The Dramatist

So, You Want to Write An Opera?

Say that you are a playwright or a theatre composer or a lyricist or a crossover artist who wants to expand their range by creating work in an entirely new venue, reaching out to a new audience that may or may not be familiar with your previous works. Say that you have a story in mind with a larger statement and...
The Dramatist

The Golden Age (?) of Opera

many pundits in the opera world have christened the last two decades or so “The Golden Age of American Opera.” Of course, it’s usually centuries after the fact when pundits choose to alloy eras to exceptional periods of artistic history—and for all we know we may be living in “The Leaden Age of American Opera.”
The Dramatist

From the Desk of Business Affairs: What’s In An Opera, Doc?

While Opera was the form that gave birth to the Broadway musical, the business of musical theatre writing has grown up since then. The documents that memorialize the rights of writers and the terms of their agreements are similar, but not the same. Since DG...
The Dramatist

Opera Resources

OPERA America Grants for Artists Opera Grants for Women Composers: Discovery Grants Supports women composers in the development of new operatic works and the advancement of their careers in the opera industry. ...
The Dramatist

Editor’s Notes on The Opera Issue

Recently, I met a newly enrolled undergraduate at a leading dramatic writing program. They told me how most professors in their department went out of their way to encourage students to remain dramatists and not “sell out” by writing for television and/or film....
The Dramatist

Playwrights at the Opera: On Writing the Libretto

Since the beginnings of opera, playwrights have been drawn to writing libretti—the plays which are entirely set to music, sung by opera singers, and accompanied by symphony orchestras. It makes sense that playwrights would want to test their wings in the rarified venue of the opera house. In fact, writing an opera libretto...
Advocacy Newsroom

August Craft Webinars: So You Want to Write an Opera

Join us this August for two  webinars on the craft of writing opera! Librettist/Playwrights Roundtable on AUGUST 10 Eastern Time: 3pm Central Time: 2pm Mountain Time: 1pm Pacific Time: 12pm Moderated by Deborah Brevoort Featuring: Mark Campbell Stephanie Fleischmann David Henry Hwang E.M. Lewis Sandra Seaton Playwrights, librettists, and lyricists from...
The Dramatist

Opera by Mail

Many opera companies around the country have faced the same challenges during the pandemic as our repertory theatres have. How can they remain connected to their communities, keep their artists employed and present alternatives to live performance until that blessed day we may all gather in theatres again? On Site Opera, a...
Video

2021 Update from the Opera Committee

Download the Video Transcript   Video Transcript: "Michael Korie: Greetings. I’m Michael Korie. Together with Mark Campbell, I cochair the Dramatists Guild Opera Committee. 
Advocacy Newsroom

Opera Writers Symposium: February 27- April 24

Several members of the Dramatists Guild Opera Committee will be participating in American Lyric Theater's upcoming Opera Writers Symposium. This event, which runs from Saturday, February 27 to Saturday, April 24, will be a free, eight-week, virtual symposium on writing for the opera stage. Drawing on different facets of American Lyricist...
Video

An Interview with Terrence McNally

The Dramatists Guild mourns the passing of its longtime Council member Terrence McNally, one of the most celebrated dramatists in the American canon. In addition to his impressive and prolific work as a Tony Award winning playwright (Love! Valour!
Video

Credit The Librettist

Credit the Librettist: Conversations with Today’s Opera Makers is a new film by The Dramatists Guild of America Opera Committtee’s Librettists Initiative, featuring interviews with leading opera composers and librettists, including Mark Adamo, John Corigliano, Anthony Davis, Ricky Ian Gordon, David Henry Hwang, Tony Kushner, Craig Lucas, David T.