion of characters bursting into song.
Beyond that basic issue, there are other pointers worth
remembering. In the course of my production career on and off
Broadway, I have worked with dozens of songwriters and
librettists, from gifted unknowns to Tony and Academy Award
winners. Based on that experience, there are several things I would
recommend if you want to write musicals
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See as many musicals as you can, on stage or screen.

Study the musicals you like and figure out what makes them
tick.
Study the musicals you don't like and figure out what
prevents them from ticking. You can sometimes learn far
more by studying a flop than a flawless hit -- at the very
least, look at flops as practical lessons in what not to do!
Since musicals are a collaborative art form, do your best to
find collaborators you can work with comfortably.
Find or invent a story idea that gets you so excited you can

%
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spend five or more years of your life working on it with no

promise (or even a reasonable hope) of it earning you a
penny.
Structure your life in such a way that it leaves you daily time
to write and/or compose.
Be sure this life structure provides a way for you to keep the
bills paid.
Work only on projects you are passionate about never take
on a musical based solely on its commercial possibilities.
This year's "hot" idea often proves to be next year's
embarrassment.
Make sure your work has a genuine sense of humor. Too
many new writers and composers tend to concoct "serious"
musicals that bore audiences.
Don't waste time being afraid of messing up every creative
talent in history has written a clunker. Better yet, every great
musical had started as a clunky first draft. It takes determined
effort and revision to bring out the best in any project. If you
treat every project you work on as a learning experience, I'll
make you a promise; you will find that even a "failed" scene
or song can be a very creative place.

Eight Rules For Writing Musicals

While no one can tell you how to write a musical, (is there an
echo in here?), there are a few basic rules that may help aspiring
authors and composers along the road to their first opening night.
But don't take my word on any of them -- prove them yourself.
They will apply to any great musical currently in existence.
The first four rules apply to good writing of any kind
1. Show, Don't Tell This is job one for all writers, now and
forever. Don't tell us what your characters are let their actions
show us! Drama is expressed in action, not description. No one has
to tell us that Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors is a gullible nerd;
his every action screams it out. Peggy Sawyer never has to declare
that she is a naive newcomer to 42nd Street's hard-edged world of

show business -- her wide-eyed behavior makes that clear from her
first scene.
There is another aspect to "show, don't tell." Since theater and film
are visual as well as literary mediums, musicals are not limited to
words and music. Many a great musicals uses the power of visual
images to communicate key information. (Plays are called
"shows," no?) The waiters in Hello Dolly never have to tell us that
they love Dolly their visible reaction to her presence shows it all.
And no one in My Fair Lady has to announce when Liza Doolittle
becomes a lady her wordless, elegant descent down the stairs
before leaving for the Embassy Ball shows that the transformation
has occurred.
2. Cut everything that is not essential Some call this the "kill
your darlings" rule. Every character, song, word and gesture has to
serve a clear dramatic purpose. If not, the whole structure of your
show can suffer. If something does not develop character, establish
setting or advance the plot, you must cut it -- even if it is a
moment that you love. The next time you see a musical that seems
to be losing steam, odds are that the writers did not have the heart
to cut non-essential material. Never show your audiences such a
lack of respect ruthlessly cut everything that does not serve a
clear and vital purpose to your premise.
3. Know the basics of good storytelling Musicals are just
another form of telling stories, an art humans have been practicing
since the invention of speech. Can you tell me what your show is
really about (the premise), and define the essential dramatic
purpose of each character? And does every scene offer a character
with deep desire confronting a powerful obstacle?
Learning the art of storytelling does not mean getting a masters
degree good news, friend: the basic tools of storytelling are
already in you. Reading a few good books can get you thinking in

the right direction. For starters, try Jerry Cleaver's Immediate

Fiction: A Complete Writing Course (NY: St. Martin's Griffin,
2002). It will open your eyes to the unseen elements that make a
great story absorbing, and a great story is the best starting point for
any book musical. If you need to go deeper, read Robert Olen
Butler's From Where You Dream: The Process of Writing
Fiction (NY: Grove Press, 2005). Both of these books are ground
breaking, and both can save you years of misguided effort.
On the specific subject of writing original musicals, Making
Musicals (NY: Limelight Editions, 1998) by Tom Jones is the
only book on the subject written by a bona fide creator of musical
hits (The Fantasticks, etc.). He offers no magic formulas, but his
gentle wisdom can enrich anyone facing the creative process.
4. Your first duty in writing a musical is to tell a good story in a
fresh, entertaining way NEVER to teach or preach. If you
make one or more intelligent points along the way, that's fantastic,
but it won't matter much if your audience has lost interest, or
simply stayed away. Dance a Little Closer condemned war and
homophobia, and closed on its opening night. On the other hand,
Hairspray skewered bigotry and ran for years. And while some
critics dismiss The Sound of Music as fluff, it has probably done
more harm to the ongoing threat of Nazism than all the World War
II documentaries ever made.
If you always put the story and characters first, you won't have to
hit anyone over the head with a lesson or message. A well-told
story lives in the memory long after any sermon or lecture. I beg
you: if you want to preach, build a pulpit. When you are really
lucky, the one who will learn something from your writing is you.
Now, some rules that apply specifically to the musical form
5. Find the Song Posts - Song placement in a musical is not

arbitrary! Irving Berlin said that he evaluated potential projects by

looking for the "posts" points in the story that demand a song.
Call these key moments whatever you like, but they are the places
where characters have some emotional justification for singing.
Think about your favorite musical; the songs all have something to
say, expressing important feelings or concerns of the characters.
Joy, confusion, heartbreak, love, rage at the points or posts where
these life-defining feelings break through, characters can sing.
6. Open With a Kick-Ass Song Every now and then, a
successful musical (My Fair Lady, The King and I) opens with a
few pages of dialogue before the opening number, but these are the
exceptions. In most cases, the quickest way to touch a musical
theatre audience is through song. An effective number or musical
scene sets the tone for the show to come and also allows swift plot
exposition & character development. By the end of the opening
number, audiences should know where the story is set, what sort of
people are in it, and what the basic tone of the show (comic, satiric,
serious, etc.) will be. This is why the opening number ought to be
one of the strongest in the score. A great opening number reassures
audiences that there more good things to come. Think of Ragtime's
title song, which handily introduces audiences to an army of
characters and the distant era they lived in! Other examples:
Oklahoma ("Oh, What a Beautiful Morning"), Les Miserables ("At
the End of the Day"), Urinetown ("Too Much Exposition"), and
Hairspray ("Good Morning, Baltimore").
7. Book, Score and Staging MUST Speak as One In
contemporary musical theater, the score, libretto and staging (both
direction and choreography) share the job of storytelling. This
results in frequent passages of sung dialogue, as well as scenes
where characters move seamlessly between spoken word, dance
and song. Think of the hilarious "Keep It Gay" in The Producers,
the achingly beautiful "If I Loved You" bench scene in Carousel,
or the powerful dances ignited by the songs in Moving Out the

dialogue, lyrics and staging form a single fabric. The trick is to

keep the content smooth and varied. A hint if your libretto goes
on for pages and pages between isolated musical numbers,
something is probably wrong. And if your score has a stretch of
ballad after ballad, give your audiences a break and vary the tone.
In other words, lighten up!
8. Songs Are Not Enough When you turn an existing story into
a musical, you need a fresh vision. Just adding songs won't give
you an effective musical. You have to tell the story with a fresh
dose of energy, of re-inspiration. Annie took the characters from a
classic comic strip, added some new faces and placed them all in
an entirely new story. Some of the best moments in My Fair Lady
did not come from Shaw's Pygmalion -- including the crux of the
pivotal "Rain in Spain" scene. When you add songs, you must also
re-ignite the material at hand.
9. Sing It or Say It; NEVER Both Rouben Mamoulian, the
original director of Porgy & Bess, Oklahoma & Carousel put it this
way: "It's the basic law that the music and dancing must extend the
dialogue. If you say the same thing in a song you already have said
in the speeches, it's without point. . . a song must lift the spoken
scene to greater heights than it was before, or the song must be cut
no matter how beautiful is the melody. The song must not merely
repeat in musical terms what has already been put across by the
dialogue and actions." (Maurice Zoltow, NY Times, 1/29/1950,
"Mamoulian Directs a Musical," section 2, p.1)

Why You SHOULD NOT Write MusicalsYes, I mean

you. Working in the professional theatre can be hell yes, hell. hat
is why several wise people have been credited with saying that the
worst thing they could wish on Hitler was that he "be stuck out of
town working on a new musical!"

Can you stand the merciless judgment of producers, potential

backers, fellow creators, press critics, anonymous internet
chatroom snipers, and (gulp!) paying audiences? Can you handle
years (and I mean years) of anonymous, unpaid struggle? Are you
ready to work your butt off eight hours or more at a demanding day
job and then somehow find the energy to write on the side? Can
you handle the fact that most people will have no idea who you are
or what you do even if you win a Tony or an Oscar? Finally, can
you handle doing all this for no more than 2% of a show's profits?
(That's the percentage the authors share under the present standard
contract, so if you collaborate, you only get a piece of that!) This is
not a career for the dilettante -- or for the feint of heart:
"This is a tough business, a cruel business. The competition,
especially in New York and especially in the musical theatre, is
fierce. Not without reason is there the saying: "It is not enough that
I succeed, my friends have also to fail." There is a tendency after
you have been in the rat race for a while to open the Times and
slowly relish the roasting given to some competitor, possibly even
to some friend."- Tom Jones, Making Musicals: An Informal Introduction to
the World of Musical Theatre (New York: Limelight Editions, 1998), pp. 188.

Why You SHOULD Write Musicals

You should write musicals only if there is no possible way for
you not to. If all the negatives cannot dissuade you, go for it! You
might be crazy enough to succeed in this snake pit. Just be sure
that you always have a solid means of paying your bills and
recharging your spirits. And while talent and luck are valuable to
any aspiring composer, lyricist or librettist, there are three things
that matter even more patience, determination, and guts. One of
the worlds greatest musical comediennes said the following about
acting in an interview, but it applies to writers and composers too
"I'll give you a tip it's risk. Once you're willing to risk
everything, you can accomplish anything."- Patricia Routledge,
actress

There are as many ways to write a musical as there are musicals. If

you do decide to venture forth into this daunting field, know that
my best wishes and the best wishes of millions of ticket-buying
theatre lovers hungering for something new and wonderful will
go with you.