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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. 

The director’s job is not to micromanage in order to bring their exact vision to the stage, but to guide the actors, giving adequate direction so that they can embrace their characters and create something great themselves.

They may be detached and self-serving; resentful, treacherous and conniving; carried away by the praise of others; or bound down in false beliefs. They may be so far gone that there’s no way to redeem them in the story. But they are people. And creators who give them the dignity of well-rounded treatment help us to see and respect the humanity of those we see as antagonists in our own lives. Such villains also enrich the show. 

Gunnar Michael Andersen Today’s post is a bit of a departure from my normal. I’m introducing you to Gunnar Michael Andersen, a composer...

It’s impossible to separate the sounds that we call “music” from the processes of creation and their social impact. So Zork uses “musicking” to describe the whole parcel. It's a term that sums up his daily life. And his song, "The Sound of Us" encapsulates his collaborative and inclusive philosophy.

Gilbert and Sullivan had the courage to disrupt the status quo in Victorian theatre life, and we are all their beneficiaries. Now, here's an outline for a classic Broadway musical, to the tune of Modern Major General.

The Great Gatsby explores a society running from what they lost during WWI, with parties that never end. There is a frenzy, a freneticism to drown out the confusion. Under the confetti and sparkle is a dirty floor.

This is Part II in a brief overview of the framework for a classic musical, as illustrated by Beauty and the Beast. We'll discuss a tried-and-true pattern for keeping the audience invested and entertained all the way from the Entr'acte to the Finale.