Saturday, June 18, 2011

MUSIC LAB - ONLINE!


ANMT's sixth annual MUSICAL THEATRE BOOT CAMP presents:

MUSIC LAB - ONLINE!

Instructor: Philip Seward

Make your own schedule!

THIS COURSE IS OFFERED COMPLETELY ONLINE

Course Fee: $495 (Early Bird/ANMT Member Fee: $495)

A concentrated version of the full Music Lab curriculum offered as part of ANMT's Core Curriculum program, with a unit a week instead of a unit a month. (If you're planning to take the Core program, this course will fulfill your Lab requirement).

Write and format your musical professionally.

Videos, tests, exercises and interactive assignments on the craft of composing for musical theatre, from Columbia College professor Philip Seward. Topics include:
Setting a lyric
Creating a Piano Arrangement
Finding a rhythm in a lyric and using it to develop a melody
Creating a lead sheet (chord symbols and melody)
Working with a hook
Key signatures & accidentals
Driving melodically toward theclimax of the song
Supporting the melody with a piano accompaniment
When to modulate
Composing Incidental Music
Composing for the music theatre voice (head voice, chest voice, belt, legit, timbre)
Formatting a Score: Dynamics, Expressive Markings, Pedaling, Rehearsal Marks, etc.
Vamps; safeties; jump cue; out on
Formatting voice parts
Swing notation
Integrating Script and Score

Only during the summer - this online Lab is available for the ANMT Member price of $495.

To register (or for more info) - CLICK HERE



INSTRUCTOR INFO:
Philip Seward lists among his operatic and musical works, NIMUE (premiered 2007 in Edinburgh, Scotland), DOWNTOWN (2007 at Stages Festival in Chicago), SINCERELY YOURS (2003), JUAN PERON'S HAND (2002) at the Northtown Arts Center; HIGH FIDELITY (1998) Chicago Humanities Festival and (1999) Merkin Hall in New York; SPREADING THE NEWS (1998) at North Park University; HANS BRINKER (1994) at Theatre Building Chicago which was also a recipient of several Jeff Citations and an After Dark Award; the youth operas AFRICAN STORIES (2007), A NOTEWORTHY TALE (2002) and STONE SOUP (2001) commissioned by Lyric Opera of Chicago; BLESSING (2003) for the Lira Chamber Chorus; and PSALM 8 (1997) commissioned by the Lyric Opera Chapters. He is currently an Artist-in-Residence at Columbia College Chicago, co-conductor of the Lira Ensemble of Chicago, music director at St. James Presbyterian Church in Chicago, and he has served both as a free-lance conductor and performer for many ensembles, musical shows and operas.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

LYRIC LAB - ONLINE!



ANMT's sixth annual MUSICAL THEATRE BOOT CAMP presents:

LYRIC LAB - ONLINE!

Instructor: Larry Todd Johnson

Make your own schedule!

THIS COURSE IS OFFERED COMPLETELY ONLINE

Course Fee: $795 (Early Bird/ANMT Member Fee: $695)

If you're planning to take the Core Curriculum, this course will fulfill your Lyric Lab requirement. Topics covered will include: prosody, structure, rhyme, character through diction, spotting songs, and progressions.

Only during the summer - this online Lab is available for $695.

To register (or for more info) - CLICK HERE



INSTRUCTOR INFO:
Larry Todd Johnson's most recent musical, 40 IS THE NEW 15 (with composer Cindy O'Connor), recently completed a critically-acclaimed run at the NoHo Arts Center, receiving a Best New Musical award from StagesceneLA. The developmental production of 40 IS THE NEW 15 received a 2010 GLAAD Media Award Nomination for Outstanding Los Angeles Theatre., and was chosen by Stephen Schwartz for the ASCAP/Disney Musical Theatre Workshop. NOW AND THEN A HERO (with composer Jake Anthony) was seen this year at the Montana Rep as part of the Missoula Colony Festival; and his musical drama, ALL THAT HE WAS (with composer Cindy O'Connor) was seen earlier this year at the Tisch School of the Arts in New York. For this same show, Larry also won the Kennedy Center National Playwright's Award and the ACTF Musical Theater Award. His historical-fiction musical, THE LAST PRINCESS, (with music by Allen Hong) was also featured in the Disney/ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop.

Friday, June 10, 2011

BOOK LAB - ONLINE!



ANMT's sixth annual MUSICAL THEATRE BOOT CAMP presents:

BOOK LAB - ONLINE!

Instructor: Elise Dewsberry

Make your own schedule!

THIS COURSE IS OFFERED COMPLETELY ONLINE

Course Fee: $495 (Early Bird/ANMT Member Fee: $495)

The Book Lab is designed as an introduction to writing the book of a musical while also outlining the collaborative steps involved in creating a new musical with the whole team. The book of a musical is not just the spoken words, but encompasses the entire story of the musical. The Bookwriter is officially responsible for the writing of the book, but the entire writing team needs to collaborate on the story.

The collaborative process is explored through six units including: THE IDEA, THE OUTLINE, THE ROUGH DRAFT, ADDING SONGS, REVISIONS, and FINISHING TOUCHES. Along the way, other topics are incorporated including:

Unwavering Want
Action Loops
Conflict
Adaptation
Language of an outline
Story structure
Creating a Character Worksheet
Exposition
Character Diction
Dialogue
Song Spotting
Incorporating Songs
Dealing with Feedback
Collaboration Agreements
Project Pitches
Public Domain

This course qualifies as the Book Lab element of the Academy for New Musical Theatre's Core Curriculum.

To register (or for more info) - CLICK HERE



INSTRUCTOR INFO:
Elise Dewsberry
Currently the Artistic Director of ANMT, Elise has been involved in the development of new works for over fifteen years: as an actor/singer, as a director, as a dramaturge, and as a writer. At ANMT, Elise co-teaches the Core Curriculum, runs the Full Length Curriculum and Book Lab, and is the dramaturge for the annual Search for New Musicals. Elise is also on the New Works Committee of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, and is the co-ordinator of the SoCal New Musicals Network. While living in Toronto, Elise served as the Assistant Artistic Director of the Muskoka Festival; the Co-Ordinator of the festival's annual Musical Theatre Writer's Colony, the Associate Dramaturge of the Canadian Stage Company; the Resident Dramaturge of the Smile Theatre Company; and was the co-founder of Toronto's ScriptLab. Elise spent many years touring Canada with NINE MONTHS - a one-woman musical which she commissioned from writers Carl Ritchie and Stephen Woodjetts. Elise and Carl also co-wrote ANY BODY HOME?, which has been published by Dramatic Publishing and has had multiple productions around the world.

'I recently had the pleasure of working with The Academy for New Musical Theatre on a reading of THE GROUCH'S DAUGHTER, my new musical co-written with Jack Helbig. ANMT staff member Elise Dewsberry served as both dramaturg and director, and in our years of working on this show, no one person has been as helpful to us as she was. Prior to the reading, we received a set of notes that were as thoughtful as they were thorough. ANMT's suggestions led to a rewrite that greatly helped me shape the show and refine its style. I'm deeply impressed with the care and intelligence of their creative input, and would not hesitate to work with ANMT again.'
-Mark Hollmann, Tony award-winning composer, Urinetown

'We ...feel as if a nurturing dramaturgical Mary Poppins has visited us with wonderful insightful nourishment. It appeared to us that you seemed to really relate to the characters we've established and are caught up with their plight and have come up with ways to strengthen them ... Your suggestions are invaluable to us ...'
--Ron Yatter

'Elise Dewsberry's rare gift for analyzing plot and character is enormously helpful to writers. Her story sense is phenomenal.'
- Stephen Oles, bookwriter, Seattle

'Wow!! ... It's as though you were reading our minds ... What's particularly brilliant is that you are having us work through the process in manageable stages. What a gift you have, that you can lead us so that we need to climb out of only puddles of quicksand of our own making, rather than oceans of it! We both hold you in the absolute highest esteem imaginable.'
- Roger Love and Ann McNamee

Sunday, June 5, 2011

LOST & FOUND: THE 15 MINUTE MUSICALS



LOST & FOUND: the annual 15 Minute Musicals

ANMT's annual 15 Minute Musicals will be presented on Monday, June 27 and Tuesday, June 28 at the Lonny Chapman Theatre in North Hollywood.

The four brand new 15-minute musicals to be be presented this year are:

NOTHING PERSONAL by Johanna Besterman, Joe Greene, and Erin Thompson
THE SUITCASE HOUND OF BOMBAY PEEK-A-BOO PEAK by Elizabeth Carol Thompson, Ronnie Cavalluzzi, and John Sparks
FRANKIE'S LAUNDRY by Bryon L. Richards, Jerry Ranger, and Sandy Kasten
CARNIVAL OF SOULS by Joanna Warren Smith, Todd Syswerda, and Fred Piegonski.

The cast for the evening will be Adrian Bewley, Jordan Kai Burnett, R. Christofer Sands, and Erika Whalen. The evening is produced by Patricia Zehentmayr, directed by Elise Dewsberry, and music directed by Jake Anthony.

Tickets for the 2011 15 Minute Musicals are now on sale - seating at the Lonny Chapman is very limited so hurry and get your seats now!

CLICK HERE FOR RESERVATIONS.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

MUSICAL THEATRE BOOT CAMP EARLY BIRD DEADLINE - TOMORROW!

ANMT's sixth annual Musical Theatre Boot Camp - Early Bird registration ends TOMORROW. Sign up NOW to get the Early Bird discounts on all courses!



The 2011 Boot Camp will take place between July 5 and August 15, and will include many exciting courses for bookwriters, composers, lyricists, producers, and performers including:

ACTING THE SONG
-- with Georgia Stitt
BOOK LAB - ONLINE!
COLLABORATION WORKSHOP
-- with John Sparks
CONQUER THE INTERNET/SOCIAL MEDIA
-- with Kevin Saunders Hayes
DE-SCARE-IFY THE DANCE CALL
-- with Angel Creeks
EVERYONE'S A CRITIC
-- with John Sparks
HANDS-ON MUSICAL THEATRE WORKSHOP
-- with Mark Saltzman
HOW DOES A MUSICAL GET FINANCED? and LEGAL PERILS, PITFALLS AND TRAPS
-- with Gordon Firemark
LYRIC LAB - ONLINE!
MAKE A SOCKO MARKETING VIDEO - WITH NO CAMERA!
-- with Scott Guy
MELODIES: HEINRICH, RICHARD and ME
-- with Ross Kalling
MUSIC FOR LYRICISTS
-- with Bill Berry
MUSIC LAB - ONLINE!
OUTLINING ANYWHERE!
-- with Elise Dewsberry
PREPARING YOUR SCORE in FINALE NOTATION
-- with Clifford Tasner
SATURDAY NIGHT ON SUNDAY NIGHTS
-- with Scott Guy
SONGWRITING MASTERCLASS
-- with Georgia Stitt
SUMMER SEARCH STREAMCASTS
-- with industry guests
WRITE AND FILM AN INTERNET MUSICAL THIS SUMMER
-- with Scott Guy



For more info - including short promotional videos for many of the courses on offer - please visit www.anmt.org/bootcamp.asp

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

EVERYONE'S A CRITIC


ANMT's sixth annual MUSICAL THEATRE BOOT CAMP presents:

EVERYONE'S A CRITIC

Instructor: John Sparks

One Tuesday evening from 7pm to 10pm

August 9

Course Fee: $50 (Early Bird/ANMT Member Fee: $35)

We can learn from our critics - but probably not what's wrong with our writing! Learn how to read reviews of other people's work - and why not to read reviews of your own. Examples from raves about flops and rants about hits - yep, that's what I said. The critics aren't always right - gasp!


To register (or for more info) - CLICK HERE

INSTRUCTOR INFO:
John Sparks was the founder/co-Director of the Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop (1979-1995) and the Artistic Director of ANMT from 1995 to the present. He founded the Writers' Workshop at Theatre Building Chicago in 1987 and was its Artistic Director for over a decade. Between the two workshops, John has mentored the work of over 250 writers, including Mark Hollmann, composer/lyricist of Urinetown; George Gorham and Dan Sticco, A Change in the Heir. Other writers in the workshops have earned three Richard Rodgers Awards and two Kleban Awards. Nearly 400 shows written by workshop members have been produced in theatres across the country. John's own musicals have been produced in Los Angeles and Chicago.