<p>My son at UMich is looking for opportunities to workshop his musical - he has put out some feelers, but I thought I would try this forum. His show was produced through the student-run theatre program last fall and the manuscript won the Hopwood award for Drama. If there are any school reps who are interested please send a PM - thanks!</p>
<p>My feeling is that school reps are not going to be his best bet at this juncture. He needs to get his musical submitted to various festivals or places looking to workshop new musicals (not colleges) and submit it to various award selections and so on. I say this as a parent whose kid wrote a musical that was put on while in college and has had it go many steps and levels since then, including workshops and professional productions (and soon to be a college mainstage production), and award selections, not to mention has led to commissions to create other new musicals and works for professional theaters and other industry companies.</p>
<p>Thanks Soozie - good advice and good luck to your daughter. As for “submitted to various festivals or places looking to workshop new musicals” - any tips on where he could find a list?</p>
<p>I honestly don’t know of any such list. </p>
<p>Off the top of my head in terms of new musical festivals or places that workshop new musicals…there is the New York New Musical Theater Festival (NYMF), the National Alliance for Musical Theater’s (NAMT) Festival of New Works, Yale Institute for Music Theater, Festival of New American Musicals (in LA), Eugene O’Neill Theater Center National Music Theater Conference, off the top of my head given my own kid’s experiences. </p>
<p>Some award programs include the Jonathan Larson Grants, Ed Kleban Awards, and Richard Rogers Awards. </p>
<p>My kid has been involved in several of the above and one thing has led to another and the first musical she wrote in college eventually was workshopped, had an excerpt in a festival and had an Equity production in NYC and is going to be a mainstage show at a BFA program. But this musical led to commissions from major theaters and entertainment companies to write new musicals as well.</p>
<p>I will add that my kid went to college in NYC and has been there since graduating almost three years ago and so made many contacts and her work is seen in the city frequently. So, she is also performing new work on a regular basis and is often in some sorts of showcases/cabarets/concerts that showcase new MT composers/writers and songwriters. This has also involved one thing leading to another. Some concerts she has been asked to be in feature up and coming MT composers.</p>
<p>The fact that your son attends UMich’s BFA, should put him in touch with Pasek and Paul who could advise him (they are fairly recent UMich BFA grads who are successful as MT composers/writers).</p>
<p>Your S might also be interested in applying for the Mercer Songwriter’s Project at Northwestern some year (may be too late for this summer)…</p>
<hr>
<p>[Northwestern</a> Seeks Tunesmiths for Mercer Songwriters Project : Northwestern University Newscenter](<a href=“http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2011/03/mercer-songwriters-project.html]Northwestern”>Northwestern Seeks Tunesmiths for Mercer Songwriters Project: Northwestern University News)
Lippa, Carnelia and White lead weeklong no-fee songwriting intensive
By Judy Moore</p>
<p>EVANSTON, Ill. — Talented young songwriters and writing teams working in any popular music genre are encouraged to apply for a no-fee program presented by The Johnny Mercer Foundation and the American Music Theatre Project (AMTP) at Northwestern University this summer.</p>
<p>The Johnny Mercer Foundation and the American Music Theatre Project are presenting the sixth annual Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project on the University’s Evanston campus June 20 to 25. All applications must be postmarked no later than April 10.</p>
<p>The intensive weeklong songwriting program will be led by master teachers Craig Carnelia, Tony Award-nominated composer and lyricist of “Sweet Smell of Success”; Andrew Lippa, Grammy-nominated artist and composer of the current Broadway musical “The Addams Family”; and three-time Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Lari White. To learn more about the program, its master teachers or to download an application, visit [American</a> Music Theatre Project](<a href=“http://www.mercersongwriters.org%5DAmerican”>http://www.mercersongwriters.org).</p>
<p>The six-day program of master classes and workshops will culminate in a June 24 showcase of work by participant songwriters at Northwestern’s Josephine Louis Theater and a June 25 star-studded celebration concert at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall.</p>
<p>Emerging songwriters in pop, music theatre, hip-hop, folk, Latin and country music are encouraged to complete a short application. Applicants must be between the ages of 18 and 30; writing teams must include at least one member in that age range.</p>
<p>Alumni from the project include Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, writers of the musical “A Christmas Story” produced at 5th Avenue Theatre, and “Dogfight” commissioned by Lincoln Center Theatre; Latin Grammy Award-winning songwriter Obie Bermudez and Jennifer Pena; Fred Ebb Award-winner Adam Gwon; Jordan Beck and Jonathan May; Michael Cooper and Hyeyoung Kim; Michael Kooman and Christoper Dimond; and Peter Lerman.</p>
<p>Thanks to the generosity of The Johnny Mercer Foundation, there is no workshop fee for the writers and writing teams selected to participate. On-campus housing is provided, and a stipend covers a portion of travel expenses.</p>
<p>I didn’t mention Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project (am aware of it as my D was on the waitlist for it last year and she has friends who have attended) because that will not be like workshopping a musical. Rather, it is more of a workshop to work on the writing/composing. For example, I did not mention MacDowell Colony Fellowships which my D won either because that again is more of a retreat/residency to work on writing, but the musical itself is not workshopped, which is what I thought the OP was looking for. </p>
<p>I forgot to mention in my first post the very first step my D’s musical took right after graduating and the initial production at her college. She developed it much further and then that summer, a concert version of her musical was staged at Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater in NYC. This worked as her musical was all sung and I’m not positive if it is a good venue for your son’s production but that was the first production outside of college that my D’s musical took on its journey to other places I mentioned in my previous post.</p>
<p>Thanks for the added info, Soozievt! I’d thought maybe composers worked on fine-tuning a current work during the Mercer Songwriters Project, or that it might offer a framework for how to move a new work forward into more workshops.</p>
<p>I believe the American Musical Theatre Program (or something like that) also at Northwestern workshops and produces new musicals.</p>
<p>Good leads for him to pursue - thanks all.</p>
<p>MomCares, yes, a composer could work on their musical and fine tune it at the Mercer Songwriters Project but that is not the same as “workshopping” a musical which is what the OP was asking about. For instance, my D’s musical was workshopped at Yale Institute for Music Theatre where she had a Broadway director and the workshop was cast in NYC with Equity actors and a workshop production was staged to a live audience. At Mercer, one could work and develop a piece but there would be no cast or reading/workshop production of it. Mercer has GREAT value…don’t get me wrong! So, does MacDowell Colony (where my D had a fellowship residency)! But it is a different experience than workshopping a musical and so I was just responding to ideas for that itself for the OP.</p>
<p>I’ll follow up the above discussion as my D was just informed she was one of 12 selected this year for the Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project and is excited about attending!</p>
<p>So cool, congratulations! Maybe she’ll meet my D, who is doing a show at Northwestern this summer. ;-)</p>