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:

      • The Pugilist’s Diet (by Ambrose Bierce)
      • Dalyrimple Goes Wrong (by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
      • The Hen and the Vipers (by Ambrose Bierce)
      • The Wrists on the Door (by Horace Fish)
      • Maggie: Girl of the Streets (by Stephen Crane)

      *** 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:

      • October 29, 1891     Fanny Brice, the star of a dozen editions of The Ziegfeld Follies, brilliant comedienne, and inspiration for Funny Girl, was born today.
      • October 20, 1935     Jerry Orbach, star of the original productions of The Fantasticks, Carnival!, Promises, Promises, Chicago, and 42nd Street – as well as revivals of Guys and Dolls and Annie Get Your Gun – was born today.
      • October 12, 1971     The rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar opened in New York, marking Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Broadway debut.

      *** 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!

      • Pentameter:

        A line of poetry with five feet such as The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain.

      • Crossover:

        Music composed to accompany a brief moment in between scenes when characters literally cross from one side of the stage to another

      • Simile:

        A figure of speech involving a comparison between two unlike entities, explicitly indicated by the actual or implied words “like” or “as.”

        somber like a cathedral
        Love is like a river
        I’m as corny as Kansas in August

        Note that the words “like” or “as” do not have to present for the phrase to be a simile.

        Life is a cabaret
        You’re the cream in my coffee

      • The Complete Rhyming Dictionary and Poet’s Craft Book:

        by Clement Wood. New York, Doubleday & Company, 1936, 1991

      • Bass:

        The lowest male voice. Often associated automatically with character roles, either sinister or comic. True “bass” is very rare in musical theatre. Changes timbre below a low G and above middle C.

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


Eddie Cantor, circa 1920’s. From the Musical Theatre History collection of the Library of Congress.


I’m crazy about sleep.

--Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby