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There’s tremendous power and resonance in the skillful blending of music and drama to convey a story that revolves around the divine, as in Joseph King of Dreams and the 1998 version of Prince of Egypt. But it’s also exceedingly difficult to treat a subject on which people anchor their faith in a manner that is both inspirational and dramatically satisfying. Here are some tips on how to approach such stories effectively. 

This is a musical about a woman who reaches after something that seems entirely frivolous  (a dress that’s fit for a princess), at the same time that it shows her deepening in substance, laying claim to an innate royalty that has nothing to do with how someone dresses.

Neverland: Wendy's Story was the beginning of the Summit Stages dream. It was proof to my heart and others that musical theatre can bridge deep and contentious divides, if we approach it intentionally. That collaboration works magic in bringing people together. And that staging stories with powerful messages can literally change people’s lives for good. Those principles are what drive our mission today.

Today I’m addressing Save the Cat's beats 1, 2 and 15, because they are all so closely connected that it's pretty much impossible to do them justice separately. Beats 1 and 15 are the opening and closing image and music. There needs to be a contrast between them that highlighs the journey of our protagonist. And we’re also discussing Beat 2, the introduction of the unifying theme, because the theme is what the contrast between Beats 1 and 15 needs to highlight.

Deaths from despair in my own community plus high-profile hate-driven killings have slammed home the necessity of making a difference and building peace in this world, however daunting the task may seem.  And in the middle of all of this, Alexander emailed me the studio video of her newest release, “Conversation on a Train.” It’s a duet by two women, both heading home from a rally/protest where they faced off against each other on one of our society’s most contentious issues:

A Showcase of Songs; part of the feedback-gathering process for Meet Me There - the Interfaith Musical This week, I’m doing another...

Rumi is lead singer in a pop-superstar trio whose secret mission is to hunt and kill soul-sucking demons and eventually sing into being the Honmoon, while hiding the tell-tale patterns on her own skin that mark her as worthy of death. And the patterns are beginning to spread, just as a super-hot demon boy-ba

Guinevere Govea as Finley (center) with much of the Metro production cast. Photo by Jennifer A Lin. Today, we’re taking a peek at the...

Javert and Jean Valjean: The protagonist and antagonist are key components of a logline This week, I’m continuing the Building Blocks of...

Save the Cat has not yet been adapted to musicals. Maybe that’s because musicals have not always been about telling a great story. But modern audiences are accustomed to tightly-woven and fulfilling stories, and the story of a Summit Stages musical needs to do more than just entertain; it needs to inspire audiences in a way that builds the Beloved Community. That’s why I’m working on adapting Snyder’s model to musicals. 

Fourteen years in the bureaucracy-bound Chicago public school system taught Marva Collins that there had to be a better way to teach children. And peddling a Broadway musical, Marva!, has taught John Kunich a similar lesson: there has to be a better way to bring transformative stories to the stage. 

Common Ground Songwriters sing together I’m writing today from Bethel, New York, where I’m part of the Music for Peace Summit at the site...

Aaron, Miriam, Moses and Tzipporah, with the freed Hebrews in the background, West End Production As promised, this week, I’m giving a...

Sometimes, the magic ingredient that makes a great musical is the creator’s love for the story. You can feel that love in James and the Giant Peach. It oozes through every scene (“oozes” is more apropos than “glitters” because this tale involves slithering crocodile tongues, a six-foot tall earthworm and other human-sized creepy crawlies).

Can we be courageously inclusive without risking our ability to pass on a precious, religious or cultural identity to future generations?  That’s the fundamental question that captured me as I read the libretto of Meet Me There: An Interfaith Musical. It was then pushed aside by an even more pressing question: what do we risk if we don’t practice courageous inclusivity? 

I believe the magic of Woodstock lay in its organizers' decision to put people ahead of their pocketbooks, which is a fundamental principle for peacebuilding. What other elements or principles need to be present to create enduring peace and a better world?

The Woodstock music festival of August 1969 was supposed to be a money-maker for the 4 young promoters who launched it. Instead, it became a movement.  How, exactly, that happened is still a mystery to me. It ought to have been a flop. And yet, the event was groundbreaking in the lives of attendees, with ripple effects that had an outsized impact on society at large. 

This week, I’m struck by what an incredible blessing it is to live in a place and a time that offers us both the power to make a difference and enough of the necessities of life that we can even turn our attention to entertainment and building bridges across our divides. Today, I'm celebrating that, and treasuring the hope that we can indeed make a difference at a time when domestic and international friendships are being strained.

The big question that’s been running through my mind and heart for about the last month is whether creating music with AI is cheating. And writing this newsletter is part of how I’m hoping to get to an answer. Here’s my story, and the questions I’m still grappling with. I’d love your thoughts if you’re willing to weigh in. 

EPIC is a gorgeous musical. I just wish its message matched. What I'm hearing is that, in order to succeed, you need to grow into the capacity to be at least somewhat ruthless. There’s also a nod to the idea that it’s unfortunate that this is how the world is set up. But that’s a problem for the uber-powerful to work through. Our job is to do what we must so we can secure what matters to us.