Building Your Musical One Song at a Time

Building Your Musical One Song at a Time

by | Jan 14, 2026 | Musicals, Theater, Writing Tips

How Daily Songwriting Habits Can Move Your Musical Forward

Writing a musical can feel like climbing a mountain (I see you singing the song right now) —and doing it alone makes the peak look farther and steeper.

And definitely harder.

Here’s the truth: the best musicals aren’t written in giant leaps. They’re built one song at a time.

If you’re a playwright or musical writer dreaming up your next show, it’s time to think of songwriting as a daily habit, not as a once-in-a-while burst of genius.

Yes, life gets crazy busy. You don’t have to tell me! But if our goal is to write a musical, it won’t write itself. So – let’s explore five practical ways you can build your musical steadily and intentionally every day, starting today.

Isn’t the new year the time to begin a new routine, to make sure that get what’s really important in life?

1. Balance Book Scenes with Musical Moments

Before diving into the music, zoom out and look at the big picture: where should a song live in this scene? Or maybe, does this scene need a different song?

Every song should earn its place in your story. It needs to do something mere dialogue can’t do as well—

  • capture a surge of emotion
  • reveal a character’s inner world/fears/dreams
  • escalate a situation beyond words.

So, as you’re outlining or drafting your book, ask yourself:

  1. Is this a “song moment”? Song spotting is a skill that gets better with practice.
  2. Would music elevate this scene? Remember, when the emotion gets too high to speak, characters sing.
  3. Is the character emotionally charged enough to sing? Tweak the lead up to the song, and maybe increase the stakes for the character in the story.
  4. Keep the energy moving in the scene. Watch the overuse of ballads, and always look for a more active song choice. Extra kuddos if you make it fun!

Think of your songs as emotional anchors in the book. When you spot one, jot it down—even if it’s just a placeholder title or emotion. That’s your cue to imagine a new song and start writing.

2. Create a Songwriting Ritual (Lyric, Melody, or Both)

Like any craft, songwriting grows with consistency. Whether you’re a lyricist, composer, or both, carve out daily (or at least weekly) time just to concentrate on your musical.

Your ritual doesn’t need to be long or fancy:

  • 20 minutes each morning with your coffee
  • A lyric brainstorm on your lunch break
  • Improvising melody ideas in voice memos during walks

Some writers work melody-first. Others start with lyrics. Some begin with a hook or a strong concept. The key is to find your rhythm and make it regular.

Even allowing yourself permission to write one “bad” song per day – to just get something down – will push your musical forward. Chances arre your song won’t really be that bad.

Rituals remove the pressure to be brilliant and replace it with permission to explore. You’re not writing a perfect song—you’re developing a habit that builds momentum. Every day.

3. Build a Song Map for Your Show

A song map is your musical’s emotional and narrative blueprint. It’s a living document that tracks:

  • Song titles or ideas
  • Who sings
  • What the song accomplishes
  • Where it lands in the story

It helps you spot pacing issues, character arcs, and tonal shifts. More importantly, it shows you what to write next by showing you what you still need in your show.

Think of it like a musical’s table of contents. You can even color-code it: solos vs. duets, reprises, ensemble numbers, etc. This gives you structure—and structure fuels creativity.

4. Know When to Collaborate (and When to Wait)

If you’re not writing both music and lyrics, collaboration is inevitable—but it doesn’t have to be immediate.

In fact, having a few lyrics or scenes sketched out before bringing in a partner can give your project clarity and momentum. It also helps you:

  • Attract the right collaborator
  • Share your vision clearly
  • Avoid starting from a blank page together

Once you have a few ideas or songs drafted, start the conversation. Look for someone who complements your style and shares your storytelling values. Chemistry is everything in a creative partnership.

5. Use Tools to Demo Songs on Your Own

Don’t wait for a fancy studio to bring your songs to life. You can build simple, expressive demos with tools you already have.

Try these:

  • Voice Memos (iPhone/Android): Sing lyrics or melody ideas on the go.
  • GarageBand (Mac/iOS): Record vocals over instrumentals, add loops, or play with arrangements.
  • Logic Pro / Ableton / FL Studio: More advanced DAWs for fuller demos.
  • Noteflight / MuseScore: Score and share written music easily.
  • Audimee: “Audition” different AI voices to create demos using different characters
  • Suno: upload your song into Suno to brainstorm different instruments or rhythms, to modulate a new ending, or to even switch your song into a different musical genre.

Even if you’re “not a singer,” your voice can still carry emotion. A rough demo is better than a silent idea—it makes your work feel real, and that feeling fuels progress.

Final Thought: Songs Tell Stories

Each song you write adds dimension to your characters and shape to your story. So don’t wait for inspiration—create space for it for it to happen.

Make sure that your song begins in one place and moves over the three minutes to end in a diffeent place.

Build your musical one habit, one page, and one song at a time, with a routine that works every day.

Your mountain isn’t as high as it looks when you climb it step by step.

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Creating Theater in 2023

Creating Theater in 2023

by | Jan 2, 2023 | Dramaturgy, NPD, Producing, Theater

A Watershed Moment

COVID-19 will prove to be the watershed moment in defining the history of the 21st century. Apart from our communal human experience of the virus and its reverberations across the human spectrum, the arts and in particular theater must learn to surf the waves of change.

Remember body surfing the waves when you were a kid? The key lesson was to learn to relax and float on the surface of the water when the wave hit. Resistance and rigidity would result in dragging you down into the undertow – not a pleasant experience.

As theatremakers, how do we relax and float in the face of the tsunami of change hitting our industry? Let me tell you what won’t work: resistance and rigidity, holding tight to the model of what was instead of facing the challenge of what is.

Facing the Wave

The way I see it, the waves of change encompass the economics of theater, audience demographics, and the need for inclusive storytelling models.

First, economically, theater’s been devastated.  I’ll leave it to others to provide charts and graphs on the precise numbers, but as a broad perspective we’re facing an industry where many of our brightest and talented workers have left theater (and left NYC) because they needed to survive. Those who stayed are now faced with rising costs on everything, fewer opportunities to work and even fewer opportunities to work on projects they like. Producers and artistic directors are also facing rising costs of everything, including the realization that we must pay our artists a dignified living wage. At the top of this theater food chain, where will this funding come from? Historically artists have been funded by the government, the Church or by wealthy patrons. How’s that working out in the current climate? We must look for a broader economic baseline, much like video and film has had to do earlier. In the meantime, major non-profit arts companies like the Roundabout are making major programming cuts.

Secondly, our audiences are literally dying off. We must change our offerings to suit younger audiences (like the Met’s decision to concentrate more on contemporary work). How do we plug into current culture? By being open to younger artists and taking their creative expression seriously, and being open to embrace the change that’s already here. If art reflects the culture that creates it, we marginalize any artist at our own risk. Remember when Off-Broadway used to be a place for experimentation and risk-taking? Where is that place now (other than TikTok)?

Finally, as times change the way we tell stories must also change. We know that the use of technology has changed the way we process events and tell them. The dramatic imagination is more cinematic and visual than ever before, and it intrinsically changes our storytelling structure. As an industry we must make way for more inclusive storytelling models, not just in terms of whose story we’re telling (although we definitely need more non-western, non-Anglo-centric perspectives) but how we’re presenting these stories. We must allow ourselves space to think outside the proscenium. People today crave experiences where they are immersed in an environment where they retain agency, much along the lines of the interactive video games they grew up with. I’m not saying that we should all follow the Sleep No More model, but marketers around the world have become aware that designing and staging experiences heightens economic value and customer satisfaction.  If we want audiences to crave theatre, we have to provide those theatrical experiences in innovative and compelling ways.

Keep Your Eye on the Current

Just as you would never body surf without checking the weather beforehand (at least, not as an adult), so should you understand the cultural and economic currents of the moment. I’m concentrating on smaller cast sizes, deepening audience’ engagement and clarifying the emotional journey. No matter what the story, I’m remembering that essentially theatrical experiences are about the audience’s encounter with the story.

Above all, remember that this moment too will pass. Enjoy the ride and let your audiences do the same.

Are You Getting the Most from Your Readings?

Are You Getting the Most from Your Readings?

by | Aug 22, 2022 | Dramaturgy, New Musical Development, NPD

Now that you know to go virtual (check out my last blog post here) do you know the steps of development? Are you making the most out of your readings?

As a professional theater maker, you need to know what must happen at each step of your script’s developmental journey, and how to get the right audience into the [virtual] room.

What’s the Goal?

If you don’t know the goal, any step will take you there – but you’ll spend way too much money trying to figure it out if you don’t plan out a strategy at the very beginning.

Know your goals before taking the first step, but also know the NEXT step before planning this one.

Usually a table reading is a good first step. It is necessary to “hear” your play read by others, and listen to the feedback afterward. Does it “work”? What are some specific questions that you have – can your readers help you with them? At this stage you’re checking for resonance and engagement. Resist the temptation to listen to each piece of “advice” unless at least three people comment on the same thing, and do a quick “gut check” to see if you agree with them. Important: record the feedback to analyze later.

What would be the next step after this? Another table reading to see if the changes made the script better.

Staged Readings

Staged readings can take place online or in person. Zoom readings are more efficient (and cheaper) and have the added convenience of assembling a team from around the world. If you have a “star” actor or director, this is a good choice, and your online reading should be recorded and shared for archival purposes (more on that later). Check with your AEA representative first regarding union rules of recording readings, since they may have changed.

For musicals, edited staged readings that include prerecorded songs are best. Make sure that you have permission to add your video clips to your website, social media and YouTube accounts.

Sometimes it’s best to produce an in person staged reading. Online readings are tricky for scripts that require a lot of physical comedy and/or lots of physical action. An in person staged reading can make your musical come to life if you arrange your music stands in groups that accommodate “blocking” and can even convey a sense of movement that approximates choreography. Also, for musicals it’s often easier for audiences to feel for the protagonist when they’re “live” (physically in the same room) than when distanced over the internet. However, because of the much greater expense you should only plan an in person staged reading when you’re sure your script “works” by testing it over a few zoom readings.

Plan for this at least four months ahead, as planning is critical. Casting, reserving studio/theatre space, and cultivating the right audience to show up is critical! Don’t underestimate the amount of time, promotion and expense that this may entail. It’s best if you have an interested producing partner (theater, producer, relative) to share the burdens of planning and expenses.

Common goals for a staged reading are:

  • Find out something about the script, music, dance ( the performative elements)
  • Promote your show for a higher level of audience (producers, ADs, possible investors)
  • Use the reading to get a better sizzle reel to show off your work online (YouTube, website, social media)
  • Use the reading as a chance to “test out” a director or lead actor to see if you want to include them on your ongoing team or to see if they “get” your work,

Do NOT plan a staged reading if your show needs editing or if you know there are still “problems.” An in person reading should only be used if you think your show is “good to go” and want to get it in front on influential people. Otherwise, stick to table reads, where the real work can be done.

Don’t forget to engage a videographer to record your reading for archival purposes! It will help you move to the “next step.”

Final Developmental Readings

Do the best quality staged reading you can afford when you believe you are ready to be produced. After the “29-hour” staged readings above, AEA tiers are used for the development of new works (especially musicals) usually prior to an intended planned production. These tier agreements replace what used to be called the Staged Reading Contract, the Developmental Lab and the Workshop agreements. Although these readings are pricey, they allow for video recordings. Usually these Tier AEA readings would only be held if there is a production already in the works, with a commercial producer or regional theater taking the lead.

This is the top of the development chain, and it means your next step is a full production. Although plays may also use the tiers, I find that they are more useful in the development of new musicals.

New plays are new musicals that are not represented by a commercial producer or a regional theater may still move on to a full production, but these are usually developmental productions like those using an AEA Showcase Code and/or those shows in a Festival.

More on Showcases and Festivals next week!

Have questions? Comment below!

 

It’s Time to Go Virtual

It’s Time to Go Virtual

by | Aug 15, 2022 | Dramaturgy, New Musical Development, NPD

Is it necessary to add virtual to your development tasks? YES. Are you uncertain or even scared about this? YES. Should you continue to do it anyway? YES.

But only if you want to get your play in front of more people.

 

Why Virtual

 

I remember when cable tv was just beginning to be a force in the industry in the 80’s. At the time I was the new Programming Director for a new cable channel (I was young and came cheap), and my task was to find and develop programming for a voracious new 24-hour cable channel. The demands of providing content were enormous, as the beast was insatiable. We had to air everything we could license as often as possible, with multiple repeats of every episode to make sure that something was on the air 24 hours a day, every day. It was exhausting.

The need today is similar with social media. You should always be broadcasting something to create an awareness of yourself as a professional in the industry. This is not easy! I constantly try to do better, because I must. As theater professionals we must first do the work but then also promote and  disseminate it to as broad an audience as possible (hence the term broadcasting). It  is as exhausting today as it was back in the early days of cable.

Virtual readings and performances, promotional videos and “happenings” are all proven strategies to promote yourself as a successful playwright (even if you don’t consider yourself one yet). But you must first carve a space for yourself online.

 

How to Add Virtual Content

 

The ability to add virtual content to your website and promotional materials is well worth the effort. Plays and musicals that consistently promote themselves online brand themselves as ready for production. Is your show ready for production?

If the answer is yes, then concentrate regularly on broadcasting yourself and your play to the public by embracing virtual content.

  1. Promote your show online. It goes without saying that each of your shows should have a website, Facebook page and/or an Instagram site, and a NPX page. Musicals should add a YouTube channel. You must be “discoverable” when people look you up, and have a contact page if people want to make contact. Update these as often as possible with audience testimonials, “coming soon” notices, sizzle reels, etc.
  2. Plan a reading. Put it out to your email list and promote free tickets to attend. Build up to the reading with regular content to promote your actors, director, and yourself. If you can record the reading (for archival use only), do so in order to share later with interested prospects. Capture outstanding feedback from audience members for written (or video) content.
  3. Make demos of your music. Record excellent quality musical demos to put on your website and on YouTube with playlists.
  4. Plan “happenings.” Be creative and plan events at local spaces to promote an awareness of your work. Have a play about immigrants? Interview real life characters that speak to the themes in your play and livestream the discussion on Facebook live. Do you have a musical that speaks to young girls? Partner with an establishment that has that audience and then plan an event centered around your musical to promote it. Get your work in front of your target audience as often as possible, and record everything.
  5. Have a professional sizzle reel. A great sizzle reel makes your work stand out from the others online and makes it memorable. A sizzle reel becomes your online pitch that works even when you sleep – so make sure it is everywhere you have want to have a presence. Also, a good strategy is to link your sizzle reel to your email signature page so it’s available to everyone that you communicate with – if they know you they should know about your show.

 

Scared? Do It Anyway

 

I have a phrase that has helped me get through everything in life that has frightened me out of my wits, but the I knew I had to do anyway.

“If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing badly.”

That may seem counter-intuitive to you, and you may even be shocked that I’m recommending it. But the way I think of it is, this saying gives me permission not to be perfect. Sometimes just crossing the finish line, even in last place, is a success. And, if repeated often enough, you’ll just get better and better each time.

So give yourself permission to go virtual “imperfectly.” Just do it.

Rinse and repeat.

 

I’ll be taking my own advice this year and helping others do go virtual with me. Will you be one of them? Join ETC and get in on the action. We’re adding new members in September.

Get your Virtual Checklist here to use as a reminder.

Interested in learning more about The Experts Theater Company? Register for our free OPEN HOUSE on August 30th!