The writing and development process for musical theatre can be a real rollercoaster of emotions that’s filled with a lot of hurry up and wait. It was a long long road to the first ever full production of The King’s Legacy, and what a strange, magical, frustrating, and fantastical journey it was. And today I’m going to break down that entire journey to production for all of you!

In this interview with EFT Coach Jenny Clift, we discuss how tapping can be extremely helpful for writers - and all creatives - to release energetic blocks, overcome inner obstacles, and find creative freedom.

The ending of your show is the last thing the audience is going to experience before they go out into the world and make judgements about their entire experience. And that means the stakes for are high. So, how can we make sure we nail our endings every time? Let’s explore!

What makes a story ripe for adaptation into a musical? Why do some musicals seem like no-brainers, while others make us scratch our heads and think, “Huh. Really? That one?” Here are 4 mistakes I see that you can avoid when choosing what material to adapt into a musical!

Standard song forms are great - they provide us with tried-and-true ways to write character, develop plot, and write our musicals succinctly. But they aren’t always the most interesting forms, especially when every song in the show follows the same few structures over and over and over… But luckily there are plenty of other non-standard ways to write and structure a song in musical theatre, which we have seen work time and time again. So, today let’s talk about non-standard song forms!

You’re going to need some basic music theory knowledge if you’re going to talk about the music side of creation when writing a musical, even if you’re not the composer. Here are the absolute basics that you need to understand in order to discuss music with a composer, singer, or instrumentalist during the musical writing process.

With phrases like “A hit!” “A flop!” “Rave reviews” “Totally panned” “Recouped its investment” and “Closing in the red”…it gets really difficult to parse out what makes a musical a “success” or a “failure.” So, how can we sort this out?

What defines a musical? Where do we draw the lines between other forms, like concerts, cabarets, dance pieces, revues, operas and operettas?? How can we sort out the mess, so you clearly know what exactly it is that you’re writing?

You’ve got big dreams for your shows and projects, which means creating some big plans to make them a reality. Let’s talk about some steps you can take to make sure you are able to finish those projects and make those dreams come true! GET HELP making your projects a REALITY in the “DID IT!” Accountability Group Program: https://www.michaelradi.com/did-it-accountability-group

We always seem to focus conversation on writing the songs in musical theatre, but that’s not the only music that’s involved in most shows. What about all the rest of it? The music under dialogue, between story moments, and the literally unsung pieces? Where do they come from? How do we create them?

What is Orchestration? How do you do Orchestration? What do I need to think about instrumentally as I’m writing songs? What does an Orchestrator do? How does this all work??? If you’re a musical theatre writer and have asked any of these or similar questions, then this video is for you!

Comedy Songs: Perhaps the hardest songs write, but boy do audiences love them! And the secret behind writing comedy songs may not be what you think it is. It may surprise you…so let’s deep dive!

I wanted to know what would happen if I asked ChatGPT to write 4 song lyrics to the same prompt in the various styles of famous musical theatre writing teams: Rodgers & Hammerstein, Kander & Ebb, Stephen Sondheim, and Pasek & Paul. So, what was the result? Is AI truly coming for our jobs?!

In this tenth episode of the Writer Real Talk interview series I sit down with the multi-faceted, self-motivated, and wonderful creative, and fantastic friend, Jacque Carnahan. Our main topic today is all about how our perspectives shift as we grow through the industry and take on different roles, but we also touch on allowing ourselves to be called writers, some realities of the industry, keeping our positivity in tough times, and much much more!

It can be so tempting to want to write down every little detail of what we imagine in our heads as we write, and memorialize that into stage actions and directions. But when your script begins looking more like a novel, we need to ask: “Is this too much?” Here are 7 questions to consider when determining how much stage action and stage direction is appropriate to you script!

How exactly do you take the melodies, chord progressions, and musical colors you hear for a song you’re writing and turn it into an actual composition? And how does that composition become a coherent and cohesive accompaniment that tells the story just as much as the lyrics? Let’s chat about the Big 3 things to consider!

One of your hardest tasks is going to be figuring out where the songs should be placed in your musical as you’re writing it. Get it right and you’ll win the audience over, gaining praise and big box office. Get it wrong and, it’ll be back to the drawing board at best, or poor reviews and bad ticket sales at worst. So, how do we determine where to place songs in our stories? Here are 10 rules you can follow when going through the Song Spotting process.

In this ninth episode of the Writer Real Talk interview series I sit down with the prolific, motivated, and fantastic writer and wearer-of-many-hats, Amy Andrews. Our main topic today is all about getting started in the industry as a musical theatre writer, but we also touch on Imposter Syndrome, the power of community, accessibility in the industry, and much much more!

The phrase “Show Don’t Tell” is thrown around at writers all the time, but what does that really mean and how do we make it happen? What tools do we have available to us at musical theatre writers that we can use to show the story instead of telling? Let’s explore and find out!

In this eight episode of the Writer Real Talk interview series I sit down with the brilliant and singular director-choreographer, Jen Wineman. Our main topic today is all about finding the intention in the writing and allowing it to shine through collaboration, but we also touch on comedy, collaboration, working with directors and choreographers, and much more!

Writing musical theatre for actual vocal performers is not something we talk about enough, or even often teach. And we should! Not only do you want to make sure you’re writing for the voice in a way that’s healthy for the singers, but you also want to make sure that you’re writing in a way that’s going to elicit the sounds, emotions, and tones you are intending. Se, let’s talk about it!

The exciting and special seventh episode in the new interview series with originating artists - Writer Real Talk - in which I sit down with writing team behind the new 80's Christmas slasher musical "An Axemas Story": Patrick Spencer, Anthony DeAngelis, and Charlie O'Leary. Our main topic today is all about the upcoming NYC Off-Broadway run of "An Axemas Story" at the Player's Theater, but we also touch on their unique creation process, the development of the musical, writing and...

First drafts are difficult. That blank page staring you in the face can be super intimidating, and many people never make it past that point. Everyone has their own process for dealing with the drafting process, and today I’m sharing mine in the hopes that some of these thoughts might be helpful to you!

We all need to start somewhere, and we rarely get to see how other people began their journeys learning how to write for musical theatre. So, today I’m breaking down the VERY FIRST musical theatre song I ever wrote (“Stella for Star” from A Streetcar Named Desire) to analyze the good, the bad, and the ugly. And all so you can learn from my mistakes!

The sixth in the new interview series with originating artists - Writer Real Talk - in which I sit down with writer, advocate, and incredible human: Preston Max Allen. Our main topic today is all about self care and mental health in theatrical work, but we also touch on creating safety in spaces, changing entrenched systems, and financial sustainability on a personal and an industry level.