How To Write A Musical - 1: The Idea
You have an idea for a musical! “What if …”
· What if a slick traveling salesman finds himself in a small town in Iowa, facing the most stubborn customers he’s ever met, and his goal is to sell them the most far-fetched product ever imagined: a boys’ band?
· What if the Wicked Witch of the West wasn’t really that wicked?
· What if an out of work actor pretends to be a woman in order to be cast in a Broadway musical?
It all starts with a “what if…?” Your idea might be completely original, like Meredith Willson’s for the plot of The Music Man. Or it might have originated as a novel, like the source material for Wicked, or from a movie, like the source material for Tootsie. Or maybe your idea is based on a play, like Oklahoma! or an historical event, like Come From Away. All can be great sources for the basis of a new musical. If you’ve never written one before, it’s best to start with a story that has already been dramatized in one format, such as a play or a screenplay; there will still be plenty of creativity and imagination for you to add as you adapt the source material, but it’s easier to start with something and adapt it than it is to create a script of dialog out of thin air as must happen if your inspiration is a novel, an historical event, or a story of your own imagining. Be aware, of course, that if a novel, a play, or screenplay is under copyright, you will first have to obtain the rights to the material. There are also plenty of novels and plays in the public domain which can be a great source for a musical.
Is It Worthy?
Before you spend too much time on your Great Idea, evaluate its worthiness. Is this a story you are passionate about, and one which you will still be passionate about after you’ve lived with it, intimately, for 6 to 10 years?
Is the best possible telling of this story on stage as a musical? What would make the story better by being a musical? What can you add to the story? Ask yourself what you love about the source material, and then ask yourself if it is already perfect just the way it is. If it is, move on to a different idea.
Finally, be sure this story is worthy of being told in the theater. Novelist/playwright Thornton Wilder wrote, “I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.” Ever since Show Boat and Oklahoma! people have come to expect a musical to be more than simply entertaining; there needs to be a reason, an idea percolating under the surface to elevate it to ART. Sure, there are plenty of laugh-out-loud comedies in the musical theater repertoire, but if you look at most of those you will see a deeper soul, a meaningful message at the heart of it all.
Avenue Q will elicit unending laughter from audiences all night long, and then the big finale, while still comedic, lets us in on the moral of the story:
“Life may be scary
But it’s only temporary
Everything in life is only for now”
(lyric by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx)
It turns out Avenue Q isn’t only a little parody of Sesame Street, nor a little comedy about a recent college graduate trying to find his purpose in life. It’s about more than that; it’s about each of us, dealing with the harsh realities of day to day living and –hopefully—finding an appreciation for the adventure along the way.
Whatever story you decide to tell, be certain that your idea is one worthy of elevating to the art of musical theater.
There are many more things to consider, questions to ask, and elements to plan before you write your musical. But if, after considering the above, you still think your idea is perfect … and if you are so excited about your idea that you can’t wait to get started, well, then: start. If you have a clear vision of a crucial song, write it. If you know exactly how a particular scene will go, write it. Capture your inspired vision right away and let it flow while the inspiration is fresh. Once you’ve done that, put that brilliant scene or song aside for a bit, and come back to planning your musical. The next article will give you specific ways to organize your creative work in order to write the best musical you can.
But for now, go ahead and start. “What if…?”