David Spencer's The Musical Theatre Writer's Survival Guide, a comprehensive reference book like none ever published before, about creating musical theatre, will be released by Heinemann Publishing on July 25, 2005.
The Musical Theatre Writer's Survival Guide is a wholly unique "guide-to-the-game" filled with never before published information ranging from indispensable principles of art and craft to practical considerations of politics and presentation. From the pen of award-winning composer, lyricist, librettist and teacher David Spencer, The Musical Theatre Writer's Survival Guide offers a bracing refresher for industry veterans, an invaluable sourcebook for aspiring musical dramatists, and a lively and accessible look at the form for all musical theatre enthusiasts.
Tony Award © winning composer-lyricists Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, who shepherded Avenue Q from the BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop (where they first encountered Spencer as teacher and colleague) to staged readings to Broadway, share their journey and endorsement of Spencer's trade techniques in the foreword.
Spencer's comprehensive guide navigates the complex landscape of developing a musical from the page to the stage, with invaluable, time saving and tried-and-true techniques that can save the beginner years of shooting blindly; and that can likewise rescue the struggling veteran from career-stalling traps, bad habits and false assumptions. Among the topics included in The Musical Theatre Writer's Survival Guide are:
What it takes to get your name and project to interested and effective producers.
The ten (open) "secrets" of successful musical book construction.
The overt and hidden elements of successful musical theatre songwriting.
The keys to healthy, effective and fruitful collaboration.
Writing musicals for young audiences.
Choosing the right director for your project.
Assessing and developing relationships with agents, directors and producers.
Proper play script formatting.
Conceiving, producing and presenting the most effective demo recording of a new score.
David Spencer is currently writing the music and lyrics for The Fabulist, a 2002 Richard Rodgers Development Award-winning musical for which he also received a 2000 Kleban Lyrics Award and two Gilman & Gonzalez-Falla Theatre Foundation grants. He has been lyricist-librettist for two musicals composed by Alan Menken: Weird Romance (WPA, 1992; York Theatre Mufti, 2004) and, upcoming, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. Spencer made his professional debut in 1984 with the English adaptation of La Bohème at The Public Theatre and has since written music and lyrics for Theatreworks/USA's award winning TYA versions of The Phantom of the Opera (cast recording, 1996 world premiere and seven national tours), and 1999's Les Misérables. Books include the original Alien Nation tie-in novel Passing Fancy (Pocket, 1994) and the published libretto of Weird Romance (Samuel French, 1993). Spencer is on faculty at the BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop and is the webmaster and principal NY drama critic of the theatrical website Aisle Say (www.aislesay.com). Contact David at ScriptConsult@aol.com for script consultation services, readings, public appearances or lectures.
Heinemann Publishing, a member of the Reed-Elsevier family of professional and educational publishers, is a leading publisher of books for theatre professionals by theatre professionals, general books on education, and quality works of world literature.
The Musical Theatre Writer's Survival Guide will retail for $19.95 at Barnes and Noble and other major bookstores from July 25 and is currently available for a pre-order discounted price of $13.57 at www.amazon.com and $17.95 ($16.15 member price) at www.barnesandnoble.com.
ADVANCE ACCOLADES FROM THE EXPERTS:
