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Beginning this post has not been easy. Every two minutes, it seems, I’m minimizing Word in favor of my web browser, where I’m feverishly refreshing the page in search of reviews for the Encores! Off Center production of William Finn and James Lapine’s A New Brain. I’ve been obsessed with this musical since high school […]

The post Something Old, Something New: Revisiting “New” Musical Theater appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

It is July, which means that most summer stock seasons are halfway over! This also means that the excitement and perfectionism when performing the show day after day has since worn off, and performers are more prone to vocal injuries. When singing contemporary musical theatre, especially, with today’s technology and demand for a studio quality […]

The post “Give Her a Shot for Whatever She’s Got”: A Guide to Avoiding (and Recovering From) Musical Theatre Vocal Injuries appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

Playwriting Altar–an Inspiration Treasure Trove

This past year, my playwriting teacher required every student to fill a shoebox with items that were inspirations or resources for their current plays. She referred to this shoebox as our playwriting altar. It was a place we could turn to if we were feeling stuck or uninspired or confused about our work. These shoeboxes […]

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In this series of posts, I’ve tried my best to introduce you to the French musical theatre scene and I hope it interested you. This last post, however, will be about a more international topic. I feel that one of the greatest things when you do theatre is the ability to be silly. In a […]

The post Fifty Million Frenchies Kissing A Lot Of Frogs: About Those Frogs… and Other Animals appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

What’s Next: The Future of Musical Theatre

I’ve talked a little bit before about looking forward to what “the future” of musical theatre might be, and with the new crop of this season’s shows already opening out of town and on Broadway, it seems timely to explore the different ways in which this ever-changing art form might evolve. I’ve split this up […]

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It is common knowledge that musical theater is, at least these days, a more specialized topic than one that falls easily into pop culture. I mean, you don’t really go around town and expect to meet people who’ve heard of the latest production of Into the Woods (the one without Anna Kendrick) much like you […]

The post A Tribute to Dear Old Shiz: Why University Performances Matter appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

Staging is a key element to setting up the place and plot for the story. I remember vividly the wonderful and mesmerizing experience I had watching the West End production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which won directing and set awards both in the US and UK. I had rarely been […]

The post Less is More: Incredible Staging for Contemporary Musicals appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

Let Pride Be Your Guide: LGBTQ Musical Theatre

LGBTQI+ representation in media and entertainment has long been an issue within theatrical circles, with the stories of people who identify as anything other than straight and cisgendered largely ignored in the storytelling of both plays and musical theatre. There are, however, exceptions to the rule, and it seems that in most cases when a […]

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Identifying Moments: Fun Home

With the Tony Awards under everyone’s belt for the year, I can’t help but feel empowered to be living in an era where the best musical and best play are told through the eyes of characters whose stories aren’t always shared. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time shares the story of Christopher, a […]

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7 Things I’m Consuming: A List For Summer 2015

Summer tends to be a time when I do A LOT of writing as well as a LOT of reading, listening, and viewing. I am a firm believer that as a writer, I am influenced (whether I like it or not) by the stuff I consume. If the old adage “you are what you eat” […]

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In some of my previous posts, I promised you a post about the blockbusters of French-speaking musical theatre. Here it is. Every one or two years, a big show with a cast of at least 50 people and a creative team only slightly smaller invades Paris. Their producers become famous. Their songs are on the […]

The post Fifty Million Frenchies Kissing A Lot Of Frogs: Is That A Musical? appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

If you’re anything like me, you’ve been spending the month of June fully immersed in Playbill Pride, Playbill’s celebration of the achievements and representation of the LGBTQ community in the theater. In addition to transforming its iconic banner from yellow to rainbow, the Broadway-synonymous publication is also featuring on its website numerous articles detailing the […]

The post Sing OUT, Louise: The Essential LGBTQ Love Songs, NMT Style appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.

4 Songs for Father

It’s that time again of the year where our timelines are filled with throwback pictures of all sorts of fathers—and if there’s one thing I’ve noticed about musical theater, it’s that it has lots of love for this particular type of character. I mean ever since (and maybe even way before) the stern-turned-sweet Captain Von Trapp […]

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This is the Year of the Child

They say you should never work with children or animals; fortunately, Broadway is generally speaking not exactly replete with fauna, but the modern musical is increasingly becoming the home of frustratingly talented nippers. Let’s take a look at some recent showcases for plucky youngsters with dazzling smiles and better CVs than you or I will […]

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Lessons from Jerome Kern

My first month of graduate school I was faced with the task of creating a two-hour presentation on the amazing and important musical theatre composer Jerome Kern. Besides being terrified of my first attempt to teach my fellow students some musical theatre history, I was more nervous that I didn’t know much about the subject […]

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Up Close and Personal: Immersive Musical Revivals

Last summer, I found a production of Les Miserables that was playing in Texas. Usually, this would not strike me as particularly intriguing, but this production was different. It was Les Mis, immersive theatre style. Immersive theatre is super popular right now. Dave Malloy’s Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 set a sliver […]

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