musical theatre

• Cast Size: Professional and Amateur Theatres

  Posted by gmadmin   |   September 24, 2012

  The other day I got a letter back from a theatre where I had submitted “It’s a Wonderful Life.” They said that while the show was a good fit for their theatre, they can’t produce musicals with casts larger than five people. High schools and community theatres, on the other hand, typically want gigantic casts so that lots of people can participate. It really illustrates how playwrights have to choose which market they want to serve: professional theatres that need small casts, or amateur and school theatres that need big casts. (Go Musicals primarily serves the latter.)

  

  

  

  

  

  

  
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• City Government and Musicals

  Posted by gmadmin   |   April 13, 2012

  What does the City of Glendale’s Water and Sewer Commission have to do with writing musicals? Absolutely nothing. Which is why I joined.

  A couple of months ago I met up with a contact at City Hall and told him I wanted to learn how a city works. I told him I didn’t want to work on anyone’s campaign and I didn’t want to be on a commission for arts or bicycles or anything like that. I wanted to do something totally out of my comfort-zone. He suggested I apply to be on the Water and Sewer Commission.

  In thirteen years (and six days) I will be forty. By that time I don’t want to be writing musicals anymore. It’s not that I don’t like writing musicals – I love it. But life is about challenging yourself and discovering new things. I’ve learned two important lessons since college: 1. Most subjects and industries have the potential to be fascinating; and 2. Most subjects and industries are hungry for more creative thinkers. But almost anything we do requires a degree of practice and learning to develop the hard skills necessary to do the job well. That’s the catch, because practice and learning take time and experience. When I’m ready to branch out into a different career field, I want to have more experience to draw on than just writing musicals.

  So if there are any young aspiring artists out there reading this, my advice to you is this: venture out of your comfort zone. Don’t skimp on the hard classes in college. Explore other areas of interest. Because the whole world is desperate for your creativity, and you may decide you don’t want to be a professional artist forever.

  The reverse is true for young people pursuing careers outside of the arts: venture out of your comfort zone. Get on stage in front of people. Participate in something for the experience of creative fulfillment. Collaborate with someone who sees the world differently from you. Make something with your hands that you are proud of. Sing with people. Move your body to music.

  I think we would see a solution to our unemployment problem if artists were more technical, and if technical people were more artistic.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  
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• Go Musicals on Greg Mankiw’s blog!

  Posted by gmadmin   |   March 31, 2012

  Greg Mankiw gave a shout-out to Go Musicals on the #1 economics blog in America!!! http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2012/03/from-my-inbox.html

  

  

  

  

  

  

  
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• Florida Festival! Helloooo Tampa!

  Posted by gmadmin   |   February 24, 2012

  It looks like I was able to get into the Florida and California thespian festivals despite having missed the registration deadline. So I’m going to Tampa baby! Woooo!!! I’ll be staying at a funky little hostel near the convention center. The place has a hot tub, a bar, a stage for live music, and the dorm where I’ll be sleeping is inside an old train car. They’re even renting me a bike for the weeks so I won’t need to rent a car. I cannot express how stoked I am about this vacation – I mean WORK trip! When I’m not manning a booth at the convention, I’ll be taking in the sights and sounds and beaches of Tampa!

  In other news, check out the new track for It’s a Wonderful Life, “1999”!

  

  

  

  

  

  

  
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• Good Things Coming!

  Posted by gmadmin   |   February 4, 2012

  New website, new music, new shows, new artwork, new mailers… all coming soon. 2012 is off to a great start!

  

  

  

  

  

  

  
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