My Blog
5 Top Takeaways from the “How to Write a Musical” Workshop
The World & The Want Yesterday I taught my favorite workshop, the “How to Write a Musical That Works” Workshop through Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) in NYC. Along with the Executive Director Bob Ost and a stellar panel composed of Dramaturg/Producer Ken...
Pitching Your Show to Producers
Pitching Your Show to Producers Learning to pitch your show to potential producers is a skill set that can be developed like any other skill set. The secret is in learning to see your show from the producer’s perspective. Recently I was the pitching coach for eight...
Breaking Up With Aristotle: Alternative Plot Structures
To Aristotle With Love: We’re Done So many contemporary playwrights claim to have “broken up” with Aristotle. As is, “Ari, we love you and all, but you’re so old school. We’re done.” The energy of the “action plot,” where a protagonist has a goal and takes...
Story vs. Plot
Where in the Story Does Your Plot Start? A discussion about the difference between plot vs. story is anything but an academic question. Instead, like most talks about structure, how a plot is designed defines how the audience experiences the story. An early...
Writing Active Dialogue
Let’s Get Some Action Going Have you ever been reading a script when the action suddenly felt clunky, heavy-handed or, even worse, stopped mid-scene? Probably it was the result of poor dialogue. Like everything else on stage, dialogue must push the story...
Top 5 Reasons to Put a Dramaturg on the Creative Team
What if I told you there was a way to jumpstart your NPD process at a fraction of the cost of a staged reading? There is a way – a standard protocol that’s used by almost every serious producer and significant regional theater out there, including NYMF, Disney...