I’m sure I’m the only one out there that needs a kick in the inspirational pants from time to time. No one else ever needs a trick or two to get the creative juices flowing. But just in case you have a friend who might need a little help, here are three of my quick […]
The post Getting Unstuck appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
I love buttons. For the uninitiated, the “button” is that little bump on the end of a song that tells the audience it’s over and prompts them to clap. Left to my own devices, I would button everything. Actually, I’d triple-button everything: music button, movement button, and lighting button. I have a collaborator who hates this. He’s viscerally opposed […]
The post To Button, Or Not To Button appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
I’ve never done the experiment, but I wonder what would happen if you filled a room with theater professionals – writers, actors, designers, producers, etc., and asked them each to list songs currently in the Top 40. What would the median number of right answers would be? Ten? Five? Two? (If you want to try this yourself, you can […]
The post Reasons to Steal Your 15-Year-Old Niece’s iPod appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
Happy November and welcome to The Writers Block! This month, I am highlighting a song by the wonderful composer/lyricist, Michael Patrick Walker. Last summer, I had the pleasure of working with him when we performed together at a concert at the Hippodrome in London, along with Georgia Stitt. Born and raised in the small town of New Freedom, […]
The post THE WRITER’S BLOCK: The Wall appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
You may be surprised to learn that in addition to writing for the musical theater, I have had a bit of success as a choral music composer, too. For me, ensemble singing (and writing and conducting) taps into the part of me that really does prefer to be making music with other people as opposed […]
The post The Sound Of Music appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
I love an epic six minute story song as much as anybody, but there’s something undeniably satisfying about the occasional little gem that packs a huge punch and then is gone before you quite know what hit you. Doris Humphrey said that “every dance is too long,” and while I wouldn’t go that far with songs, sometimes less […]
The post A Little Post About Little Songs appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
I love “I Dreamed a Dream.” I have an embarrassing number of versions of it in my iTunes. I mentioned it in my first blog post. It’s a bit of a problem. Call the lyrics cliché, call the orchestration overwrought, but somehow it just sort of works. Now that we have that out of the way (did I […]
The post I Dreamed a Dream: Of Good Vowels On High Notes appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
Hello theater geeks, performers, fellow writers, and parents of the theater geeks, performers, and writers who are reading these blogs as to further understand why their child is “the way they are.” Today I wanted to tackle a subject that comes as an occupational hazard… writer’s block. This blog may seem to be catered to strictly composers and writers, […]
The post Drew Gasparini’s Guide To Saying “F*** You” To Writer’s Block appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
Every time I have performed an evening of my music, I am inevitably asked the same questions: “What is that from?” “Why did you write that song?” “What did you write first, the music or the lyrics?” “What’s your bank account number?” Well, the last one only happened once…… But the point is…people ask questions. So, it […]
The post THE WRITER’S BLOCK: More Than Just Sundays appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
There’s an old theater adage that “no one leaves humming the set.” I contend it’s equally true that “no one leaves humming the syncopated, accidental-filled, sixteenth-note-y vamp.” As more new musical theater is being written by amazingly talented, expert pianists (who are often non-singers), increasing attention is being paid to the accompaniment figure, which is being written first, at […]
The post Melody Matters appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
