NMI’s RESOURCE CENTER for musical theatre writers

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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:

Alamontade (by Heinrich Zschokki)
The Trumpeter of Säkkingen (by Rudolf Bunge)
Theodule Sabot’s Confession (by Guy de Maupassant)
Fortune and the Woodcutter (by Andrew Lang)
Coward (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.

*** CHECK OUT ALL THE LABS ***

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 12, 1933 Bela Lugosi, famous for his 1931 film portrayal of Dracula, made his Broadway musical debut in Murder at the Vanities.
September 6, 1985 A concert version of Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman’s legendary musical Follies played two nights only at Lincoln Center. All 5,500 tickets sold out in less than three hours. The all-star cast included Barbara Cook, Lee Remick, Elaine Stritch, Carol Burnett, Mandy Patinkin, George Hearn, and Comden and Green, among others.
September 18, 1968 The film version of Funny Girl, which cemented Barbra Streisand’s status as legend of Broadway, nightclubs, recordings, television, and film, premiered today in New York City.

*** Click to access the full archives. ***

INSIDER TIPS AND ADVICE

Here is one of our videos with insider tips and advice:

*** VIEW MORE INSIDER TIPS AND ADVICE VIDEOS ***

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!

ASCAP:
A service organization which collects and distributes royalties on behalf of songwriters in film, television, theatre, etc. www.ascap.org
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
AABA:
A refrain structure in which an initial A section is followed by a second A section of identical musical material, followed by a section of contrasting musical material, and concluded with a repetition of the initial A section. Lyrics change in each section, but there is usually a repeated lyric in the same location of each A section (e.g., lyric is repeated either the beginning or the end of the A sections). Generally this corresponds to a refrain of typically 8-bar sections. AABA refers to the structure of the Refrain, not the structure of the song.
Writing a Musical:
by Richard Andrews. London, Robert Hale, 1998.
Trimeter:
A line of poetry with three feet, such as As long as he needs me.

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

Vaudeville and burlesque dancers . Photographer: Sarony, Otto. “Silvia Grey, a famous skirt dancer”–Hand-written on verso. Location: The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts / Jerome Robbins Dance Division. From the collection Treasures of the American Performing Arts, 1875-1923

You’re always sorry,
You’re always grateful,
You hold her, thinking, “I’m not alone.”
You’re still alone.

--Stephen Sondheim