THE ART OF MUSICAL STORYTELLING
A Practical Intensive for Emerging and Established Authors, Directors, and Producers

Five Zoom Sessions
April 30 – May 28, 2024
Tuesdays at 5-7 PM ET

Enhance your current and future work with this one-of-a-kind intensive designed to foster a thorough understanding of the language and mechanics of the musical stage through a practical exploration and objective analysis of the American musical’s history and maturation. There is no one way to make a musical, and there are no limits to the stories one can tell on the musical stage. But, the American musical is no longer an emergent or an untried medium, and an objectively critical eye and a thorough understanding of the form are necessary to create new works of artistic excellence. This course will, for both emerging and established authors, directors, and producers, further develop your creative skills, expand your vocabulary, and deliver an accurate, documented history of the form and the possibilities presented therein.

TOPICS
• Structuring the Story: Traditional
• Structuring the Story: Nontraditional
• Lyric: Story, Character, Theatricality
• Music: Shape, Character, Theatricality
• Musical Styles and Routine
• Moving Into and Out of Song
• Interstitial Dialogue
• Establishing Character, Relationship, and Setting
• Individualizing Character and Environment
• Defining the World
• Revue
• Comedy: Contemporary vs. Midcentury
• Clarity and Specificity
• Shaping a Production Number
• Buttons, Blackouts, Stings, Transitions, and Tags

PARTICULARS
Course Fee: $150
Format: Zoom
Session Dates and Times: April 30, May 7, 14, 21, and 28 at 5-7 PM ET
Register: [email protected]

NOTES
All five sessions in this course will be held live on zoom. Individuals who miss a particular session may request a replay link, which will only be valid for a limited time. The fee covers all five sessions. There will be no discounts for absences. The fee is payable upfront and nonrefundable, except in an instance where the instructor should need to cancel the entire course. There will be a cap placed on the number of registrations in order to maximize the experience for those registered. This course is intended for librettists, lyricists, composers, directors, and producers, but all individuals are welcome. It is suggested that attendees have on hand a copy of the new book The American Musical, which will be referenced as a supplemental resource.