Instructor: Industry Guests! /Scott Guy /Elise Dewsberry
July 11 through August 16
Course Fee: $100 (Early Bird/ANMT Member Fee: $100) Auditor: $10
Join us this summer for a very special series of live streamcasts of musical theatre workshops. Submit your musical for live feedback, or audit sessions of new musicals-in-progress…from anywhere in the world!
There’s no software to install or upload — ANMT’s proprietary software takes care of all that from our streamcasting headquarters in North Hollywood. All you need to do is click a link, and, voila! you’re watching live. Or, because of time-zone differences, if your live session airs in the middle of the night, we can arrange for a private password-only taped version to be viewable later.
You give us up to 25 minutes of material & CD of music. We’ll read it, and comment on music, book & lyrics. Normally this would cost up to $320; but it’s just $100 for these summer streamcasts only. (We’re trying to spread the word about what we do!) For the most promising musical of the summer, we’ll contact some of our musical theatre colleagues, including Richard Sherman (Mary Poppins), Stuart Ross (Forever Plaid), Cheri Steinkellner (Sister Act) and tell them about it! At some of the sessions, we’ll invite some exciting special guests from Celebration Theatre, LA Stage Alliance, Dramatists Guild, etc.
‘I couldn’t be more impressed with the folks at ANMT. The feedback they’ll offer you on your work is astonishingly insightful and detailed. I highly, highly recommend getting their input on your new musical projects.’ –Jeff Marx, Tony award-winning co-creator of Avenue Q
Course Fee: $195 (Early Bird/ANMT Member Fee: $145)
FOR THE UNWARY IN THE THEATRE BUSINESS
Join Theatrical Attorney and Producer Gordon Firemark for a survey of the legal issues confronted in the development and production of theatrical works. We’ll discuss underlying rights issues, licenses, options, commissions and collaborations, we’ll also look at some of the common financing pitfalls and the troublesome questions of subsidiary rights and director’s claims of copyright in other authors’ works. Finally, there will be ample time for participants’ questions. Don’t miss what promises to be a lively, informative and entertaining discussion.
INSTRUCTOR INFO: Theatrical Attorney Gordon P. Firemark represents artists, authors, producers and others in the fields of theatre, film, television, music and new media. In addition to his practice, Mr. Firemark is a professor of business law at Loyola Marymount University and Theatre Law at Southwestern University School of Law. He is the host and producer of the Entertainment Law Update Podcast. A theatrical producer himself, he is also the author of the soon-to-be-published Theatre Producer’s Legal Survival Manual. More information is available at http://firemark.com.
Mr. Firemark is the President of the Board of Directors of ANMT. Mr. Firemark holds a B.A. in Radio, Television and Film from the University of Oregon, and earned his law degree at Southwestern University School of Law. Before opening The Law Offices of Gordon P. Firemark, Mr. Firemark was a partner with the Business Affairs Group, a boutique entertainment law firm in Los Angeles. He has also worked in the legal and business affairs departments at Hanna Barbera Productions and the MGM/UA Worldwide Television Group, and started his legal career as an associate at Neville L. Johnson & Associates, a West L.A. firm specializing in entertainment litigation.
Course Fee: $325 (Early Bird/ANMT Member Fee: $295)
A Series of (brief) lectures, (brief) assignments, and open masterclasses.
The lecture/assignment portion of this class will be a brief exploration of the ideas of Heinrich Schenker as applied to the music of Richard Rodgers. (Did I mention it will be brief?) If you are new to ‘Schenkerian Analysis’ it is a different way of looking at harmonic structure than the traditional functional harmony taught in most academic music theory courses. The thing I found most valuable as a student of Schenkerian technique however, was guidance for my melodic structures and that’s what I want to focus on here. If you have ever found yourself feeling that your melodies just don’t have enough ‘oomph’ or that they seem to wander around aimlessly, this course might be for you.
The first night will be all lecture. After that, each week will begin with about an hour of lecture/assignments, then the remainder of the class each night will be an open masterclass.
You’re free to bring in any score of your own that you’re troubled by and we can all talk about it and I’ll offer any help I can. Or if you just want to talk generally about a specific topic that could work also. We can talk about harmony, chord vocabulary, style, groove, arranging for the piano, writing for the voice, notation, formatting, how to get your lyricist to write something that’s actually setable, how to get your bookwriter to understand that the story needs to be heightened enough that the character actually has a reason to sing about something, dieting tips, postmodern architecture, whatever you’re interested in.
On the first night I’ll query the class to see if there are any ‘themes’ of concern in common so we can focus on a specific area each night. The only pre-requisite that I would recomend is that you must be able to analyze harmonies. I don’t mean for harmonic function, I just mean you must be able to say ‘Oh, I see these two bars here are built around an F major chord’. If this is a challenge for you, you’re still welcome to take the course but I won’t be able to address basic questions about harmony during the class.
INSTRUCTOR INFO: Ross Kalling is an award-winning musical director/pianist, having received Dramalogue awards for productions with Friends and Artists’ Theatre Ensemble and the Odyssey Theatre. His other hyphenations include Composer/Lyricist/Arranger/Copyist-Dramaturg-Voice Teacher/Coach-Actor-Author. As a teacher he established the music curriculum at ANMT and continues to be very active privately as a vocal coach and consultant. He was Musical Director at the prestigious Beverly Hills Playhouse for fifteen years where he worked with stars such as Jeffrey Tambor, Dorothy Lyman, Penny Fuller and Doris Roberts and directors Gene Reynolds and Milton Katselas. He is currently the musical director/pianist for Gary Imhoff’s ‘Musical Artists’ Workshop’. He worked on the feature film ‘Relative Strangers’, coaching respectable vocal performances out of Danny Devito and Cathy Bates. He can be seen performing around town at various cabaret venues or in concert halls (and elegantly appointed living rooms) with his classical trio ‘trioCAYENNE’.
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.)
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.
Course Fee: $125 (Early Bird/ANMT Member Fee: $95)
FOR COMPOSERS, LYRICISTS, PLAYWRIGHTS, SCREENWRITERS AND TV WRITERS
For Writers:
According to professionals from the online music academy the Music Matters, 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
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
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!
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
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.)
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).
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.
