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 Shepherd In The Distance (by Holland Hudson)
      • Beside Schopenhauer’s Corpse (by Guy de Maupassant)
      • The Baby Carriage (by Bosworth Crocker)
      • The Wolf and the Shepherds (by Ambrose Bierce)
      • A Ship and a Man (by Ambrose Bierce)

      *** 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 27, 1925     Jane Connell, who created the role of Agnes Gooch in Mame in 1966, was born today. She reprised her role in the film version of Mame and again in the 1983 revival. In 1986 she was nominated for a Tony Award for Me and My Girl, and appeared again on Broadway in Crazy for You in 1992.
      • October 30, 2003     Just in time for Halloween, Wicked, the musical about two witches, landed on Broadway.
      • 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.

      *** 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!

      • Button:

        A musical punctuation to indicate the definitive end of a song. A button could be a single note, loud or soft, or a chord, or a short musical phrase. The button’s main function is to assure the audience it’s time to applaud. Examples include most every song from:

        • Avenue Q
        • Honeymoon in Las Vegas
      • Falsetto:

        A technique of singing with the “head” voice to create notes above an actor’s normal range; usually refers to a male voice. An example would be “Bring Him Home” (Les Miserables).

      • Synecdoche:

        A figure of speech in which a part stands for the whole. Such as:

        Classification of a noun standing for the noun itself:
        vessel for ship
        weapon for sword
        creature for man
        arms for rifles

        Noun standing for the classification:
        bread for food
        cutthroat for assassin

        Part substituted for the whole:
        sail for ship
        hands for helpers
        roofs for houses
        Noun itself used for what is derived from it:
        silver for money
        canvas for sail
        steel for sword

      • Pentameter:

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

      • Metaphor:

        Metaphor is an implied comparison identifying the two things compared with each other. Note: A metaphor is a different grammatical construct from the simile. The simile deliberately and obviously says to the listener, “I am comparing X to Y, and telling you that they are alike” (“crazy like a fox”; “Life is a cabaret”). However, a metaphor is not a simile with the “like” or “as” missing. A metaphor uses imagery or language from one idea and inserts it into the other idea…from which the listener must infer the comparison.

        Simile: My father is as steady as a ship.

        Metaphor: My father navigates this family through the tempests of our lives.

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


Mildred Wall and Edith Van Cleve / photograph by Apeda. Published between 1910 and 1929. Photographer: Apeda Studio (New York, N.Y. From the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, New York Public Library


The world is lyrical
Because a miracle
Has brought my lover to me!

--Lorenz Hart