DE-SCARE-IFY THE DANCE CALL

ANMT's sixth annual MUSICAL THEATRE BOOT CAMP presents:

DE-SCARE-IFY THE DANCE CALL

Instructor: Angel Creeks

Four Monday evenings from 7pm to 9pm
THIS COURSE WILL TAKE PLACE AT SCREENLAND STUDIOS

July 11, 18, 25, and August 1

Course Fee: $200 (Early Bird/ANMT Member Fee: $175)

How many of you feel great when you sing your audition song...and then politely nod in terror when they invite you to come back for the dance audition?

Well, now you can bring it down a few notches on the scary-meter because Broadway dance captain Angel Creeks (FOSSE, CHICAGO, STARLIGHT EXPRESS) is here to give you the tools to truly succeed at the dance call.

This is not your regular dance class...you will get individual attention and help from someone who has been on the other side of the casting table numerous times.

Whether you have never taken a jazz class in your life or you are a seasoned dancer, you will gain simple, usable, and practical tools to succeed in the dance call. (P.S. It's rarely about being the best dancer.)



To register (or for more info) - CLICK HERE

INSTRUCTOR INFO:
Angel Creeks is an acclaimed dancer/singer who has thrilled audiences on Broadway and across the country. A second-generation Fosse dancer, she was mentored by the legendary Gwen Verdon. She starred on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning CHICAGO and FOSSE, and performed the role of Velma Kelly on the Broadway National Tour of CHICAGO. She also worked extensively with Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group on the Las Vegas production of STARLIGHT EXPRESS. She honed her skills with the Lula Washington Dance Studio in Los Angeles and later trained with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and The Dance Theatre of Harlem.

HANDS-ON MUSICAL THEATRE WORKSHOP

ANMT's sixth annual MUSICAL THEATRE BOOT CAMP presents:

HANDS-ON MUSICAL THEATRE WORKSHOP

Instructor: Mark Saltzman

Six Thursday evenings from 7pm to 10pm

July 7, 14, 21, 28, August 4, 11

Course Fee: $125 (Early Bird/ANMT Member Fee: $95)

FOR COMPOSERS, LYRICISTS, PLAYWRIGHTS, SCREENWRITERS AND TV WRITERS

For Writers:
So many writers, playwrights and screenwriters are trying their hand at writing musicals, but the process of musical theater creation can be bewildering, especially if you're a writer who has only written non-musical projects and may not be acquainted with even the most basic principles of music. If Mom didn't force piano lessons on you, if you weren't in a high school garage band, how do you, as a writer or scriptwriter, navigate that daunting world of tempos, rhythms, verse-chorus, legatos and back beats? This course provides, for writers, a place where your questions about music, no matter how basic, can be safely asked.

Your script writing skills will be valuable in writing musicals, but they're going to have to be adapted. All you've learned about laying out a narrative line, story structure, characterization, plot points, all of it, will be just as crucial in musicals. (Don't let the songwriters convince you otherwise!) But on occasion, some bending will have to occur. For example, sometimes, in musicals, it's OK to let forward plot motion stop.

In learning about creating musicals, we will never call this 'book writing.' The craft is not creating lead-ins to songs, though that may occur. You are writing a start-to-finish dramatic piece for the stage, whether the story is original or adapted.

For Composers:
It's equally important for a composer / songwriter starting out in musical theater to know something about the basic principles of dramatic writing: story structure, plot points, engaging an audience, and the crucial matter of making an audience wonder what's going to happen next. And, of course, becoming familiar with the sight of index cards on the corkboard. Your instrument, the one you'll be playing in musical theater, is your audience. So how do you get the right responses at the right times? How do you find the perfect place in the narrative to put a song, and the perfect song for that place, remembering at all times you are writing a score, not just a song? How can you to avoid the trap of too many passive songs in which characters do nothing but reflect on plot events? Also important: Deciding when a song is the right solution, and when it's better to musicalize an entire scene.

For both composer / songwriters and script writers:
Collaboration Fundamentals: This will be Couples Counseling (or in some cases, Trio Counseling) for creative teams -- Learning to communicate directly, in clear language, not jargon. Making sure all collaborators are writing the same show. Making sure the script writing side is able to contribute knowledgably to the musical elements, and that the songwriters are respectful of the dramatic writing rules that can make or break a show. Examining how the team can advance their project from an idea on a page to a finished draft to the process of readings, workshops and production.

THE THREE PROJECTS APPROACH
Those enrolled in the workshop will be invited to submit their current musical-in-progress, whatever the stage of development of the project. Out of these, three will be selected for class analysis, given a creative MRI and discussed freely; one musical per class, each class session three hours. In the fourth and final session, time permitting, other members of the class will be given an opportunity to present their works-in-progress for evaluation. You are welcome to join the workshop if you do not have a current musical project

SUBMISSION PROCESS
For submission, musicals at any stage of development are welcome, from the earliest one-page story idea (encouraged!) to a rough sketch with a song or two, all the way to a produced show in the process of revision. Early stage concepts are especially welcome, since so many projects fail in the very first creative phase -- the creation of a musical-worthy storyline, and the choices for songs and song placement. Submissions should include:
- Story synopsis of the musical
- Biographies of the creators.
- Description of the project's stage of development; e.g. outline, first draft, produced and in re- writes.
- Project's history: A list of any previous productions, readings or workshops.
- Existing materials: Scenes, lyrics, demo recordings, sound files, complete libretto, or an outline, if the show is in a very early stage of development.

Mark has led his musical theater workshop at University of California, Santa Barbara and at the Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights, where he received this appraisal:

'I gained SO MUCH out of Mark's workshop, you wouldn't believe. Not only from working (my musical) Pyro, but working the other projects as well. It's a smashing success. Congrats on organizing this. In LA, it seems there are a lot of 'bunk' workshops, classes, seminars, etc. This one was hands down the most informative, nuts and bolts, specific, and productive workshop I've attended. (Feel free to quote me for the next one).'
--Sean Galuszka
Musical Theater Workshop student



To register (or for more info) - CLICK HERE

INSTRUCTOR INFO:
Mark Saltzman dwells comfortably in the worlds of musical theater and script writing, being an accomplished writer of movies, teleplays, plays, songs, and stage musicals.

He began his career as an audition pianist in New York, and became a script writer and songwriter for the Muppets. His songs and sketches for SESAME STREET won him seven Emmy Awards and the opportunity to collaborate with composer talents like Joe Raposo and Alan Menken. Mark has written several feature films, including the children's classic THE ADVENTURES OF MILO AND OTIS. For CBS, he wrote the Christmas musical MRS. SANTA CLAUS, starring Angela Lansbury, with songs by Jerry Herman. His stage musical, THE TIN PAN ALLEY RAG, has run in theaters throughout the country, including Pasadena Playhouse and New York's Roundabout, winning many honors along the way, including several L.A. Ovation Award nominations and a NY Outer Critics Circle Award nomination as BEST OFF-BROADWAY MUSICAL. More at Msaltzman.com

OUTLINING LAB

ANMT's sixth annual MUSICAL THEATRE BOOT CAMP presents:

OUTLINING ANYWHERE!

Instructor: Elise Dewsberry

Six Wednesday evenings from 7pm to 10pm

July 6, 13, 20, 27, August 3, 10

Course Fee: $495 (Early Bird/ANMT Member Fee: $395)

The Outlining Lab is available in-person OR online (or a combination of the two!) Video lectures, exercises, handouts, and tests are all available online. Attend the live sessions for feedback on your homework assignments - or attend those sessions by Skype.

An outline can be an invaluable writer's tool for clarifying the structure and story arc of a musical idea. It can then serve as a blueprint for the rough draft that the collaborators will use to develop the new musical. Writers who skip this important step in the development process are likely to find themselves bogged down with a partially written new show that is riddled with logical inconsistencies, and does not compellingly deliver the intentions of the creative team.

In the Outlining Lab, you will be lead step-by-step through the process of developing a musical idea from concept through to a working outline, with detailed constructive feedback along the way. By the end of this ten-unit course, you should have a well-developed and detailed outline that will solidly prepare you for the collaborative task of writing your new musical.

Along with the basic six steps to an outline, other topics dealt with will include:
Types of Conflict
20 Questions for your Outline
Language of an Outline
Dealing with Feedback
Pitch and Synopsis
One-Liner and Logline

Don't start writing until your outline is rock solid!

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

ACTING THE SONG

ANMT's sixth annual MUSICAL THEATRE BOOT CAMP presents:

ACTING THE SONG - with Georgia Stitt

Instructor: Georgia Stitt

Four Wednesday afternoons from 3pm to 6pm

June 29, July 6, 20, 27 (NO July 13)

Course Fee: $300 (Early Bird/ANMT Member Fee: $275)

These four three-hour workshops are designed for professional singers and actors looking for a new understanding of the musical theater songs they perform. Goals of past participants have included freshening up old audition material, trying out new songs, making bigger choices (in a safe environment), and widening their understanding of the musical theater canon and their specific place in it. Participants are required to sign up for ALL FOUR SESSIONS and will be asked to prepare four different songs. Class is limited to eight performers so each person is guaranteed one-on-one time each week. Auditors are welcome with the permission of ANMT.

Week 1: Classic Musical Theater
Golden era songs, up to and including Sondheim, but really aiming more to the standards. Some writers to consider are Rodgers/Hammerstein, Rodgers/Hart, Frank Loesser, Cole Porter, Gershwin, Burton Lane, Lerner and Loewe, Harold Arlen, Charles Strouse, Leonard Bernstein, Cy Coleman, Jule Styne, Jerry Herman, Marvin Hamlisch, Kander/Ebb, Adler and Ross, Schmidt and Jones, Meredith Willson, Harold Rome, Comden and Green, Yip Harburg, Bock and Harnick, Dietz and Schwartz, or their contemporaries.

Week 2: Contemporary Theater Song
You've seen these songs on YouTube or at NewMusicalTheatre.com, or you have the CD but you never made it to NY to see the show. Some writers to consider are Stephen Schwartz, Maltby and Shire, Ahrens and Flaherty, Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich, Andrew Lippa, Jason Robert Brown, Adam Guettel, Jeanine Tesori, David Yazbek, John Bucchino, Jeff Marx, Bobby Lopez, Michael John LaChiusa, Alan Menken, Bill Finn, David Zippel, Ricky Ian Gordon, Randy Newman, Jeff Blumenkrantz, Kerrigan/Lowdermilk, Pasek & Paul, and their contemporaries.

Week 3: Pop/Rock
Depending on the audition you can sometimes get away with a song from the 60s or 70s. Other times they're specifically looking for something written in the last 5-10 years. For this class, I'm looking for a song that would be more likely to be heard on the radio than in a Broadway theater. Think Kelly Clarkson, Jason Mraz, Adele, or your favorite singer/songwriter or band. Yes, I'm serious.

Week 4: Georgia Stitt originals
A chance to work directly with the person who wrote your song. Find out what that lyric really means, why this key matters, and when you can (or can NOT) embellish what's on the page. (If you need help finding songs, do some surfing at www.georgiastitt.com.)

To register (or for more info) - CLICK HERE



INSTRUCTOR INFO:
GEORGIA STITT is a composer/lyricist, music director and vocal coach. Her original musicals include: BIG RED SUN (with John Jiler); HELLO! MY BABY (with Cheri Steinkellner); THE WATER (with Jeff Hylton and Tim Werenko); MOSAIC (commissioned for Off-Broadway and written with Cheri Steinkellner), and SING ME A HAPPY SONG (a musical revue). RECORDINGS: This Ordinary Thursday: The Songs Of Georgia Stitt; Alphabet City Cycle featuring Kate Baldwin (PS Classics); and solo albums from Susan Egan, Lauren Kennedy, Kate Baldwin, Stuart Matthew Price, Daniel Boys, Caroline Sheen, Kevin Odekirk and Sam Davis. BROADWAY (MD/pianist/coach): Little Shop Of Horrors, Sweet Smell Of Success, Avenue Q, The Music Man, Titanic, Annie, Parade. TV/FILM: America's Got Talent, Grease: You're The One That I Want, Clash Of The Choirs, Once Upon A Mattress. TEACHING: Founder of THE GYM (NYC), master classes in the UK, Denmark, Germany, Australia, and at colleges and theaters all over the US. Private vocal coach. EDUCATION: Vanderbilt (BMus), NYU (MFA).

MUSIC FOR LYRICISTS

ANMT's sixth annual MUSICAL THEATRE BOOT CAMP presents: MUSIC FOR LYRICISTS

Instructor: Bill Berry

Saturday/Sunday afternoon, 2pm to 6pm

August 6 & 7

Course Fee: $95 (Early Bird/ANMT Member Fee: $50)

Have you ever felt a little bowled over when your collaborator starts throwing around terms like 'coda', 'dotted-eighth' and 'arpeggio'? Don't you want to just tell them to go 'Fugue' themselves? I KNOW right? It's like they're speaking a whole different language. (Italian maybe?) Well don't be dismayed! ANMT to the rescue again with a cool little course called Music For Lyricists. Learn the basics of music theory and how to read a lead sheet. Find why some words fit smoothly into a musical phrase while others do not. Never again say to your analyst, 'My composer doesn't understand me'. Communication is the key!

Taught by songwriter/funnyman Bill Berry, Music For Lyricists will offer you the basics of what those dots and lines are all about as well as to assist you to write lyrics to melodies with a whole new perspective.

Los Angeles songwriter Bill Berry co-wrote the musical soundtrack for ABC television's acclaimed 2006 comedy series SONS & DAUGHTERS. His songs have been featured in films, theater and television, as well as numerous commercials and artist's recordings and many of his lyrics are included in the popular book on lyric writing BECOMING REMARKABLE by Harriet Schock.

To register (or for more info) - CLICK HERE

REGISTER BY JUNE 3 TO RECEIVE EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT!!!

SIXTH ANNUAL MUSICAL THEATRE BOOT CAMP

Wondering how you'll survive a whole summer without suffering from ANMT withdrawal? Join us for the sixth annual Musical Theatre Boot Camp: a summer series of workshops, lectures, and practicums designed to give participants a chance to work quickly over a concentrated six week period.

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
AUDITION WORKOUT
-- with Dan Callaway
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
GET THE TOOLS YOU NEED TO SING
-- with Dan Callaway
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

REGISTER BY JUNE 3 TO GET THE EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT!

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

Got Musical!

On Monday, April 11th at the Colony Theatre in Burbank, the Academy for New Musical Theatre will present the third annual Got Musical!, a sneak preview of brand-new musicals in development for producers across the country, giving an insight into the Academy's process for creating new musicals from scratch specifically for producers and theatre companies.

Musicals to be showcased include nine new shows currently in development for producers:

Windjammers by Robin Share and Clay Zambo -- songs and stories about shipping on the Great Lakes.

A Midsummersausage Night's Dream by Joanne Koch, Bill Johnson and Larry Todd Johnson - a fanciful retelling of Shakespeare in the land of the Cheeseheads.

Duplexity by Eric Dodson and Jake Anthony -- a envisioning of The Parent Trap for the gay community.

The Max Factor Factor by Adrian Bewley, Chana Wise, and Joseph Blodgett -- Two gay leading men from rival studios in repressed 1930's Hollywood.

Madwomen of Manhattan by Marian Partee, Patricia Zehentmayr, and Cindy O'Connor -- a woman finds herself in a very unusual loony bin with some very famous inmates.

Manson's Girls by Scott Guy, Mitchell Glaser, and Todd Syswerda - the story of Charles Manson from the point of the view of the women in his life.

The Ring by Eric Dodson and Alan Ross Fleishman - Will the high school reunion of some old rivals unearth TRUTH or...CAT FIGHTS?

The Big Ol' Orange County Beauty Pageant by Sachi Oyama, Brad Beaver, and Tom Adams -- what's behind the usual cat fights at a beauty pageant?

In the Mind of Olympians by writers from both sides of the pond --- comparing and contrasting the upcoming 2011 Olympics with the last games held in London in 1948.

The excerpts will be presented by members of the Academy Repertory Company (Elise Dewsberry, Ellen Dostal, Scott Guy, Evelyn Halus, David Holmes, Christopher Maikish, Sari Rose Poll, Andrea Press, Tedd Szeto, and Peter Welkin); and Guest Artists Jamie Baer, Noel Britton, Jordan Kai Burnett, Alex Chester, Randy Guiaya, Evan Laffer, and Minta Mullins. Musical Direction by Ross Kalling.

Guy explains that the ANMT development process is fairly simple: the producer generates or approves an idea; the creative team creates a paragraph-sized version, then a half-dozen-page version, and eventually a 15-minute first pass. At this point, the producer either shuts down the project, or agrees to produce a public reading of the work. If a producer approves of the project after the first 15-minute pass, the Academy supports table readings and workshops of the work, nurturing it through first draft. Then, the producer produces a public reading of the work at his expense. After the producer has fulfilled his obligation by producing the reading, he is under no obligation to produce the musical; but if he does produce the musical, the Academy expects the producer to do so under terms approved by the Dramatists Guild.

"We've found this to be a win-win situation for the writer and for the producer," says Artistic Director Elise Dewsberry, "and we're excited to share this funny, artful and stimulating evening and showing off our innovative business model for developing new musicals for independent producers and theatre companies."

Got Musical! takes place at 7:30pm on Monday, April 11th at the Colony Theatre in Burbank. Tickets are $10. For more information, and to make a reservation, please visit www.anmt.org and click on Got Musical!