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A new musical is a tricky beast. It comes with all the challenges of a new play--the problems of dramatic build, character, denouement, economy of dialogue--plus a suite of other potential pitfalls. Is the opening number suitably energizing, and if it is, does it still adequately introduce us to the world of the show? How many ballads is too many ballads? Not to mention solos versus duets or ensemble numbers, male versus female voices, and the question of choreography...it’s enough to make a well-intentioned Lin-Manuel Miranda-wannabe throw in the towel.

In the last year, my school has begun a new tradition of producing musicals in 24 hours. Yes, it sounds completely crazy, and it completely is. While a lot of schools do “Combat” or “Guerilla” theatre where they write and produce short plays in 24 hours, our 24-Hour Musicals are fully costumed, set, and produced. […]

The post 4 Rules for Picking Your College Group’s Next Show appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

When I graduated from university, my first theatrical adventure outside of school was at a Fringe Festival. I left my campus full of confidence, excitement and an idea of how I thought Fringes worked. Together with a team of my fellow graduates, we enjoyed a successful run but met some challenges during the process. In […]

The post On the Fringe: An Artist’s Guide to Preparing for Fringe Festivals appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

My last post on production budgets took us through the beginning of a show’s development all the way through the first preview; here, we’re going to talk about how expenses are budgeted on a week-by-week basis after the show gets up and running. In the simplest terms, the show’s producers want the gross box office […]

The post Broadway Budgets 101: Breaking Down the Weekly Budget appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

Anyone with a passing interest in theatre will probably have thrown around terms like “big-budget musical” at least once in their life, and anyone who’s borne witness to the staggering successes (few) and spectacular flops (many) on Broadway will wonder just how much money was made or lost in the process. From Hamilton to Honeymoon […]

The post Broadway Budgets 101: Breaking Down the Production Budget appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

For producers and directors, one of the earliest creative decisions that will go public is how you market your show. The “package” of material you might release can include logos, posters, social media content, trailers, promo photos, and more. No matter what kind of show you’re doing, if the show needs to bring in money […]

The post Theatre PR is Difficult, but It Doesn’t Have to Be appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

Ever wanted to know how much actors on Broadway get paid? Look no further. Before we start, it’s important to note that every item that goes into constituting a total salary is determined by the actors’ union, Actors’ Equity Association, several years in advance; they actually publish salary rates, which automatically increase every year in […]

The post The Bare Minimum: Breaking Down Broadway Actor Salaries appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

(To begin this week, if you have not read the most recent article by Drew Gasparini and an archived favorite post by Georgia Stitt, do yourself a favor and read them – absorb them. There may be no more important message for new writers, theatre-goers, and artists of all types than these two pieces. They […]

The post Giving Them What They Want: Engaging Regional Theatres Before and After the Show appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

Everybody understands the importance of good acting and musicianship in musical theatre—without them, obviously the show isn’t going to be very good, even if it’s brilliantly written, composed, and directed. What you might not realize unless you’ve spent any time thinking about it is how vital good design is to a show. An easy way […]

The post So You Think You Can Produce, Part 4: Make It Work appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

You’ve got your cast, and now it’s time for rehearsals. I hinted last time that we’d talk about schedules, but in fact, I’d like to move in a different direction. In brief, to sum up scheduling, you’ll need dedicated periods for learning music, choreography, blocking, and then for a sitz probe (sing-through with the band) […]

The post So You Think You Can Produce, Part 3: The Press appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

Before we took our detour into producing specifically for festivals, I wrote about the ground work to do before mounting a show. At this point, if you followed my sage advice (and of course you did), you’ve got a budget, a venue, and an all-star production team. Hopefully you also have rehearsal space and you’ve […]

The post So You Think You Can Produce, Part 2 appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

I’d like to step sideways from my last post to talk about something close to my mind and near to my heart at the moment, as The Chicago Musical Theatre Festival is midway through its performances. Festivals are a great place to try out producing your work. That’s a big part of why they exist. My […]

The post So You Think You Can Produce: Festival Edition appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

As I mentioned in my first post, one of the greatest things about being a theatre professional in Chicago is that you can actually produce new work. There are enough reasonably-priced venues for even a small company (or group of individuals) to rent a space and put on a fully-realized production. “That’s great!” I hear […]

The post So You Think You Can Produce, Part 1 appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.