Musical lovers will have the opportunity to see new work in action when New Musicals Inc. debuts eight original short musicals on July 18 and 19. The 15 Minute Musical Project is the culmination of NMI’s writers’ workshop, a program that teaches the essentials of writing for musical theatre and covers everything from bookwriting to lyric construction to musical composition.
The 15-minute musicals will be presented at the Broadwater Second Stage in Hollywood and sell out quickly each year (everyone says that but these really do!) Tickets are $25 and can be purchased HERE. Performances begin at 7:30 pm.
For the final project of the writers’ core curriculum, teams of three writers – a composer, a lyricist, and a bookwriter (in some cases 2 writers) – will write, revise and polish a brand-new musical written for four actors whom they’ve never met before, in only three months.
“It’s like a rite of passage,” says Elise Dewsberry, the Academy’s Artistic Director and producer of the 15 Minute Musicals. “We design the process to imitate a full-length show in a professional theatre: draft, rehearsal, rewrites, rehearsal, opening. It’s really a wonderful experience, but it’s often stressful, just like a million-dollar opening night. Our writers’ names are in the program, and it’s important to them they write the best show they possibly can, in the short amount of time we’ve given them.”
This year’s presentation is entitled: Green-Eyed Monsters: eight new musicals about jealousy, and the writing teams have created wildly different approaches to the theme. Picture a high-wire act featuring feuding siblings, jealous musical divas succumbing to magical trickery, a conniving cat and mouse, and a pair of gardeners raising rival flowers and you get the picture.
The annual NMI event is an inspiring celebration of the musical development process and one no musical theatre geek should miss. You just might hear the next big Broadway sensation here before they hit it big!
All eight shows are presented each night and include:
The BLUE Program:
Granny Wars with book by Kimberly Barger, and music and lyrics by Katie Brady
Stanford or Bust with book by Michael Harold, and music and lyrics by Jan Wong
Cheese & Crackers with book by Thomas Blakely, music by Duncan Smith, and lyrics by Bill Coe
Highwire with book by Gustav Hoyer, music by Joely Zuker, and lyrics by Elizabeth Coleman
Directed by John Coppola; Music Directed by Jake Anthony; Stage Managed by Jenn Dupre
Starring Melvin Biteng, Tianna Cohen, Marcello Padilla, and Andrea Somera
The RED Program:
The Cure with book and lyrics by B.K. Wells, and music by Xavier Vidal
Greener Gardens with book by Sara Beil, music by Jon Kull, and lyrics by Greg Beattie
I Heart Jeffrey Braddock with book by Marilyn Haese, music by Ron Barnett, and lyrics by Charlotte Bash
The Fifth Element with book and lyrics by Wayne Self, and music by Joelle Ferrando
Directed by Elise Dewsberry; Music Directed by Ron Barnett; Stage Managed by Rachel Shanblatt
Starring Corinne DeVries, Seth David Mitchell, Giane Morris, and Patrick Steward.
NMI 15 Minute Musical Project
Broadwater Second Stage
6320 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90038
Tickets, reservations and more info: NMI.org/nmi-summer-events-2019/
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