New Musicals Q&A

Sep 01, 2024

Hand holding a mic in front of a red background

As musical theatre writers, what do you need?

More resources for workshopping musicals with nontraditional scores. Most musical workshops today assume the score will be piano driven. But a lot of contemporary composers are bringing rhythmic elements that cannot be reproduced with just a piano.

– Alan Alexander III

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Alan Alexander III

is a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and playwright. He has composed source music and original scores for several film and television productions including Hear No Evil (20th Century Fox) and Alien Invaders (NEA). Alan’s second musical Homeless (the musical) debuted at the 2017 Fertile Ground Festival. He resides in Portland Oregon and is a member of the LineStorm Playwrights residency at Artists Repertory Theatre. www.dubsquadmusic.net

Amy Engelhardt

Music/lyrics for OBA Best New Musical Nominee and Rodgers/O’Neill Finalist Bastard Jones, Triptych (NY Transit Museum), IMPACT (Best Score, National Women’s Theatre Festival, 2023 Edinburgh Fringe, Emerging Artists NYC, the cell) and O’Neill Semi-Finalist A Collectible Sensation (w/ Arianna Rose). 1998-2012: Grammy-nominated band The Bobs. Syracuse/Berklee alumna. www.amyengelhardt.com

Adam Gwon

is a Drama Desk-nominated composer and lyricist whose off-Broadway musicals include Scotland, PA and Ordinary Days. He recently released an album for his musical String (with bookwriter Sarah Hammond), and is currently working on new commissions from Roundabout Theatre Company, Keen Company, and Signature Theatre.

Sonya Hayden

is an NYC-based composer, lyricist, librettist, and playwright and Co-Director of Maestra Music’s Mentorship Program. She is the recipient of the MAC John Wallowitch Award, Kurt Weill Foundation Songbook Award, Across a Crowded Room Fellowship, ScreenCraft Stage Play Competition Mentorship Prize, and Marble House Project Residency. sonyahayden.com @sonyahayden11

Christine Toy Johnson

is a Tony and Obie award-honored writer, actor, and advocate for inclusion. Treasurer of the DG, chair of the Guild’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Access Committee, host of the Guild’s podcast TalkBack on the Broadway Podcast Network. More at christinetoyjohnson.com

Jasmine Joshua

(they/them) is a writer, actor, and Founding Artistic Director at Reboot Theater Company. Director: Book-It, Intiman, Reboot Theatre, and Cafe Nordo; associate director at Village and assistant director at 5th Ave. On stage: 5th Ave, Seattle Shakes, Seattle Public Theatre, Book-it, Intiman. www.jasminejoshua.com

Min Kahng

(he/him) is an award-winning playwright, composer, lyricist, and creative coach whose works include The Adventures of Honey & Leon, The Four Immigrants, and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. Kahng is a MacDowell Fellow, an NEA Grant Recipient, and a Dramatists Guild committee member. www.minkahng.com

Kait Kerrigan

is an award-winning bookwriter, lyricist, and playwright. BROADWAY: The Great Gatsby (book, BroadwayWorld Fans’ Choice Award); WEST END: The Time Traveller’s Wife (add’l lyrics); OFF-BROADWAY: The Mad Ones (book and lyrics), Henry and Mudge (lyrics and book, Kleban Award). Additional musicals: The Heart (book, add’l lyrics), Indigo (book), Justice (lyrics), and Earthrise (lyrics). Follow @kaitkerrigan

Asher Muldoon

(he/him) is a composer, librettist, and actor based in New York City. His first musical The Butcher Boy premiered at the Irish Repertory Theatre in 2022, and he is currently developing a musical thriller inspired by the history of Apple.

Rona Siddiqui

is a NYC-based composer/lyricist. Musicals: Salaam Medina: Tales of a Halfghan, One Good Day, Hip Hop Cinderella. Awards: Kleban Award, Jonathan Larson Grant, Billie Burke Ziegfeld Award, ASCAP Harold Adamson Lyric Award, Mary Rodgers/Lorenz Hart Award. Music Direction: A Strange Loop.

Benjamin Velez

is a composer/lyricist and former DGF Fellow. His musicals include Borderline (O’Neill), Kiss My Aztec (Berkeley Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, Hartford Stage), The Tempest (Shakespeare in the Park), and Real Women Have Curves (ART). He’s won the Fred Ebb Award, Jonathan Larson Grant, and Stephen Schwartz Award.

Max Vernon

is a Tony nominated playwright & songwriter whose musicals include The View UpStairs, KPOP, The Tattooed Lady, and Show & Tell. They are an Out100 Honoree, three-time Drama Desk nominee, two-time MacDowell Fellow, Dramatists Guild Fellow and recipient of the Lucille Lortel Award, Richard Rodgers Award, Jonathan Larson Grant, among others.
maxvernon.com. IG: @frauleinsallybowels

Zack Zadek

is a songwriter and musical theatre writer. His musical DEATHLESS premiered at Goodspeed Musicals (dir. Tina Landau) and will receive its next production next season. A three time Kleban Prize and Larson Grant finalist, he currently holds commissions from Ars Nova, Arena Stage, Manhattan Theatre Club, and has upcoming projects with Warner Bros. Theatrical, Universal Studios, and XRoads Entertainment.

Jay Alan Zimmerman

’s works include Incredibly Deaf Musical (Duke on 42nd Street), BRAIN. STORM. (Prospect Theater Company), Roboticus (Spotify/LEMURplex), Comfort Pet (Fault Line Theatre), the Naughty & Nice Holiday Songbook (Lincoln Center/54 Below/Amazon), and the Seeing Music Visualizers (Google Creative Labs). He is a recent BMI Harrington Award winner for his visual music ASL song “Our Universe” and his current musical projects include The Bridge inspired by a Thornton Wilder novella and Songs For Hands On A Thursday based on the poems of Sarah Ruhl.