The Theatre Now Musical Theatre Writers Lab is accepting new applications. The Lab was formed in the fall of 2019 with 10 musical theatre writing teams. We are now opening up applications to add new team member spots to the NY Lab. We'd like to invite you to apply.
We currently have two ongoing Musical Theatre Writing Labs: Our NY Lab for those residing in the local tri-state area and our international Lab that meets on zoom.
Members of the NY Lab must be available to attend our in person Lab meetings that are held every other Sunday from 2-5pm at a midtown Manhattan studio from September through June. Our International Lab meets on the alternate Sundays every other week also from 2-5pm ET on Zoom also from September through June.
Lab member teams are scheduled rotating presentation times throughout the season of 45 minutes each with three teams presenting at each session. You are free to bring in and present any work of your choosing. Some teams have begun the season with the outline of a new musical and use their presentation time to bring in new scenes and songs as they write the piece. Others bring in portions of pieces they have already worked on to fine tune or develop further. The choice of how and what to work on and bring in for presentation is entirely up to you. Each presentation time is 45 minutes in length and that includes your actual presentation and the time you leave available for feedback from the group.
Additional support we offer our lab members is varied and wide ranging based on the needs of the writing teams and may include individual and group consultations, mentoring, dramaturgical sessions, writers groups, office resources, rehearsal space, and networking. For those with musicals ready for production, we will guide you towards developmental lab productions with Theatre Now or through other theatre companies and other performance and production opportunities.
You may apply as a team (book writer, composer, lyricist or any combination with 2 or more collaborators) or as an individual (as the sole book writer/composer/lyricist).
Acceptance is through a highly selective and competitive application process. The application will require you to submit a sample of a musical (book and music) that you have completed or that your are currently working on, at any stage of development, and has not yet received a major production, as an example of your work for evaluation. If chosen, your participation in the group encourages work at any and all levels of development. You may submit multiple applications if you’ve collaborated and wish to continue with different sets of team members.
The submission of your sample musical materials is the corner-stone of your application. We ask that you a submit 20 page sample of your libretto, music recordings, a full synopsis, cast breakdown and full scene and song list. It is the libretto and the song samples that you submit that will be used as the criteria for the quality of your work. Having said that, the material you submit should be an example of your work that you are most proud of. It does not need to be fully realized or considered finished, in fact it can be at almost any stage of development. You must, however, submit at the very least 20 pages of a libretto, and three songs. You may describe along with your submission, the stage of development, include an outline of the piece or any other qualifying information, and we will take all that in consideration when evaluating. We are not looking for perfection, we are looking for potential. You and your writing team for this musical, will be the members on the application. You may submit more than one musical through separate applications with different team members. Each application will be considered independently.
- Sample material (book and music) that has not yet received a major production, as an example of your work for evaluation. The musical materials you submit may be at any stage of development.
- Bios and resumes of each writing team member
- Production history of all the applicants, individually and/or as a team
- List of current projects you are working on indicating the stage of development
- Information about any potential commitments for production, grants, applications in process, etc.
- Future projects you have thoughts and ideas about or would like to work on
- An artist statement from each applicant with future goals
- A team statement of your shared vision and aesthetics
- In addition to the submission of your 20 page sample libretto and MP3’s of at least three of the songs, you may also submit additional samples of other works-in-progress
- In person interviews will follow for those chosen at the final stage of the application process
- There is no cost to apply and no dues or fees will be required if accepted
When your application is submitted successfully you will receive a confirmation email. You will also be directed to an optional self-identification survey. This survey helps Theatre Now learn how well we are serving our community and how we can improve. The results of the survey are anonymous and are not linked to your application.