“That was great! Really, really good audition. We’ll get in touch.” Yep, you got that right. This is the misleading statement that causes performers a great deal of false hope and a lot of overwhelming frustration. Don’t take it personally, though. It’s not because you’re not talented enough to play the lead—in fact you are, […]
The post Always, Always an Understudy appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
As the end of the semester approaches, plenty of college students find themselves buried under a seemingly never-ending to-do list of projects and finals. It’s tiring enough, but add in the extra stresses that come with being a student in the performing arts (a term I’m using generically to include students studying theatre, music, musical […]
The post A Performer’s Guide to the End of the Semester appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
I’m sure we can all agree that contemporary musical theater has a special place in our hearts. When I saw Edges for the first time, I was hooked. I fell in love with the music and the characters, probably because they were so easy to relate to. And now, contemporary musical theater composing teams are […]
The post MT in the City: Classical vs. Contemporary appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
This week we’re taking a quick break from letters to focus on some tips for auditioning. It’s back to school time, so I’m in the mood for sharpened #2 pencils, sweaters, and lectures. Below, I’m going to point out some areas that will make you endear yourself to the accompanist/music director. DO: Put your music […]
The post Maria Solves Your Problems: Back-to-School Audition Tips appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
Hi there, NMT readers! My name is Maria, a longtime user of NewMusicalTheatre.com and reader of the blogs. I’m also a music director in the wonderful community theatre sphere of Boston. Community (or the kinder euphemism “local”) theatre doesn’t get a lot of love sometimes, but it should – it’s how most people get started, […]
The post Maria Solves Your Problems: Announcing NMT’s Audition Help Column appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
In this series of blog posts, I’m focusing on the musical theatre BFA: thoughts from a variety of people about the state of actor training today. This is the conclusion of my conversation with Brent Wagner, chair of the Musical Theatre program at the University of Michigan. (Click here to read Part 1.) ROB HARTMANN: […]
The post “Helping the Writers Find the Way”: Brent Wagner from the University of Michigan (Part 2) appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
In this series of blog posts, I’ve been having conversations with a variety of people about the musical theater BFA — both with faculty members, and with some graduates of programs. In this installment, for a moment I’ll share my own thoughts — as a writer/composer/lyricist, as an educator who works with musical theater writers, […]
The post The Musical Theatre BFA: Finding the Right Path appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
In this series of blog posts, I’m having conversations about the musical theatre BFA, talking with faculty members and graduates of various school about their thoughts of the state of actor training programs today. This week, I spoke with Aubrey Berg, who is the head of the musical theatre program at the Cincinnati Conservatory of […]
The post “At the service of the character”: Aubrey Berg from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
In this series of posts, I’m taking a look at musical theater BFA programs: having conversations not only with faculty, but also with graduates of a wide range of schools. I wanted to talk to actors who have stood out to me when we’ve worked together, and find out their thoughts on training for the […]
The post “Looking For What’s Unique”: Victoria Huston-Elem, graduate of Syracuse University appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
In this series of conversations, I’m investigating the musical theatre BFA: talking to people involved in programs at a variety of schools. This week, I talked to an old friend, Eve Himmelheber, who is the coordinator of the musical theatre BFA program at California State University, Fullerton; their musical theatre program is competitive with the […]
The post “Think Fast!”: Eve Himmelheber of Cal State Fullerton appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
If you were a musical theatre writer or a songwriter in the 1910s, you would travel to 28th Street between 6th Avenue and Broadway to sell your music at Tin Pan Alley. You would walk in with a finished song and hopefully walk out with some exposure (and maybe a profit). During the 1960s and 1970s, musical […]
The post Self-Promotion: An Artform and an Epidemic appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
Rob Hartmann here — composer/lyricist/bookwriter, theatre journalist and critic, and professor (at NYU’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program.) In my last series of posts, I had a number of conversations with people involved in developing new musical theatre on a professional level — directors, producers, choreographers, actors and so on. Next, I’ll be digging a […]
The post New Musical Theatre and the BFA: Creating Musical Theatre’s Future appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
As theatre people know far too well, all good things must come to an end. Today, I have to say goodbye to you, composers and screlters and writers and geeks of The Green Room. Thank you for being a part of my favorite art form, and thanks for listening to me talk about it so […]
The post The Girls on the Go: Everybody Tries appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
Before I dive into the topic of “belting,” let me begin by saying that I (like many others) always appreciate the power of a singer or performer that can reach impossible pitches at impossible decibels. It can be a thrilling moment when an actor fires off all missiles into a single word or phrase. But […]
The post A Meditation on the Overworked Belter appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
What do Cabaret, Gypsy, Sweet Charity, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Jekyll and Hyde, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, The Life, RENT, Lippa’s The Wild Party, Avenue Q, and Lysistrata Jones all have in common? All of these musicals feature sex workers. Sex work includes prostitution, pornography, stripping, exotic dancing, and […]
The post The Girls on the Go: You Don’t Have to Get a Gimmick (And Other Thoughts on Sex-Worker Roles) appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
Dear #NMTPerformers, Since it began last fall, the NMT Green Room has brought you lots of Tips For Actors. It’s celebrated your work with the #NMTvotw series. And now, we have an exciting new program just for you: the NewMusicalTheatre.com Masterclass Series. Each masterclass is 4 hours long, in NYC, and led by 2 writers whose […]
The post Announcing the NewMusicalTheatre.com Masterclass Series appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
