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:

      • Billee Taylor (by R. Stephens)
      • Our Aromatic Uncle (by HC Bunner)
      • Princess Ida (by W.S. Gilbert)
      • The Master-Smith (by Sir George Webbe Dasent)
      • The Penguins’ Rock (by Guy de Maupassant)

      *** 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:

      • December 6, 1896     Lyricist Ira Gershwin was born today. On Broadway, he worked almost exclusively with his brother George on shows like Lady Be Good, Funny Face, Oh Kay!, and Rosalie. After George’s premature death, he also collaborated with Kurt Weill on Lady in the Dark and The Firebrand of Florence. For the movies, he also collaborated with Jerome Kern and Harold Arlen.
      • December 9, 1897     British comedienne Hermione Gingold, who stole scenes in the musical movies Gigi and The Music Man and received a Tony Award nod at the age of 75 for A Little Night Music, was born today. (She also appeared in Harold Prince’s ill-fated film version of …Night Music.)
      • December 2, 1914     Ray Walston, who appeared in Me and Juliet and House of Flowers before originating the role of a lifetime as Applegate in Damn Yankees – and winning a Tony Award for it – was born today.

      *** 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!

      • Soprano:

        The highest female voice, generally lighter than other women’s voices. Often associated automatically with innocence, purity, youth. Changes timbre below about middle C and above high F. Examples include: Maria (West Side Story); Luisa (Fantasticks); Hope (Urinetown); Ann (A Little Night Music)

      • Integrated script:

        A combination of script and score, with running page numbers, prepared for rehearsal purposes, in the following order: book, lyric, music, book, lyric, music, etc.

      • Format:

        Standard formatting guidelines for script, also for score.

      • Song spotting:

        The process of determining possibilities for sung passages.

      • Personification:

        Investing abstractions or inanimate objects with human qualities or abilities. Such as:
        The ground thirsts for rain.
        The dew winked in the morning sun.
        Ol’ Man River, he mus’ know sumpin’.

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


Fred and Adele Astaire, circa 1920’s. From the Musical Theatre History collection of the Library of Congress.


June is bustin’ out all over!
All over the meadow and the hill,
Buds’re bustin outa bushes,
And the rompin’ river pushes
Ev’ry little wheel that wheels beside a mill.

--Oscar Hammerstein II