Monday, November 24, 2008

Performers' Workshop Feedback: The Chow and Bow Broadway Buffet

Hi Everyone:

Performers' Workshop creator Joshua Finkel here. Here is some wonderful candid footage from the recent historic evening at the ANMT Performers' Workshop, where for the first time all THREE levels of the workshop performed under the same roof to ANMT writers, Industry members, family and friends. The Fall Showcase and Potluck for the Performers' Workshop--The Chow and Bow Broadway Buffet held on Wednesday November 12 was a smash! Members from Adult Level 1, Adult Advanced Level 2 and the new PW Teen level strutted their stuff to a packed house. Listen to the wonderful words and feelings of both performers and audience alike. Full evening's show video is forthcoming! Don't miss the NEXT showcase of the Performers' Workshop at the M Bar in Hollywood on Wednesday February 25 at 8 p.m. where members of the Cabaret and Specialty Material Class will perform the 8 minute cabaret set they create themselves over the winter session! Further info: http://www.anmt.org/arc/pwdefault.asp



Warmly,

Joshua Finkel

The ANMT Performers' Workshop

Creative Combustion Acting Studio (http://www.ccactingstudio.com/)

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Performers' Workshop Cabaret Series Now Enrolling

Hi!
Joshua Finkel here. I am the creator and director of the ANMT Perfomers' Workshop. The next round of classes will be starting up soon, featuring the annual Performers' Workshop Cabaret event at the M Bar in Hollywood. This performance is the culmination of the winter session Level 1 class entitled GETTING YOUR ACT TOGETHER which concentrates on Cabaret and Specialty Material Performance Technique.

I hope you'll have a look at the video below, which is from my introduction to last year's M Bar event.

Auditions for the next round of sessions for adults and teens will take place on November 2, 2008 from 2-6pm.

For more information about the Performers' Workshop, and a link to sign up for auditions, please go to:

http://anmt.org/arc/PWdefault.asp


Thursday, October 2, 2008

2008-09 Season of New Producer-Driven Musicals!

We're just starting our 2008-09 season of developing musicals from scratch for producers. This year is jam-packed with eleven musicals, for four producers. Here's a first look at the very beginning of the process.











Wednesday, August 20, 2008

An invitation for September

Video blog:

Past members tell you why should you consider joining us in September, and Associate Artistic Director Elise Dewberry invites you to audit the September sessions on Sept. 9, 10, and 11 from 6:45 to 10:30pm.


Friday, August 15, 2008

Video Blog: "I Quit!" Released

In this video blog, Matt makes a couple of announcements and then freezes with a funny look on his face.



Also, Matt would like it to be known that he does indeed understand the irony of posting a video called "I Quit" the day his job ends.

Friday, August 1, 2008

I QUIT - a sneak preview!

A sneak preview of our second Guerilla Musical - I QUIT - which will be available at www.anmt.tv starting on August 15 ...


Monday, July 21, 2008

Video Blog: Guerrillas in the Midst

In the video blog below, Matt discusses location scouting and beard length.


Friday, July 18, 2008

A Broadway Dream Come True for [title of show]

Cate Caplin (who directed the recent reading of Now and Then a Hero) writes from New York:

Last night I sat front row for the opening night of a brand new Broadway musical called [title of show] - It was a show within a show about two unknown writers, writing a new musical for the NY Musical Theatre festival, pursuing their dream to Broadway - it was their literal story and journey about writing a new musical unfolding within the context of the show - very exhilarating to see a real life dream being realized in real time on stage up to the final moment of the piece and there they were, opening ON Broadway for real.

The audience (no doubt diehard friends and fans throught the entire journey of this new piece thru its developmental stages to its off-Broadway run, workshop productions and subsequent road to Broadway) was electrifying.... It was definitely an inspiration to see it happen for others, the very thing we ALL dream about happening... I ran into the producer who I know from other relations years ago and he invited me to the opening night party.

So many icons of Broadway were there, the toast of the town Broadway directors and choreographers, Tony Award winning actors and famous designers, composers, writers - a sea of artistic legends.... I thought of you all and wanted to share my random NY "ride"....

--Cate Caplin

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

The Notebooks of Jonathan Larson

ANMT's Music Lab instructor, Bill Johnson, sent ANMT members an email this morning we thought might interest you:

Hi fellow composers/lyricists/creators! I had an interesting experience this week I’d like to share with you. I got a call from my wife, who said “You have to come over here right now and check this out”.

For those of you who don’t know, my wife Jill runs a company that creates movie posters. I rushed over to her office and she handed me a three ring binder with a picture taped to the front of some kind of archaic looking sculpture, like you might see in Paris. I opened up the binder and the first page said: Rent: A musical adaptation of La Boheme.

Inside were two scripts, one dated December 1995, and a revision, from January 1996, with all kinds of corrections, pencil doodles, notes etc. I looked up at Jill with a questioning look, and she said, ”You’re holding in your hands Johnathan Larson’s personal copy of the script for Rent that he was using in final rehearsals up until the day he died”. !!!!

It turns out that Jill’s company is working on a poster for the theatrical release by Sony of the last performance of Rent, happening in the next few months. Johnathan Larson’s aunt sent this incredible treasure trove to them for inspiration in the making of the poster. And what a treasure trove!

Besides the academic interest of what changes he made (sections crossed out, lyrics changed, notes to actors etc, pages of notes on suggested changes to the arrangements of each song, etc)., there was the sheer fun of seeing all of his doodlings (he seemed fond of writing out the entire alphabet repeatedly), as well as some interesting mementos- such as a dozen obviously hand Xeroxed copies of invitations to the original performance at a small theatre on 4th Street in the East Village. I was going to pilfer one of those, but my wife said “Bad karma”. Oh well.

Anyway, it was a fascinating look at a unique mind in the midst of creating a classic theatre piece. Needless to say, it was quite inspiring, but in the end, I realized that the whole show, this work of genius, was all right there, in the three ring binder, exactly as we work on our shows. My wife said, “From such humble beginnings…”.

That gave me a bit of hope: if this great writer, who could spend 8 years realizing his vision, only to die before it ever hit Broadway, could put it all right there on the page, then maybe we could too. Or some of us. Hell, maybe all of us! Anyway, thought you’d enjoy the story. Keep writing!

--Bill Johnson

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Our First Guerilla Musical

ANMT has made a leap into the future by shooting our very first "Guerilla Musical", by which I mean a musical which bursts out "unexpectedly" in a public place. There are other "guerilla musicals" out there (check out http://www.anmt.tv/ for a collection of them), but we are hoping to corner the market on guerilla musicals which feature original musical theatre content.

This short video is a visual record of how excited I was when I got home from the shoot of "The Customer is Always Right". To view the actual guerilla musical, please go to http://www.anmt.tv/ and scroll to the section titled "videos from the academy for new musical theatre".


Enjoy!

Elise


Lyric Lab - Online!

I launched the summer Lyric Lab and Advanced Lyric Lab today...and for the first time in summer Boot Camp history, the lyric labs are all 100% online! Since lyricists who wanted to take the Lyric Lab this summer live all over California (including the Bay Area and down near San Diego), and gas prices are so out of control, I thought it made more sense this summer to make everything available online: the 40 videos, all the interactive tests, the handouts...and even my one-on-one feedback.

The summer’s lucky lyricists are going to get my feedback via mp3 -- so instead of getting feedback in a weekly group meeting, I’m going to give individual feedback, one-on-one, just like I do on writingmusicaltheatre.com. I think we’re all going to enjoy that. (Plus, we’ll save on the gas.)



--Scott




(a random screen shot from the Lyric Lab)

No Biz Like The Biz Of The Biz

A couple weeks ago, ANMT held a conference about the business aspects of musical theatre. Panelists talked about what it takes to get your show produced, and what you should do to make sure you get paid for your work after your show gets produced, among other things. It was quite informative.

Anyway, yours truly wandered around with a camera during the conference talking to people. Here's the result of that:



That's all for now!
-Matt

Attend the tale of anmt's blog...

Hello, and welcome! My name is Matt Klein. I'm an intern at the Academy for Musical Theatre, the amazing organization whose blog you are currently reading.

"So what exactly is this blog about?" you may ask. In short, it's about musical theatre. In slightly lengthier, it's about the development of new musical theatre, as seen through the eyes of an academy devoted to it. We'll regale you with stories, astound you with observations, and occasionally annoy you with self-promotion. It should be a blast.

On a more serious note, I'm very excited about this blog. The Academy is a wonderful resource for aspiring writers, and as an aspiring writer, the chance to capture some of their tidbits forever online is something I look forward to.

So again, welcome, and enjoy.
-Matt