Comedy is all about misdirection, and that’s why musical theatre is such a great medium for telling funny stories. Music can prepare an audience to hear one story, and then be completely surprised at the outcome. Having a melody or a well-placed rhyme deliver the punchline makes a joke land that much harder than it […]
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For the past couple of months, I have been completely obsessed with “I’ve Decided to Marry You” from A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. The entire cast recording is fabulous, but that song is such a stand-out. (Thank you, Steven Lutvak and Robert L. Freedman for this brilliantly well-crafted trio!) Each character feels completely essential […]
The post PLAYLIST: The Trio appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
In a recent interview with The Ensemblist podcast, songwriters Lin-Manuel Miranda, Lynn Ahrens, and Stephen Flaherty talked about why they like writing for ensembles and described the dramatic benefits that a solid ensemble can bring to a show. After listening to what these amazing composers had to say on the subject, I was inspired to […]
The post My Favorite Things: The Ensemble appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
“Counterpoint” is one of those fancy musical terms I was never sure I understood until I actually heard it in action. Once I did, I thought “witchcraft” might be a more accurate description. Essentially, counterpoint is when you have two completely different melodic lines happening at the same time. While this can be used to […]
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It’s a good time for Shakespeare adaptations. Correction: It’s always been a good time for Shakespeare adaptations. West Side Story! Ten Things I Hate About You! Both the movie and the short-lived ABC Family television series! (Shut up, I loved the short-lived ABC Family television series.) Many of Shakespeare’s plays themselves were adaptations and retellings […]
The post NMT Goes Shakespeare: 10 Shakespeare Musicals That Need To Happen appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
The other day I was walking around campus listening to The Last Five Years— as per usual—my school is built on hills so how could I pass up the opportunity to listen to “Climbing Uphill” as I walk to class? “Climb Every Mountain” is often too intense to listen to at 9AM and “I Miss […]
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When Howard Ashman came to Disney to work on The Little Mermaid, he brought his years of theatre experience with him, and he shared his expertise with the animators on the film. In an interview taken from one of his impromptu “lunchtime lectures,” Ashman described the theatrical idea of the “I Want” song: …Early in […]
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If you’re anything like me, it’s the demented things in life that fascinate you the most. One of those things for me, and for a lot of people, is killers. Many movies, books, and musicals have been written about them. From the new musical Heathers to classics like Chicago, we as a musical theatre community […]
The post PLAYLIST: Musical Murderers appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
I’m going to state the obvious: I love me a good key change. Take, for example, Michael Jackson’s “Man In the Mirror.” I’m pretty sure that like every person alive knows this song, but just in case you need a refresher, check out Broadway star Keke Palmer’s version from the movie Joyful Noise*. You think […]
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Since my first post for the Green Room was all about duets for the ladies, it only seemed fair to flip the coin this week and round up the best-of-the-best male duets. What makes this collection of songs unique is the wide dramatic range it covers. Some songs are heartwarming, some heartbreaking, and others fantastically […]
The post Top 10 New Musical Theatre Duets for Men appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
If you’re female and a singer, chances are you probably have approximately 100 other female friends in the exact same boat. Musical theatre, am I right? In the spirit of this, I decided to dig through the NMT archives and present you with some of my favorite duets featuring female singers. These songs are about […]
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Songwriters make demos for lots of reasons: to share with collaborators, show producers, or simply to have for their own records. I love a beautifully complicated arrangement as much as anyone, but there’s something special about songs being performed by the people who wrote them. Without influence from orchestrations or staging or an actor’s interpretation, […]
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Ever since I wrote my previous post on theater and rap, I’ve had song titles swirling around my head. I decided to put them all in an ordered, to get a more big-picture chronological view of musical theater rap through the years, and I thought I’d share that list with you. 1. “A Hymn to […]
The post 10 Musical Theater Rap Songs from the Last 58 Years appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
Musical theater is full of great love stories. It’s a great genre for that because with big feelings come big voices and epic high notes. But big feelings aren’t exclusively reserved for soulmates, right? Or, to put it another way, there’s more than one kind of love. These songs are for everyone who wants to […]
The post 10 New Musical Theatre Songs about Friendship appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.
Happy Independence Day, America! All across the USA, people are preparing for barbecues and fireworks, unless you’re also in the Hurricane Arthur zone in which case, stay safe. In my book, there’s no better way to celebrate any holiday than to do so with musical theater. Behold: NMT’s 4th of July playlist! (Special thanks to Margaret for […]
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Here at NewMusicalTheatre.com, we’re all brimming with excitement over the Tony Awards this Sunday evening. We’ll be live-tweeting with the hashtag #NMTonys (join us!). To tide you over for the next few days, we put together this video playlist of songs by #NMTWriters performed by 2014 Tony Nominees. Whether you need background music while you […]
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