So, You Want to Write a Musical… (How to Write a Musical in 2024)

[@deinodark3806]

Im binging your videos rn cuz I got the opportunity to get my musical funded and I want it to be the best it can be, then I looked at the views on your videos and there ain’t no way you have such nice content and so little views! You’re an amazing content creator! Keep it up!

[@musicaltheatrewriterguy]

What a wonderful and lovely comment! Thank you so much for taking the time to say so

[@mtlsl1863]

I am really enjoying your videos! Thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge! Question: How could one write a musical about someone who is a great runner? Given the size of the stage itself, one could hardly have the actor running much. So is it a poor basis for a stage play? Is there a clever way to make it work? Would love to hear your thoughts on this!

[@musicaltheatrewriterguy]

I'm thrilled to hear the videos are helpful! I think you can absolutely make a musical about a runner work! The staging side will be more of a directorial thing to solve, so perhaps working with a director or dramaturg throughout the process will be most helpful as you make something that works for the story you're creating

[@CharrlesLemon]

@@musicaltheatrewriterguy Thanks for the reply and the advice!

[@musicaltheatrewriterguy]

@@CharrlesLemon Happy to be of help!

[@antoniaalvarez-g5q]

youre the goat

[@musicaltheatrewriterguy]

☺🙏

[@aliciasoede3681]

Thank you for making videos like this!!!They are so useful and motivating😍✨ MT writing seems to me as a pretty niche topic, I haven’t found lots of information on writing songs specifically for musicals. It is always rather music writing focusing on pop songs or other genres. I especially loved your videos on the 32 bar and the chorus, hook!! I would love to see similar ones focusing on the music writing process of musicals🥹

[@musicaltheatrewriterguy]

My pleasure!! Definitely very niche, to be sure. Say a little more about what you're looking for, if you don't mind!

[@aliciasoede3681]

@@musicaltheatrewriterguy I would love to hear more about the specifics of how to write a music score for musicals. For example, do I have to first write melody with lyrics for a song and only after that create a version for the orchestra with all the different instruments? Which step follows which? Probably, to some extent, this is based on a personal choice. But I think right now I am a bit confused as to how to start writing the music score itself. Therefore, a step by step guide on music score writing would help☺️

[@musicaltheatrewriterguy]

@@aliciasoede3681 Thanks for expanding on your question! Music or lyrics first is completely up to personally preference or what you feel like is called for in the moment. It's a lot of experimentation and finding what works for you! Orchestration usually comes late in the game, well after everything has been written and revised and we know that it works. No need to do that work while a show is still in flux (which is most of its developmental life). I've got a bunch of videos on songwriting for musicals on the channel, and I talk in depth about this in my courses and some discussions we have in the Musical Theatre Writing Collective! Any other specific questions that you have, though, feel free to share them with me

[@aliciasoede3681]

@@musicaltheatrewriterguy Thank you so much for taking the time to explain this!☺️

[@musicaltheatrewriterguy]

@@aliciasoede3681 My pleasure! It's my goal to help out!