America has the honor of having created two distinctly original art forms: Jazz music, and the modern musical theater play. Whether your first musical theater experience was "South Pacific" or "Wicked," you probably haven't fogetten how moved you were, and how much you loved it. The ability of musicals to touch our hearts is what keeps audiences flocking to them, and makes people like me want to write them.
Time has thinned the ranks of the great musical theater writers. Today's musical theater world needs new writers like me, and tuneful, engaging new musicals -- like mine! But it's hard for new writers to stay encouraged. The increased cost of doing new shows, and the associated risks, along with the ever diminishing number of new shows presented each year, has made it very hard for a new writer to get the opportunity to bring his show to life. New writers must turn to their own resources -- personal funds, friends, family, and well-intentioned strangers -- to create the opportunity to get their new shows seen and heard, in however small a way, so that they can attract the financing to move to the next level. We need your help to keep this unique and vibrant art form alive.
Bringing a new musical from page to stage can take years. First comes the writing, and then the re-writing, to get all the elements of story and song right. Hollywood screenwriters are paid large sums up front for their writing, because they give up the copyright to the production company. Theater writers get little or nothing up front in exchange for retaining the copyright to their work. Until the royalties start coming in, new musical theater writers must support themselves and pay out of their own pockets for such things as demo recording, script, copying and arranging their shows.
Once the writing of the show reaches a certain point, one or more readings are done to assess its readiness for production without incurring the expenses of mounting it fully. Each reading with professional actors requires some payment to the actors, stage manager, and musicians. Under the 29 hour rehearsal rule, each actor is paid a minimum of $100, which can add up for a large show. Rehearsal halls must be rented, as well as the theater spaces where the readings will be presented. Xeroxing of multiple scripts can be expensive as well. So even a simple reading can cost several thousand dollars. As a show gets rewritten over time, additional readings may also have to be done.
After the readings, a minimal production is planned with basic sets and costumes to see it realized as a whole. That may be a festival productionor an independent showcase production, designed to get reviews and attract producing partners and/or potential investors. Such productions can cost in the tens of thousands of dollars. But they are not intended to recoup their costs. They are "loss leaders," meant to propel a show to the next production level.
In the early stages of development, writers themselves often must be their own producers and investors. I have paid for readings of "Scandalous Behavior!" in NYC and L.A., and shared the cost of producing "I Come for Love" at the New York Musical Theater Festival with my writing partner on the show, Terrence Atkins.
The first full production of a new musical is sometimes at a regional theater. Also, commercial producers may partner with regional theaters to try out their developing shows in full productions before a guaranteed audience for a lower cost than opening directly on Broadway. But those slots are hard to get. Today, producers must usually find and bring "enhancement" money, which can range from the tens of thousands to the millions of dollars, to induce a theater to offer a regional production.
For non-commercial shows which are not aimed at the mass market, the goal may simply be to receive productions in the not-for-profit theaters around the country where more target marketed shows are appreciated. Those not-for-profit theaters receive tax deductible donations to insure that the creation of new theater works, including new musicals, is not wholly dependent on market forces. Without the support of people like you who donate to the not-for-profits, much of Stephen Sondheim's work would not have been produced, nor other important new works such as "The Light in the Piazza" or "Grey Gardens". My show, "Scandalous Behavior!", is the kind of show which will probably have a home in the not-for-profit world, with such support.
However, when a show from a not-for-profit venue demonstrates broad audience appeal, a separate offering may be done to convert it to a for-profit venture.
Shows which are clearly commercial may also simply raise money through an investment vehicle and open directly as a for-profit venture Such shows often open outside of New York in friendlier markets as an "out of town try out" before going into New York. Alternatively, a small show may run a long time in a city like Chicago without ever braving the New York market.
I believe my show, "I Come for Love" will end up on Broadway as a commercial production. But it may also get launched at a regional theater first. "Mating - a musical revue" may also be showcased in a small theater as a not-for-profit presentation. But it has great commercial potential and could also open as a commercial production from the beginning.
I am making plans now to mount additional readings of my shows, leading to small local productions. From there, I hope to assemble a group of potential investors and producing partners to move the most commercial projects forward.
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Understanding the Development Process
