This fall, The Green Room is thrilled to welcome a fantastic group of new bloggers to our team. For the rest of the week, you can get to know them through our Meet the Bloggers series.

Name: Matt Board

What do you do outside of blogging? I’m a composer and lyricist, writing new musicals in the UK! Right now I’m hard at work on my brand new full-length musical Fanatical (set at a science fiction convention) and my one-act children’s musical Ella and the Dragophant (about a young girl and her powerful imagination), both currently in development.

Favorite musical: Sunday In The Park With George, by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea and it’s certainly not without its flaws, but it moves me like no other piece of theatre. I think it’s Sondheim’s most emotionally raw and honest score, and there are so many moments in it – “Finishing The Hat,” “Sunday,” “Children and Art” – which transport me to another world. Stunningly beautiful.

What are you interested in blogging about this fall? Primarily, I want to explore the challenges of writing new musical theatre – both the detailed craft of revealing character and story through song, and the process of working with a whole team of creatives to bring a show from page to stage.

I also want to explore other issues directly affecting new writers, such as where new musicals are being staged and what opportunities there are beyond clubs and cabarets to get their work heard.

I live and work in the UK, and wherever possible I want to provide a UK perspective on the world-wide evolution of musical theatre as a medium.

What are your non-theater interests? I’m also a cartoonist, and I love to draw comics and illustrations in my spare time. I’m a huge fan of graphic novels, science fiction and fantasy. My favourite authors include Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore, and I’m excited for the imminent new series of Doctor Who.

Favorite NMT song: “The 6:59,” from The Stationmaster by Tim Connor. I’m possibly a little biased as Tim is a good friend of mine, but this song (and so many others by him) does everything a really great piece of musical theatre should do: gives you a rich sense of character, tells a complete story in itself and fills your head with images and emotions. Tim wrote it with the performer Nigel Richards in mind, and it’s perfectly suited to his sonorous baritone voice.

Read Matt’s posts here.
Follow Matt on twitter: @RealMattBoard
Follow Fanatical on twitter: @FanaticalTweets

The post Meet the Bloggers: Matt Board appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.