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:

      • Man About Town (by O. Henry)
      • The Beggar (by Guy de Maupassant)
      • The King And The Ant (by Sir George Webbe Dasent)
      • The House with the Mezzanine (by Anton Chekhov)
      • Chautonville (by Will Levington Comfort)

      *** 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:

      • September 22, 1964     Fiddler on the Roof, arguably the last show of the golden era of musical theatre, opened. The original cast featured Maria Karnilova, Bea Arthur, Bert Convy, Austin Pendleton, Joanna Merlin, Julia Migenes, and, of course, Zero Mostel, who won his third Tony in five years for playing Tevye.
      • September 17, 1933     Dorothy Loudon, who received her first of 3 Tony Award nominations for her breakout role in 1969’s flop The Fig Leaves are Falling – despite its having run only four performances – was born today. The biggest triumphs of Loudon’s long career were her boozy, frowzy Miss Hannigan in Annie (Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical) and the widow Bea in Michael Bennett’s Ballroom.
      • September 2, 1910     Kitty Carlisle Hart, who appeared in numerous vaudeville shows and Broadway musicals – as well as on film with The Marx Brothers in A Night at the Opera – was born. Also well known for her 20 year leadership of the New York State Council on the Arts and as the wife of My Fair Lady and Camelot director Moss Hart. She died in April 2007 at the age of 97.

      *** 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!

      • Courtesy / Cautionary Accidentals:

        A courtesy accidental, also called a cautionary or reminder accidental, is one that, according to the rules of accidental occurrence, isn’t strictly necessary before a note. But there are times when the composer wants to remind the player that an accidental is (or is not) in effect for a particular note. For example, in a measure containing several E accidentals, the first E in the next measure often has a courtesy natural attached, even though the E is technically canceled in the new measure. See also Cautionary Accidentals..

      • Euphony:

        An harmonious succession of words having a pleasant sound. Such as:

        I’m simply drowned in the sight
        And the sound and the scent
        And the feel of a real live girl.

        my jauntily, sauntering, ambling shambler.

        Whatever the boat I row, you row.
        Whatever the row I hoe, you hoe.
        And any I.O.U. I owe, you owe
        No, we owe – together.

      • Pentameter:

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

      • 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.

      • Revue:

        A musical show without a narrative storyline, usually without ongoing characters, which can contain scenes as well as songs.

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


Souvenir postcard from the New National Theatre in Philadelphia. Early Musical The Black Crook – 1866. From the New York Public Library collections.


Moonlight becomes you,
It goes with your hair.
You certainly know the right thing to wear.

--Johnny Burke