Musical Theatre Summer Boot Camp

The Academy for New Musical Theatre is offering three courses this summer for musical theatre bookwriters and lyricists as part of the annual Musical Theatre Summer Boot Camp.

BEATING BROADWAY
Instructor: Scott Guy
Tues/Thur for 2 weeks; 7pm to 10pm
August 5, 7, 12, 14
Course Fee: $200 (Early Bird/ANMT Member Fee: $180)

Using Steve Cuden’s book BEATING BROADWAY, these four sessions will detail the ‘beats’ of the plot line of several successful Broadway musicals. We’ll work for two sessions examining several different approaches to musical theatre structure. By the third session, you’ll select one approach which seems promising for a musical which YOU want to write. And in the fourth session you’ll bring in a bare-bones version of an outline. The goal is to build the foundation of your story, and use Cuden’s powerful tools to increase your main character’s conflict and the emotional impact (s)he will have on your audience. You’ll want after this crash course to go back and flesh out the details of your characters and subplot, etc., but you should be able to apply Cuden’s principles not only to your outline, but to many outlines to come! (Course fee includes a free copy of the book.)

BOOK LAB
Instructor: Elise Dewsberry
Six Saturday mornings from 10am to 2pm
July 12, 26, August 2, 9, 16, 23 (note no July 19)
Course Fee: $595 (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.

OUTLINING ANYWHERE!
Instructor: Elise Dewsberry
Six Monday evenings from 7pm to 10pm
July 14, 21, 28; August 4, 11, 18
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 submit your work online if you can’t make the sessions.
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

All courses are offered at ANMT, 5628 Vineland Avenue, North Hollywood.

For more information, and to register for courses, CLICK HERE.