Help a playwright out (stipend offered)
Help a playwright out (stipend offered)
#1Help a playwright out (stipend offered)
Posted: 9/11/17 at 7:31pm
Well, not really. But I do have a serious question.
As a playwright, I naturally want to write to my strengths- while creating work that would be viable for a modern audience. Unfortunately, the two do not seem to "synchronize" these days.
I was made to think of this by Lincoln Center's latest two production announcements...two plays with mostly-serious subject matter that speak to contemporary issues. Unfortunately, that is not the way I write. I'm better at lighthearted comedies or "classic-y" love stories.
So here's my dilemma: do I try to write in a style that I don't feel comfortable in? Or is there still a place for "traditional musicals" on the horizon? Yes, the revivals of shows like Carousel or Hello Dolly still generate thrills, but that's because they had their moment in the sun and therefore an established fanbase.
I think of recent original musicals, such as It Shoulda Been You or War Paint or even La La Land, and how they all found criticism for one reason or another (to be fair, they do also have their bulk of fans). The result is polarization, which isn't always a good thing...
What do you guys think? Should I continue to write what I write and accept that they may never be suited to "big name productions?" Or must all great modern theatre have some kind of "social edge" or whatnot? All comments welcome.
#2Help a playwright out (stipend offered)
Posted: 9/11/17 at 8:41pm
This is all highly subjective as you know, and I hesitate to say anything that discourages you as a writer. But I do think in some ways you're in a tough spot. I do think we're getting to place where substance-less musical comedies are not as exciting as they used to be, and that we're generally moving away from their direction. That said I don't think you should necessarily abandon what you love to write, and what you're good at. If it brings you personal fulfillment as an artist, and if it brings some people enjoyment, that's what's ultimately important.
Also, I think there are exceptions. Shows like "The Play That Goes Wrong" (though not a musical), show us that if you do fluffy, derivative material really well, it can be extraordinary to watch. Also, you say that shows like Hello, Dolly do well only because they have an established fan base. That may be true from a commercial perspective, but speaking as someone who was not familiar with the show prior to this revival, I think they also achieved something artistically successful in presenting a classic music comedy REALLY well. It was thrilling for me to watch, and I got profound pleasure out of every minute of it. And I'm not even that big a fan of Dolly, Midler, or classic musical comedies in general. I feel the same way about the She Loves Me revival. And An American in Paris is a recent example that wasn't a revival.
Personally, I would caution you against writing musical comedies for the sake of "nostalgia," or paying homage to that genre. Some may disagree with me, but I think doing that, in some ways, snuffs out your own voice as a writer, and makes it more likely to feel like a stale, cheap imitation. But if you believe you have something to add to the canon with YOUR take on a musical comedy, I say go for it.
Also, this is all just my opinion. If what I'm saying is going to get in your way as an artist, forget it. Ignore me. I'm just a stranger on the internet, and I'm not a writer, so what do I know?
#3Help a playwright out (stipend offered)
Posted: 9/11/17 at 8:52pm
I think the best writing requires a passion, and you need to do everything you can to steer into that passion. While there will always be trends, the downside is that you have to time them properly for it to matter. The upside of doing something timeless is that it is trend-proof. That can be good or bad, but if you try to write to get something produced, you may only have the window in which that is the hot topic/theme in which to get any traction. Whereas something without that zeitgeisty pull may have better legs in the long run. But you may also take longer to get it up and running because people need to jump on the zeitgeist and your piece will play just as well next season...
Ultimately, I think you should always steer into your passion and do the best version of what moves you to create. Unless you get commissioned to do something different, best to create the perfect version of your vision than the modified version that you think might sell better.
#4Help a playwright out (stipend offered)
Posted: 9/11/17 at 9:03pm
I have to echo so much of what has been said. I teach at a magnet arts and TAG school and I work with kids K-8. Once the kids hit about 5th grade, we always gave a dilemma of sorts: do we have the kids write with a scholarly voice or what works for them. In the end, it seems that kids automatically drift to the second. Maybe not immediately, but they end up with their own unique style.
I think that you, as a writer, have to write what works for you. Maybe that may veer one way or touch on something, but don't write something for the sake of writing it. Don't emulate the style of the Golden Age of Broadway if you can't do it. If you don't naturally write material perceived as "edgy" or "dark", don't force because you risk coming across as not being genuine in your work or even worse, having a hard time truly standing behind it.
In the end, you gotta do you. That's where the soul of what you write comes from.
#5Help a playwright out (stipend offered)
Posted: 9/12/17 at 12:27am
You can write about a group of friends in their 20s to 30's :
1. About making it through the tech boom 2.0 with some characters being affected by displacement from gentrification;
2. a person confused and torn apart becuase of his/her
A. Alt Right beliefs
B. Scientology involvement
C. Post Sex Change
D. A person who bleached himself lighter that you don't recognize her/him anymore...or a TransRacial person....Think of a former baseball player or a lady from the inland northwest
3. A really hot and sexy asexual person...could also be LGBTIQ
4. A man trying to reclaim his circumcision.
5. A reference to Chealsea or Snowden
6. A lot of reference about the current admin
7. Love and betrayal
8. Love Triangle
9. People of color.
10. Climate Change.
Just some ideas 
joegulla
Swing Joined: 11/18/05
#6Help a playwright out (stipend offered)
Posted: 9/12/17 at 12:57am
joegulla
Swing Joined: 11/18/05
#8Help a playwright out (stipend offered)
Posted: 9/12/17 at 1:18am
1. You will NEVER write a play or show that will not be criticized by somebody. Never happened, never will. (Sondheim takes jabs at SOUTH PACIFIC and MY FAIR LADY in MERRILY.)
2. You will NEVER write a successful play or show that you yourself don't love. Sometimes we learn to love a project after we've been assigned a subject, but the cynical approach rarely pays off artistically or financially. Oscar Hammerstein and Jerry Herman got rich and famous writing optimistic musicals because they are optimistic people. Stephen Sondheim and Jerry Robbins have done more pessimistic or ironic shows because those fit their world views.
3. If you need to be practical--and you may until you are well established--think about the costs you CAN reduce. Write for smaller casts; use imagination instead of elaborate sets. It's unlikely (though not impossible) that somebody is going to pay you to write a $14 million production for your first show. So see what you can do with 3 actors and a piano.
4. Lyric theater (musicals and operas) take FOREVER to write. Expect to spend 5-7 years on your first one (which is another reason to make sure you love what you are doing). As you hint in your post, there is almost no way to predict what will be current and trendy by the time your musical is mounted. Sometimes you win (I had a piece about Bosnia open just when we started bombing nearby Kosovo); sometimes you lose (I finally gave up on my lesbian wedding musical: I couldn't keep up with the pace of cultural and legal change).
#9Help a playwright out (stipend offered)
Posted: 9/12/17 at 9:23am
Gaveston- the first musical I ever wrote began its life in 2012. It is now 2017 and the score's still not done. So...I get it! Lol
I remember Sondheim's criticisms of SOUTH PACIFIC lyrics and MY FAIR LADY in his Finishing the Hat book. As he put it, musicalizing Pygmalion was "gilding the lily."
#10Help a playwright out (stipend offered)
Posted: 9/12/17 at 10:53pm
^^^ There are also gentle jabs at both shows in the number "Opening Doors". E.g., "I saw MY FAIR LADY. I sort of enjoyed it."
P.S. Break a leg with your project! And don't necessarily be discouraged about the time it takes to complete it. On the other hand, some times we can't get a project completed because the idea just doesn't work. It's hard to tell the difference.
henrikegerman
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/29/05
#11Help a playwright out (stipend offered)
Posted: 9/13/17 at 10:46am
How about a lighthearted romance about a young playwright who wants to write lighthearted romances but feels pressure to "sell out" by writing serious dramas. He or she meets a much older playwright who always dreamed of success as a "serious dramatist" but "sold out" to great success by writing lighthearted romance? (the two don't necessarily need to be the romantic couple).
#12Help a playwright out (stipend offered)
Posted: 9/13/17 at 11:07am
Henrik, I actually LOVE that idea. Now I feel I'd be stealing your work. Lol
henrikegerman
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/29/05
#13Help a playwright out (stipend offered)
Posted: 9/13/17 at 1:22pm
"Ado Annie D'Ysquith said: "Henrik, I actually LOVE that idea. Now I feel I'd be stealing your work. Lol""
Well if it makes you feel any better Ado, about that stipend?
But seriously, take the idea if you like. I just want opening night seats!
#14Help a playwright out (stipend offered)
Posted: 5/4/18 at 9:24pm
Sorry to shamelessly bump my own thread, but a lot of you had thoughts on my concern here, and I just posted about it more thoroughly on the blog...
Link (It's the very first one you see.)
#15Help a playwright out (stipend offered)
Posted: 5/4/18 at 10:04pm
Ado Annie, you've laid out some of the problems I feel as a playwright/lyricist as well. What I've really found is what everyone else has already said: write what works well for you, and become as good at it as you can. Don't ignore other influences and always be willing to learn and take feedback, but don't let anyone shape you into a writer that isn't YOU.
If you ever want to chat, shoot me a DM and I'd love to talk playwriting with you :)
JBC3
Broadway Star Joined: 4/9/17
#16Help a playwright out (stipend offered)
Posted: 5/5/18 at 7:02am
As Sondheim said,
“Anything you do, let it come from you. Then it will be new.”
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