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 Groac’h of the Isle of Lok (by Andrew Lang)
      • Zelig (by Benjamin Rosenblatt)
      • A Yellow Dog (by Bret Harte)
      • A Piece of Bread (by Francois Coppee)
      • The Stone (by Henry Goodman)

      *** 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:

      • April 22, 1993     First it was a record album, then a movie, then, inevitably, a stage musical: The Who’s Tommy opened on Broadway today.
      • April 16, 1927     Edith ‘Edie’ Adams was born today. Adams won a Tony for Best Featured Actress as Daisy Mae in L’il Abner. Then, she played Julie Andrew’s Fairy Godmother in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s television version of Cinderella.
      • April 6, 1941     The theater community gathered in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria to pay homage to the recently deceased Antoinette Perry. The American Theatre Wing presented awards for achievement in the previous season. In recognition of Perry, they would come to be known as the Tony Awards. First year’s recipients included David Wayne and Michael Kidd for Finian’s Rainbow, Agnes de Mille for Brigadoon, and Kurt Weill for Street Scene.

      *** 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!

      • Crossover:

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

      • Apostrophe:

        A figure of speech addressing an absent person or personified abstraction.  Such as:

        Death, where is thy sting?
        America, God shed his grace on thee.
        Love, look away.

      • Near rhyme:

        Syllables which are close to rhyming, but do not pass both rules of rhyme. Near rhyme is encouraged in pop music, but frowned upon in musical theatre.

      • Reading Lyrics:

        by Robert Gottlieb and Robert Kimball. New York, Pantheon Books, 2000.

      • ANMT:

        Academy for New Musical Theatre. The academic branch of New Musicals Inc. They offer classes, workshops, readings and other support for writers studying the craft of musical theatre.

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


Window card for By Jupiter . 1942. From the Billy Rose Theater Collection, New York Public Library


Maybe you can tell me what we ought to do.

--Otto Harbach