It Start(ed) Here

Hear from past MMTL collaborators on why they believe in our mission.

What project did you work on with MMTL?

I wrote the book, music and lyrics to Curious & Rare, a musical about the life of 19th Century English paleontologist Mary Anning.

At that stage in your career, what opportunity did MMTL present for you?

Curious & Rare being chosen for a presentation at MMTL in 2014 was a fantastic opportunity; to have a venue supplied and some financial support to do a staged reading of the entire show was incredibly valuable.  First of all, being given a date for a presentation galvanized me into making it happen and being in New York City gave me access to amazing performers and musicians and people who are like minded in their enthusiasm for new works. The input of performers inhabiting the characters is so helpful and the information that I got from having an audience respond to my show was priceless; I quickly saw what worked, what was lacking and what needed clarification or replacement. 

What impact did your experience with MMTL have on your long-term career?

The staged reading at MMTL was the beginning of the “resumé of the show.” It was a stamp of approval on the material and in quick succession, I had the honor of Curious and Rare being chosen by the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop for a Master Class moderated by the genius Stephen Schwartz and nominated for a Jerry Bock award, followed by invitations to present songs from Curious and Rare in concerts at the Signature Theatre, Urban Stages and 54 Below. All of these steps were helpful in getting the show in shape to submit it to theatres.

Why is it important to have organizations dedicated to the early-stage development of musical theatre?

Getting a new musical off of the page and onto the stage is incredibly expensive! An organization like MMTL is a godsend for musical theatre writers because it helps support getting their musical up on its feet in front of an audience and that is where the magic (and the insight and the information) happens. To have a supportive and encouraging organization like MMTL in your corner as your musical takes its first steps gives you a great advantage in developing your show.

What’s up next for you in your career?

I am currently writing the book, music and lyrics to Rum Creek, a new musical about commonality and interconnectedness between generations and place. I have been bringing in scenes and songs from Rum Creek to the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop.

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What project did you work on with MMTL?

We got to develop our musical comedy, #MARS (words by Laura Kleinbaum), during two readings in 2016 and 2017.

At that stage in your career, what opportunity did MMTL present for you?

Seeing that we got to develop a lot of the musical at the BMI Workshop through the songs, MMTL gave us the opportunity to see the show as a whole–scenes and songs. This was crucial to the growth of the story at that stage, and lead the way for our workshop production at New York Film Academy in 2019.

What impact did your experience with MMTL have on your long-term career?

It definitely helped me grow as a storyteller by offering us lots of invaluable resources in the development process. We also got to get some of our favorite actors and creative team members on board at our readings, which resulted in long lasting creative relationships.

Why is it important to have organizations dedicated to the early-stage development of musical theatre?

At some point, the characters on the page need to be given life beyond the page. Our story was very much an ensemble driven cast, and to have a whole team of super talented actors on board helped immensely! Working with our wonderful director and music director gave us a lot more insight about what we had written, and what we still needed to write or edit.

What’s up next for you in your career?

I’m in the very early stages of writing an opera!

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What project did you work on with MMTL?

The show’s title soon changed to Up and Away, and the show went on to further development with Pittsburgh CLO through their Spark Festival initiative (staged reading and workshop). It had its world premiere at Pittsburgh CLO with an extended 16-week run, and debuted on the West Coast at Broadway Rose Theatre Company.

At that stage in your career, what opportunity did MMTL present for you?

We had been bringing individual songs into the workshop for feedback, and we had had a few casual table reads with friends, but had never gotten the show on its feet. We also were not yet working with a director.

When we were selected for MMTL in 2014, Frank Evans suggested that director Marlo Hunter would be a good fit for the show. Indeed, she was a great fit, and we’ve been working with her on this and other projects ever since then.

The opportunity to work on the show within the reading process and then put it up in front of an audience was absolutely instrumental in its development. The actors were hilarious and generous with their suggestions, and Marlo influenced the shape of the show in so many positive ways. 

Crucially–the show is a comedy–we could finally hear the audience’s reactions and make sure that they matched our intentions.

What impact did your experience with MMTL have on your long-term career?

Without MMTL, there would probably not have been a world premiere with Pittsburgh CLO, honestly. We received so much excellent, actionable feedback from our MMTL reading that we overhauled a lot of the show, writing new scenes and songs. After that process, we had a self-financed, small-scale reading to which we invited Mark Fleischer from Pittsburgh CLO, which started us on the path to the world premiere.

Why is it important to have organizations dedicated to the early-stage development of musical theatre?

When you are writing a musical, it’s like writing in a vacuum. When you are ready to get out of your head and hear your words and songs aloud with actors, finances become a roadblock. It is expensive to pay a cast, and just as expensive to pay for rehearsal space, not to mention paying a director and a music director. But your show cannot improve without having that experience, so you either raise the money or you try to tweak what you can on your own and hope that your instincts are leading you in the right direction.

OR…you have a brave organization willing to support early-stage development, like MMTL.  Yes, you may still have to do some self-financing and logistics on your own sometimes, but to have a partner who believes in your show enough to relieve some of that burden and allow you to concentrate on writing (and rewriting) is absolutely the very best gift. There are few programs that are solely dedicated to the messy, painstaking work of development, and any organization that is able to commit to the future of musical theatre through supporting those first halting steps should be applauded and showered with gratitude.

The dirty secret (maybe not so secret) of writing is that first drafts are only one small part of the writing process–REWRITING is where the magic is. Shows cannot be successful if they do not have the chance to receive feedback to improve them. But getting that feedback is hard–nay, practically impossible–without support.

What’s up next for you in your career?

Kevin and I are almost finished with the first draft of our musical adaptation of Failure Is Not NOT an Option, a hilarious memoir by True Crime Obsessed podcast host Patrick Hinds. We have a few other projects in various stages of development, including Dear Shirley, an adaptation of photographer Hinda Schuman’s memoir that documented the demise of her marriage to a man and the blossoming of her relationship with a woman, as told through letters to her best friend in the 1980s.

With lyricist A.J. Freeman, I have written an adaptation of the beloved children’s book series Frank and Bean which will be a part of The WBUR Festival in Boston in May.

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