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:

Coco (by Guy de Maupassant)
A Yellow Dog (by Bret Harte)
Two of the Damned (by Ambrose Bierce)
Gargoyle (by Edwina Stanton Babcock)
Vengeance is Mine (by Virgil Jordan)

*** 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:

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.
November 18, 1909 Four-time Oscar winner and lyricist for L’il Abner, St. Louis Woman, and Top Banana, Johnny Mercer, was born today. Mercer teamed with some of Hollywood’s top composers, including Harold Arlen, Henry Mancini, Harry Warren, Jimmy McHugh, Jerome Kern, and Marvin Hamlisch, 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!

Making Musicals:
by Tom Jones. New York, Limelight Editions, 1998.
Crossover:
Music composed to accompany a brief moment in between scenes when characters literally cross from one side of the stage to another
ABAB:
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 a repetition of the “B 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. ABAB refers to the structure of the Refrain, not the structure of the song. An example is: Que Sera Sera (Livingston/Evans).
Incidental music:
Music which is designed to play underneath the action and/or dialogue of the show.
Sources for scores and books:
If you are looking for scores and librettos, you might try: Brand Library (Glendale); Samuel French Bookstores; USC Music Library; UCLA Music Library; Santa Monica Public Library; Beverly Hills Public Library; Los Angeles Public Library (www.lapl.org)

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

Duke McHale as Peter, Mitzi Green as Billie Smith, and the Nicholas Brothers as Irving and Ivor de Quincy in rehearsal for Babes in Arms . 1937. Photographer: Tucker, Richard, 1895-1958. From Richard Tucker photographs, 1934-1951. From the Digital Gallery Collections of the New York Public Library.

I get too hungry for dinner at eight.
I like the theater, but never come late.
I never bother with people I hate.
That’s why the lady is a tramp.

--Lorenz Hart