CreateTheater Develops and Produces New Work

Since 2016, CreateTheater has been working with playwrights and musical theater teams to develop and then help produce new work, through general managing industry readings, dramaturgy, writing groups, worksbops, and producing new work in the CreateTheater New Works Festival, the CreateTheater Cabaret, and through partnerships that produce new plays and musicals,

So what do you think the #1 question that I get asked?

Drum roll please: “Will you produce my new play or musical?”

It Takes Time to Produce New Work

Typically a new play will take 3-5 years to get produced; musicals seven years or more. And even if you’re in a position to independently produce your own work on stage doesn’t mean that you can “fast-track” the process.

Theater is the most collaborative art, which means that it takes time to pull the work together. Time to check your script with directors, dramaturgs and company members; time to present readings to see how the audience reacts to the work. Time to rewrite yet another draft, incorporating what was learned in the previous reading, writing group presentation or workshop.

Not every reading should be recorded, especially in the early drafts; you’ll want to change the script to incorporate feedback, rendering the recording outdated almost as soon as it’s edited. Save that for the music-stand industry reading, when you’ll need it to pitch to theaters, directors, producers and investors.

Getting back to the original question, “Will you produce my show,” in the beginning no one will love your show more than you do. But I will be a close second. My goal is to see you get your play produced; sometimes I will produce it.

But it takes time. Most important things do; y0u can’t shortcut development without taking the time to make it great.

So, How Do I Get Produced?

First, write the script (or libretto). Get input from your collaborator, a dramaturg, a writing group – or all three. Then find some friends and do a table reading, often called a “pizza reading” since you can compensate your friends with food.

Make changes to the script, incorporating your discoveries. Check out your new pages with your collaborator, a dramaturg, a writing group – and hold another reading. Make more changes. Do this until you (and your friends) are enthusiastic and feel your play is “ready.”

Ready to submit to theaters, festivals, contests. Ready to submit to possible directors or producers. Make sure that you upload it to y0ur NPX portal, so other writers can read and comment on it as well.

This takes time. But you know what? With each step, your play just keeps getting better and better. And you gain more experience, and get better at your craft, with each iteration. You may even decide to start another play or musical, just for the fun of it, while you submit and continue to develop your first.

These friends, these colleagues, who are so ready (and experienced) to help you with their smart feedback? Here at CreateTheater, these are your fellow playwrights and ETC members, all experienced playwright and musical theater writers. I’m proud that many of our members have been produced Off Broadway, regionally, and in television and film. Some members are actual Tony-award winning producers, looking for new projects.

When Do I Get Produced?

This is a relationship-driven business. First you perfect the work itself, in collaboration with other artists; then you present it to friends, colleagues, and new industry friends that you make through social connections in the business.

From there your network keeps growing. Soon, a friend-of-a-friend, a writing group member’s cousin that works with a famous person’s sister wants to listen to your musical. A theater discovers your play through a submission process and wants to produce it. Your industry reading is so funny that a producer you know asks for the chance to produce it.

These things happen. And they can happen to you, too. Perfect the work, keep writing new shows, keep submitting and making social connections. That’s how you get produced.

CreateTheater is here to help. Thinking of joining? Click here for more information.

The Need for an “Artistic Home”

Theatre is an especially collaborative art. It takes a dedicated creative team to create, develop and produce new work, and always have. Today, collaboration often happens on Zoom, one of the benefits from the pandemic. However, the definition of theater is “live” and must happen first with the creative team, then with the actors and audience in the same space.

As it stands now, a three-week rehearsal schedule is built for commercial success, not development. What’s needed is an “artistic home” to serve as a nurturing ground, to foster creativity, collaboration, and innovation, with other trusted artists.

What is an “artistic home”?

An artistic home, to me, is a supportive environment for theatre artists to explore and experiment with new ideas. It offers a ‘safe space’ where artists can take risks, challenge conventions, and push the limits of their creativity, without fear of judgment, crucial for the development of groundbreaking and transformative work.

Moreover, an artistic home can allow theatre artists a place to collaborate and exchange ideas with a variety of other artists – playwrights, directors, actors, designers, and technicians – within a framework of critical resources and support. Funding, mentorship programs, and networking opportunities are crucial for artists to overcome financial and logistical challenges that hinder the creation of new work.

A true artistic home fosters a sense of belonging, an identity of professionalism, and provides concrete networking channels leading towards production.

CreateTheater is a Theater Community

I’ve founded CreateTheater to be this community for theater artists.

This year so far we’ve:

• Hosted the CreateTheater New Works Festival Reading Series to give an audience to developing new plays and musicals
• Provided two residencies that financed two readings, one new play and one new musical
• Provided networking and mentorship opportunities to both CreateTheater and ETC members
• Provided dramaturgy and development to 42 new plays and musicals this year
• Workshopped twelve new musicals with industry experts in our SMASH IT! musical workshops
• Pitching opportunities to Tony-award winning producers and to artistic directors
• Created writing groups, workshops and social events to grow your industry connections
• I pitched 12 scripts to a company for touring and licensing
• We locked down a large studio to present readings and development space for new projects
• Creating a cabaret for our first-ever fundraiser (stay tuned)

Need to experiment with form? Let’s do it. What about trying out your latest draft with actors, to see if what you have on the page is working? That’s different than a typical reading, where you invite others in to see the work, or a cold “pizza reading” that you plan with friends to get some feedback. I’ve been to two cold musical readings with minimal prep time, that were absolutely outstanding. We’re now trying to help the work go forward.

I’m proud that CreateTheater has been considered an artistic home for our writers,  as it’s playing a vital role in nurturing new scripts and fostering artistic development. The New Works Festival has proven to be a platform for artists to showcase their work, gain exposure, and receive critical feedback from their peers and industry professionals, helping these artists to refine their craft, develop their unique artistic voice, and establish themselves within the professional theatre community.

I also want to say, as an artist with both a BFA and an MFA, that forming your artistic vision among other established artists gives you a foundation to become, in time, an established artist yourself. Mindset matters; community matters. People you trust to hear your work and offer feedback, matters.

An artistic home, within an engaged theater community, is essential to foster creativity, collaboration, and innovation. A supportive and nurturing environment can allow artists to explore new ideas, collaborate with peers, access resources, nurture emerging talent, and push the boundaries of our art form. By investing in such places, we not only empower theatre artists in the 21st century but also contribute to the growth and evolution of theatre as an art form – which needs some help right now.

Let’s Develop New Work Together

I’ve created CreateTheater as a space where artists can challenge traditional norms and conventions and create some groundbreaking and thought-provoking work. Whenever you gather creative people in a singular space, some wild things can happen… especially in a theatrical hotspot like NYC. The people are here. Is your work here? It needs to be, even if you live somewhere else.

Last spring I offered a free Collaboration Event to introduce creatives to each other online (where we’re providing the space to make their work happen in November), and people have been asking me to start up the ‘Cocktail Hours” that I held during lockdown. So, I’m starting it up again. Would you like to participate? Come join us on the last Sunday of the month, October 27th at 2pm EST.

Join our email list for the link and to stay “in the know” here.

Any other ideas? There will be a “Welcome to CreateTheater and ETC” meet-and-greet webinar on October 29th at 7pm EST. Stop by and meet us and see what we’re all about!

The Need for an “Artistic Home”

Theatre is an especially collaborative art. It truly takes a village to create, develop and produce new work, and that needs to happen face-to-face, with a collaboration of artists that know, like and trust each other. Yes, collaboration can and does happen on Zoom; that has been a decided beneficial outcome from the pandemic. However, theater is “live” and must happen with the actors and audience in the same space.

Theatre’s professional developmental path, as it stands now with its three-week rehearsal schedule, is built for commercial success more than development. What’s needed is an “artistic home” to serve as a nurturing ground, to foster creativity, collaboration, and innovation, with other trusted artists.

An artistic home can provides a supportive environment for theatre artists to explore and experiment with new ideas. It offers a ‘safe space’ where they can take risks, challenge conventions, and push the limits of their artistic abilities. This freedom to explore and create without fear of judgment or failure is crucial for the development of groundbreaking and transformative work.

Moreover, an artistic home allows theatre artists to collaborate and exchange ideas with like-minded individuals. It brings together a diverse community of playwrights, directors, actors, designers, and technicians, fostering a rich and stimulating environment for artistic collaboration. It also can provide critical resources and support necessary for the development of new work, with funding, mentorship programs, and networking opportunities, empowering artists to overcome financial and logistical challenges that often hinder the creation of new work.

It fosters a sense of belonging, an identity of professionalism, and provides concrete networking channels leading towards production.

Need to experiment with form? Let’s do it. What about trying out your latest draft with actors, to see if what you have on the page is working? That’s different than a typical reading, where you invite others in to see the work, or a cold “pizza reading” that you plan with friends to get some feedback. I’ve been to two cold musical readings with minimal prep time, that are absolutely outstanding, and we’re now trying to help the work go forward.

I’m proud that CreateTheater has been considered an artistic home for our writers,  as it’s playing a vital role in nurturing new scripts and fostering artistic development. The New Works Festival has proven to be a platform for artists to showcase their work, gain exposure, and receive critical feedback from their peers and industry professionals, helping these artists to refine their craft, develop their unique artistic voice, and establish themselves within the professional theatre community.

I also want to say, as an artist with both a BFA and an MFA, that forming your artistic vision among other more established artists gives you a foundation to become, in time, an established artist yourself. Mindset matters; community matters. People you trust to hear your work and offer feedback, matters.

An artistic home  is essential to foster creativity, collaboration, and innovation. A supportive and nurturing environment can allow artists to explore new ideas, collaborate with peers, access resources, nurture emerging talent, and push the boundaries of our art form. By investing in such places, we not only empower theatre artists in the 21st century but also contribute to the growth and evolution of theatre as an art form – which needs some help right now.

Let’s Develop New Work Together

I’ve created a space where artists can challenge traditional norms and conventions and create some groundbreaking and thought-provoking work. Whenever you gather creative people in a singular space, some wild things can happen… especially in a theatrical hotspot like NYC. The people are here. Are you?

Last spring I offered a free Collaboration Event to introduce creatives to each other online, and people have been asking me to start up the ‘Cocktail Hours” that I held during lockdown. So, I’m starting it up again. Would you like to participate?

Any other ideas? There will be a “Welcome to CreateTheater and ETC” in the works for August 29, so you can meet us and see what we’re all about then.

I’d love to hear your thoughts as I continue to figure out ways to help all of us develop and produce theater in this ever-changing environment. 

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I think that many artists feel the winds of change happening regarding the arts in America. We look around at states defunding the arts.  We see major non-profit and “successful” theater companies laying off staff and divesting themselves of their theaters. Meanwhile, the costs of producing theater in America has skyrocketed. We’re now in a world where a two person Broadway play capitalizes at $7 million.  No wonder so many commercial producers are looking to produce across the pond.

Are the arts dying in these not-so-United States? And what are we artists to do about it?

Well, in the musical HADESTOWN, Orpheus wins the chance to bring Eurydice back but doubts at the last second, thus condemning her to everlasting bondage in Hadestown.  The workers are devastated; Orpheus was their hope, and he failed.

Yet like a video game, the action resets back to the beginning. In the finale “We Raise Our Cups” the company honors Orpheus for his optimism and hope in times of darkness despite his momentary failure, and we see the lovers meet again on stage for another chance at happiness.

Some flowers bloom
Where the green grass grows
Our praise is not for them
But the ones who bloom in the bitter snow
We raise our cups to them
We raise our cups and drink them up

(“We Raise Our Cups,” HADESTOWN, book, music and lyrics by Anais Mitchell)

Hope in Times of Darkness

We celebrate Orpheus because optimism can be a powerful tool  to help us navigate our way through challenging times. In a way I feel like we’re back in 2020, overwhelmed by the shutdowns and needing to form theater communities online where we could create work and emotionally bond with like-minded people. That was how our writers’ company The Experts Theater was originally formed.

Psychologists tell us that there are a few ways to keep hope alive in dark times. Below are some ideas that we’ve used in CreateTheater and things artists have always done when ominous clouds loom on the horizon.

Focus on what you can control. Take proactive steps forward weekly to give us a sense of agency and accomplishment. It’s easy to get down and trapped in your own inertia, I know too well. Yet look around at what some people have done during shutdown; I am continually reminded that being given the gift of time to make art is no small thing

Practice gratitude. While this may sound like a platitude, it lifts us out of continual depression, allows us room for agency and action, and just makes it easier for others to be around us.

Connect with others. Isolation leads to depression, poor health, and a veritable living death. Is that what you want, really? Sharing our new ideas and our new pages in our company not only is good for us individually, it’s good for others too. They offer feedback and feel like they have some real experience to offer, and feel part of the wider theatre industry. Feeling of value to others validates us, and helps us not question all of our previous life choices. Too much, anyway.

Take care of yourself. Honor your physical body with exercise and good food, honor your mind with reading and researching new stories, and honor your spirit with expressing yourself in your art. Only you can give your unique insights and gifts to the world.

Don’t go down the rabbit hole of negativity. Part of honoring your spirit is realizing when you’ve had too much of something (food, media consumption, being around negative people) and protect yourself. Only you can protect your own heart, mind and soul, and they need you to be fully “you.”

Celebrate small wins. Did you write two new pages this week? Huzzah! Did you show up to your writing group or reach out to your fellow artists, even when it feels hopeless? Good on you for not giving in to isolation. Did you approach a possible investor or producer with your ideas for a new piece? Fantastic! Taking action, however small, during dark times deserves your celebration and acknowledgment of your own inner strength.

Seek professional help if needed. Creative people sometimes find it more difficult than otheres to maintain optimism. If you find yourself overwhelmed by negative thoughts and fear, seeking support from a mental health professional is the very best gift your can give to yourself.

Making Theatre is Who We Are

It’s not easy to ignore reality, and I’m not suggesting you should. Rather, understand that what you’re experiencing is real and is also affecting us all to varying degrees. Maintaining a hopeful and resilent mindset right now is not easy (to say the least), but there are options other than stewing in depression or turning to mind-numbing substances to forget.

A good friend who’s also a writer was sharing with me this week. “I don’t need a theater to produce my work. I’ll put my plays on in a parking lot, I just need to write and express myself!” I admire him profoundly, and I was, as always, completely inspired by his attitude.

While it may not be all that realistic, it points to a central truth: making theatre is who we are, not just what we do.

Hey, our inner reality is theatre. Your inner life is who you are. Hang with like-minded people, and keep your spirit alive.

We are the artists in society.