about us
…all the details
who we are
Our mission: to foster the highest quality of musical theatre writing, and to advance the state of new musical theatre production.
New Musicals Inc. hosts many programs which support new musicals in development. We develop several dozen musicals each year for producers and writers all around the country through table readings, workshops, concerts, and occasional productions.
Our academic wing, the Academy for Musical Theatre, offers courses, both online and live in Los Angeles, for professional musical theatre writers.
We’re a non-profit 501(c)3 organization (FEIN 01-0745909), so donations to us are tax-deductible. We are funded through an intricate balance of donations, fees for services, special events, conferences, concerts, classes, grants, fundraisers and royalties from musicals we have developed.
New Musicals Inc.
New Musicals Inc.New Musicals Inc. is our professional development branch. We develop musicals for producers all around the country, tailoring the show for specific audiences and budgets. We develop several dozen musicals a year. We have a repertory company of sight-singing actors which meets weekly to give producers and writers a chance to workshop their shows prior to production.
We sponsor several nationwide events: Stages Musical Theatre Festival, the Search for New Musicals, the New Voices Project, and a biennial Conference on the Biz of the Musical Theatre Biz.
We offer a complete range of development for new musicals: dramaturgy, table readings, staged readings, workshops, concerts, skeletal productions and occasional full-scale productions.
New Musicals Inc.
New Musicals Inc. is our professional development branch. We develop musicals for producers all around the country, tailoring the show for specific audiences and budgets. We develop several dozen musicals a year. We have a repertory company of sight-singing actors which meets weekly to give producers and writers a chance to workshop their shows prior to production.
We sponsor several nationwide events: Stages Musical Theatre Festival, the Search for New Musicals, the New Voices Project, and a biennial Conference on the Biz of the Musical Theatre Biz.
We offer a complete range of development for new musicals: dramaturgy, table readings, staged readings, workshops, concerts, skeletal productions and occasional full-scale productions.
The Academy for New Musical Theatre
The Academy for New Musical TheatreWe’ve been around for more than 40 years and have helped hundreds of writers and producers launch thousands of musicals. We began as the Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. We became the Academy for New Musical Theatre in 2002, adding additional curriculum such as the Lyric Lab, Music Lab, and Book Lab, all of which are now also available online.
Our Core Curriculum allows composers, lyricists and bookwriters from all over the world to collaborate with a new team each month, creating ballads, duets, musical scenes, ensembles, and comedy songs; culminating in a 15 minute musical which we produce in Los Angeles. You can participate in any of these workshops either online or in-person.
We also have rehearsal rooms for rent at competitive rates.
The Academy for New Musical Theatre
We’ve been around for more than 40 years and have helped hundreds of writers and producers launch thousands of musicals. We began as the Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. We became the Academy for New Musical Theatre in 2002, adding additional curriculum such as the Lyric Lab, Music Lab, and Book Lab, all of which are now also available online. Our Core Curriculum allows composers, lyricists and bookwriters from all over the world to collaborate with a new team each month, creating ballads, duets, musical scenes, ensembles, and comedy songs; culminating in a 15 minute musical which we produce in Los Angeles. You can participate in any of these workshops either online or in-person. We also have rehearsal rooms for rent at competitive rates.
Various programs at NMI and ANMT are generously supported by:
The Helen & Jose Colton Foundation
The Caplan Foundation
The Peter Glenville Foundation
Anonymous Fund (Marin County)
Dean Alexander
Scott Wilkinson
“Mercury Musical Developments has used ANMT’s excellent writer training as a model and inspiration for many years. ANMT is ensuring, vitally, that new talent is nurtured, focused and honed. The organisation deserves huge plaudits for its commitment and service to new musical writing.”
Georgina Bexon
Mercury Musical Developments, London
our boards and staff
Elise Dewsberry
Artistic Director
Artistic Director of New Musicals Inc., Elise has been involved in the development of new works for over forty years: as an actor/singer, as a director, as a dramaturge, and as a writer. 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 Script Lab. 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 was produced by the Cordova Bay Theatre in Victoria, British Columbia, and published by Dramatic Publishing. Elise joined ANMT as Associate Artistic Director in 2003; joined Founding Artistic Director John Sparks as Co-Artistic Director in 2010; and became Artistic Director of New Musicals Inc. in 2013. Elise is also the author and evaluator of the Book Lab and the Outlining Lab, offered online through www.writingmusicaltheatre.com, and publishes a monthly blog on the craft of musical theatre available at https://nmi.org/elises-video-blog/.
Elise Dewsberry
Artistic Director
Artistic Director of New Musicals Inc., Elise has been involved in the development of new works for over forty years: as an actor/singer, as a director, as a dramaturge, and as a writer. 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 Script Lab. 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 was produced by the Cordova Bay Theatre in Victoria, British Columbia, and published by Dramatic Publishing. Elise joined ANMT as Associate Artistic Director in 2003; joined Founding Artistic Director John Sparks as Co-Artistic Director in 2010; and became Artistic Director of New Musicals Inc. in 2013. Elise is also the author and evaluator of the Book Lab and the Outlining Lab, offered online through www.writingmusicaltheatre.com, and publishes a monthly blog on the craft of musical theatre available at https://nmi.org/elises-video-blog/.
Scott Guy
Executive Director
Scott Guy (Executive Director) has been actively involved as a writer and producer in both theatre and television. He has six Emmy nominations, and over 100 produced television scripts for Warner Bros., FOX-TV, Disney, Discovery Channel, PBS, etc. Upcoming/recent projects: Disney (musical version of Pirates of the Caribbean); Corday Productions (Days of Our Lives); Manson’s Girls for Hollywood Fringe Festival (Pick of the Fringe); Der Strunkenwhitenlieder at Theatre Elision. Scott is currently writing episodes for three different musical webseries: Tales from a Darkening Wood, The Last of Its Kind, and Slow Time on a Prairie Porch. Scott is the Executive Director of New Musicals Inc. where he supervises online writers’ workshops, lyric labs, and script consultations. Under Scott’s tenure, New Musicals Inc. has developed over 50 musicals for producers across the country, and over 100 independent musicals by NMI writers.
Scott Guy
Executive Director
Scott Guy (Executive Director) has been actively involved as a writer and producer in both theatre and television. He has six Emmy nominations, and over 100 produced television scripts for Warner Bros., FOX-TV, Disney, Discovery Channel, PBS, etc. Upcoming/recent projects: Disney (musical version of Pirates of the Caribbean); Corday Productions (Days of Our Lives); Manson’s Girls for Hollywood Fringe Festival (Pick of the Fringe); Der Strunkenwhitenlieder at Theatre Elision. Scott is currently writing episodes for three different musical webseries: Tales from a Darkening Wood, The Last of Its Kind, and Slow Time on a Prairie Porch. Scott is the Executive Director of New Musicals Inc. where he supervises online writers’ workshops, lyric labs, and script consultations. Under Scott’s tenure, New Musicals Inc. has developed over 50 musicals for producers across the country, and over 100 independent musicals by NMI writers.
honorary and advisory boards
honorary board
Paul Lazarus
Jeff Marx
Marty Panzer
Stephen Schwartz
Charles Strouse
advisory board
Thomas E. Backer, PhD.
Susie Chodakiewitz
Susan Dietz
Jeannine Frank
Mark Halloran
Herb Isaacs
Amy Levinson (Millan)
Simon Levy
Ron Parker
Elsa Ramo
Bill Royce
Frank Sheftel
Michael Silversher
Thomas White
board of directors
board of directors
Paula Brand Treasurer
Elise Dewsberry
Wendy Elgin-Silva
John Mitchell President
Whitney R. Robison
Michael Gordon Shapiro Member Representative
Stephanie Surabian
adjunct staff
Ron Barnett
Ron BarnettARC Music Director
Ron is a composer living in Los Angeles, where he is Director of Music and Sacred Arts at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church in Glendale. Prior to this appointment, he was for ten years Resident Musical Director and Composer at the Fulton Theatre, a LORT D house in Lancaster, PA. His musical, Around the World in 80 Days, with book and lyrics by Julianne Homokay, premiered at the Fulton Theatre (Lancaster, PA) in March 2007. He wrote music and lyrics for A Christmas Carol, with book by Fulton playwright-in-residence Barry Kornhauser, which received a 2001 Red Rose Award and was published by Dramatic Publishing in 2013.
Makena Metz
Education and Outreach Coordinator
Makena is an LA native playwright, lyricist, and producer who heartily believes in artists supporting and developing other artists. After graduating from New Musicals Inc.’s Core Curriculum this past spring, her passion for developing new musical theatre and creating a pipeline for young burgeoning artists spurred her to pitch a high school mentorship program and college student discount to NMI, both of which programs she is now coordinating. Makena studied playwriting and theatre directing at Columbia College Chicago (Class of 17′) and is an Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights 2018 Diversity Fellow. She recently attended The Kennedy Centers Playwriting Intensive for their annual summer workshop. Makena has interned for The Jim Henson Company, The Ojai Playwrights Conference, Walt Disney Imagineering, and more. Follow her on twitter @MakenaMetz and find her work on NPX!
Catie O’Donnell
Staff Producer
Catie O’Donnell is a freelance theatre and film director, producer and educator. She has spent over 10 years working on the artistic team in the industry, directing dozens of critically acclaimed professional productions across the United States and at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Favorite productions include Ruddigore and The Mikado with Milwaukee Opera Theater, Arlington and Hostage Song with Music Theater Madison, Amadeus with The World’s Stage and The Belle of Amherst at Renaissance Theaterworks in Milwaukee, A Klingon Christmas Carol at Commedia Beauregard in Chicago, and being the directing intern for The Guthrie’s premiere of Roman Holiday. Recently, she directed a reading of a new musical with After Hours Theater Company called Y2K: An Immersive Musical. This summer, Catie will be directing two productions in the Hollywood Fringe Festival, Stilettos & Steel and will be leading the directing team for So Proudly We Hailed. Her film In The Cloud has been named as an official selection at the London Shorts film festival. She is an alumni of Lincoln Center Directors Lab in New York Directors Lab West in Los Angeles and Chicago, and holds a BA in theater and music from the University of Miami, FL.
honorary and advisory boards
honorary board
Paul Lazarus
Jeff Marx
Marty Panzer
Hal Prince
Stephen Schwartz
Charles Strouse
advisory board
Thomas E. Backer, PhD.
Susie Chodakiewitz
Susan Dietz
Jeannine Frank
Mark Halloran
Herb Isaacs
Amy Levinson (Millan)
Simon Levy
Ron Parker
Elsa Ramo
Bill Royce
Frank Sheftel
Michael Silversher
Thomas White
board of directors
board of directors
Paula Brand Treasurer
Elise Dewsberry
Wendy Elgin-Silva
John Mitchell President
Whitney R. Robison
Michael Gordon Shapiro Member Representative
Stephanie Surabian
adjunct staff
Ron Barnett
ARC Music Director
Makena Metz
Education and Outreach Coordinator
Catie O’Donnell
Staff Producer
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John Sparks
Founding Director
John was the founder/co-Director of the Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, Inc. (1979-2002) and was the Artistic Director of ANMT from 2002 to 2014. He founded the Writers’ Workshop at Theatre Building Chicago in 1987 and also served TBC as Artistic Director from 1999 through 2009. 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; Susan DiLallo and Ken Stone (both Kleban Award winners); and several Richard Rodgers Award winners. Nearly 400 shows written by workshop members have been produced in theatres across the country. Musicals for which John wrote the music, lyrics or book have been produced in Los Angeles and Chicago, including Buddy’s Plane Is Down; Babes In Barns, Hans Brinker, On The Brink and Wanting Miss Julie.
John Sparks
Founding Director
John was the founder/co-Director of the Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, Inc. (1979-2002) and was the Artistic Director of ANMT from 2002 to 2014. He founded the Writers’ Workshop at Theatre Building Chicago in 1987 and also served TBC as Artistic Director from 1999 through 2009. 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; Susan DiLallo and Ken Stone (both Kleban Award winners); and several Richard Rodgers Award winners. Nearly 400 shows written by workshop members have been produced in theatres across the country. Musicals for which John wrote the music, lyrics or book have been produced in Los Angeles and Chicago, including Buddy’s Plane Is Down; Babes In Barns, Hans Brinker, On The Brink and Wanting Miss Julie.
The Academy Repertory Company from New Musicals Inc. presenting excerpts from new works in development at the Colony Theatre, Burbank
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as a Friend of New Musicals, you will:
- subsidize a portion of our programs to study, create and produce new musicals
- be filled with pride you’re helping to preserve America’s unique artform: the musical
- receive a receipt for your 100% tax deductible donation to our 501(c)3 number (FEIN 01-0745909)
make a one-time donation
make a recurring donation
You will be taken to PayPal to make your recurring or single donation. You may use any credit card you wish for a one-time donation. Note that in order to make a recurring donation, you must have a PayPal account.
NMI is a registered charitable organization (FEIN #01-0745909). Your donation, whether recurring or one-time, will be 100% tax deductible.
“EWP had an opportunity to create an original musical from idea-to-production. We would never have attempted it on our own, but NMI’s incredible creativity, energy and artistic quality of musical development drove us all the way to production. The process is astonishing. We can’t imagine how we would produce an original musical again without NMI.”
Tim Dang
East West Players, Los Angeles
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THE BULLY PROBLEM, produced at the Hollywood Fringe Festival by NMI
testimonials
John Sparks is a wonderful teacher and was a real help to me. I still think about things he said in that Workshop. He’s a real boon to people writing musicals.
In a world of diminishing standards, it’s inspirational to be part of a group constantly striving to raise the bar.
I always thought I had it in me to write for musical theatre, but it took ANMT to lead me through the steps to learn the craft, develop the skills, and ultimately find my own voice as a writer.
I expect to be connected to ANMT for many, many moons to come. It’s like heaven to me there. A rare and rarified atmosphere, to be sure.
How much I’ve learned from you! It’s just been invaluable. I have yet to be able to find anything local in NYC that’s as good as what I get from your program.
I am impressed with the detail to the stages and in depth study requirements at every step of [the Music Lab]. I’ve been immersed in it and realise that this is what it takes for it to really become part of one’s tool box of skills to be able to write musical theatre.
For the person interested in musical theatre, there are few places greater at bringing together support, critique, and artistic collaboration than The Academy of New Musical Theatre.
ANMT has taught me everything I know about composing for musical theatre. I am very grateful to the organization for inspiring me, equipping me, and broadening my opportunities.
It is always amazing how you always manage, with seriousness, humor, and respect, to pinpoint what works and what can be improved in the works presented to you, and offer helpful suggestions. I just love the process of writing this way. Having you guys on our team is stimulating, helps us keep on track, and on our toes!
If you are serious about creating for the musical theatre, the program at ANMT is nonpareil. Experienced, professional, talented, and enthusiastic teachers guide a hard-working student body. This is the real deal, a bargain, great fun, and where careers are born.
I’ve had hundreds of classes not only in getting my doctorate but all the many of the post-doctoral classes I’ve had. Your class taught me more in those three hours about working out a story than ever I’ve known before. Thank you for it!
Thank you so much for all the great notes, Elise. You’ve truly got a gift. I used to be a script analyst for Oliver Stone, James Cameron and Sydney Pollack - also Miramax, CAA etc. And I know a truly insightful eye when I see one.
Mercury Musical Developments has used ANMT’s excellent writer training as a model and inspiration for many years. ANMT is ensuring, vitally, that new talent is nurtured, focused and honed. The organisation deserves huge plaudits for its commitment and service to new musical writing.
The Academy for New Musical Theatre is a wonderful place to learn new skills, make friends, see your work come to life and grow as a person. As a recent Core Curriculum grad, I can’t say enough about the patience, skill and support one receives during the sometimes scary process of writing a musical that will actually be produced on a stage in L.A. The work they are doing at ANMT will serve American Musical Theatre very well in the coming decades, helping it to stay alive and prosper. Bravo to ANMT!
Creating a musical in a vacuum is easy, it’s only when you learn the art of collaboration that you realize what you’ve been missing and what your strengths and weaknesses are. The Academy for New Musical Theatre is on time, on target and long over due. If you’re a serious writer, lyricist or composer and love musicals, stop playing around. Get to the Academy and get it done.
ANMT is a group of very talented writers and actors who are keeping the art of musical theater alive and well through collaborations and commissions from theaters, producers and directors. Since joining the workshop, my knowledge and skills have grown immensely through the support and guidance of the fabulous staff, which includes the best dramaturges anywhere!
“We are crazy impressed and honored to be working with you. You all rock so very very hard!!”
Michael Sheperd
Celebration Theatre, Los Angeles
rentals
5628 Vineland Avenue in North Hollywood has rental space available to accommodate your rehearsal, meeting, and other space needs - with very reasonable rental rates.
To make a booking, call us at 818-506-8500, or email us at admin@nmi.org
COMMON AREA
The Common Area is available to all rentals, included without additional charge.
12′ x 27′ Reception area
(two 1-person bathrooms; small kitchen area)
FRONT STUDIO
Front Studio 11′ x 18.5′
Great for small groups or music rehearsals
acoustic upright piano in room
MAIN HALL
Main Rehearsal Hall 40′ x 24′
Platform stage is 20′ wide, 8′ deep, and 18″ high (black curtain is decorative only)
room for up to 75 with comfortable banquet chair seating
acoustic upright piano in room
GREEN SCREEN OPTION
Our Main Hall can also convert into a small Greenscreen Studio.
ANMT’s Core Curriculum in session - with participants in the room and attending by video conference.
Contact Us
5628 Vineland Avenue, North Hollywood, 91601
818-506-8500
admin@nmi.org
