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You’ve seen her Emmy- and Golden Globe Award-winning television show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, you’ve downloaded her songs, you’ve bought her sheet music. (I know you have – you’ve asked me to transcribe her sheet music for you, and she has generously allowed me to do that.) You’ve even seen her in her viral, break-through, Youtube channel... As her hit show sets off on its fourth and final season, I sat down with the one and only Rachel Bloom... and asked her the nine most pressing questions I had. Here’s what she said:

The article 9 Questions for Rachel Bloom appeared first in 

Musical Theater Today, Volume 2.

Recently, I got in touch with Broadway veteran Betsy Struxness. While she’s currently performing in Hamilton, Betsy’s career has taken her through many national tours and Broadway shows. Her journey is one that many people pursuing show biz can relate to; she started performing at a young age and from there it’s been a long […]

The post Cutlets, Casting, and Karate: An Interview with Betsy Struxness appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

Katya Stanislavskaya is an amazing composer, lyricist, musical director, and educator. She is currently the Program Director of Musical Theatre at Western Carolina University (my alma mater) in addition to continuing to work on her own material. I am always interested in industry professionals who strike the balance between being an educator and an artist, […]

The post An Interview with Katya Stanislavskaya appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

Jennifer Ashley Tepper is a Musical Theatre Historian and curator/author of the books The Untold Stories of Broadway Volumes 1 and 2. She’s also the co-creator and writer of the Bistro Award-winning concert series "If It Only Even Runs A Minute," which celebrates underappreciated musicals, and the Director of Programming at Feinstein’s/54 Below, where she […]

The post Drinks with Jen: My Conversation with Jennifer Ashley Tepper appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

This final installment of “Finishing the Hat” is personal. I met Rachel Dean a few years ago when we wrote our first song together and have been enamored of her ever since. This series has been a joy in my life, and being able to give NMT readers a glimpse into the processes of a […]

The post FINISHING THE HAT: “Monsters In My Closet” – A Conversation with Rachel Dean appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

I often hear the argument that too much new musical theatre sounds the same: the same chord structure – the same lyrics of longing – without a nod to the songwriters who have come before. I have enough arguments to the contrary to fill 10 TED talks, but for the sake of this series, you […]

The post FINISHING THE HAT: “The Ocean” – A Conversation with Rachel Griffin appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

Of all the discussion about the writing of musicals – the “to-do”s and “to-don’t”s, what IS and what ISN’T musical theatre, what rhymes and what doesn’t – it’s good to get back to basics: musical theatre is first and foremost about storytelling. A great musical has a story ARC, but each individual song should reveal […]

The post FINISHING THE HAT: “Vietnam” – A Conversation with Alexander Sage Oyen appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

Georgia Stitt is superwoman. Not only is she among the most honest writers working today, she wears more hats in one year than most of us do in a lifetime. There are two simple reasons. First, Ms. Stitt is smart and incredibly gifted. That combination has yielded much-lauded projects like The Water, Big Red Sun, and […]

The post FINISHING THE HAT: “My Lifelong Love” – A Conversation with Georgia Stitt appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

A few weeks ago I took a short trip down to Oklahoma City to see the world premiere of Bernice Bobs Her Hair at the Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma. Based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the new musical features music by Adam Gwon, book by Julia Jordan, and lyrics by both Gwon […]

The post New Works in the Midwest: a Q & A with Michael Baron appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

I am sitting in a dark corner of Cielo, a club in the West Village whose twitter proudly proclaims it as “WHERE HOUSE MUSIC LIVES!!” But it’s midday. The sun shines in through an open door. And there’s definitely no house music. Instead, there are five dancers rehearsing a narrative dance piece based on the […]

The post BC Beat: Where The Community Lives appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

Modern musical theatre has become a master class in honest dialogue – and what a welcome and amazing thing that is. When I first heard the songs of Kerrigan-Lowdermilk many years ago, that is what struck me most – the honesty. Kerrigan’s lyrical prowess lies in her ability to balance honest awkwardness with poetic metaphor. […]

The post FINISHING THE HAT: “Anyway” – A Conversation with Kait Kerrigan appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

Sweeping romantic epics have been a part of the American musical theater pantheon since its inception. Show Boat may have launched that ship (pun very much intended), and since then they’ve come to be defined by Les Miserables. Rarely can a writer create epic works like Les Miz and also intimate musicals with equal sweep […]

The post FINISHING THE HAT: “The Secret of Happiness” – A Conversation with Paul Gordon appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

All of the great lyricists have said (in one way or another) that lyric writing is about concision and character. When those two things collide, musical moments achieve an organic level that can only breed honesty. Lyrics where not one word is wasted are amazing to behold. Drew Gasparini represents a rare form of honesty […]

The post FINISHING THE HAT: “Kindergarten Love Song” – A Conversation with Drew Gasparini appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

Kansas City is quickly becoming a hub for new musicals. Whether it’s through private readings with nonprofit theatres, small productions through the local fringe festival, or full out-of-town try outs, Kansas City is seeing its share of new, original musicals. Most recently, the Kansas City Repertory Theatre, under the artistic direction of Eric Rosen, has […]

The post Everything’s Up to Date in Kansas City: A Look at STILLWATER appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

Welcome to the final installment of #musicalBFFs, a series of exclusive video interviews between NMT Writers and some of their musical best friends! Today, Brian Lowdermilk (…Sam Brown, The Bad Years) interviews his childhood friend Josh Young (Amazing Grace, Jesus Christ Superstar). Watch the video and then head over to NMT for a special deal. Today and tomorrow only, get a free Kerrigan-Lowdermilk songbook with […]

The post Brian Lowdermilk and Josh Young are #musicalBFFs appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

When you think of musical subject matter, is anything ever really off limits? Having to pay to urinate, people who’ve tried to kill the president of the United States, Jerry Springer, Imelda Marcos, mental illness, you name it. There’s something for everyone. So with that in mind, remember this sentence: A musical will reflect the […]

The post Working Hard For The Funny – Tripod Edition (Or…. Dungeons and Dragons, Video Games, and knowing your audience) appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.