It’s important to us that our MusicalWriters leadership knows and understands what it means to be a musical writer. Kenady Sean is our MusicalWriters Academy Community Manager as well as a musical writer herself. Here’s a little more about what she’s doing, what she’s learning, and why she loves being at MusicalWriters.com!
What are you working on right now?
Kenady Sean: My main focus for this year is my musical Beyond Perfection. Beyond Perfection is a dystopian musical set in 2036, so I feel a little bit of time pressure with this one to get it done right. I am planning to have a 29-hour reading of Beyond Perfection this summer to hopefully get some talent attached to the project. I have three other musicals as well, all in various stages. A collaborator and I have adapted a musical based on The Scarlet Letter. We are submitting this to various developmental opportunities. I’m currently writing a musical based on the women of World War II and a show called Hologramarama with Jeanette Bent, who I met in a MusicalWriters.com writers group.
What’s a lesson you’ve learned from your writing journey that you’d like to share?
KS: When I first started writing my musical Beyond Perfection, I knew I was meant to write musicals, but I had no idea where to start. I would write a draft and get feedback, and would change and do everything everyone said. Haley Nelson, a dramaturg, pointed out that my script had become a patchwork quilt of everyone’s opinions rather than something of my own. She asked me, “If your play was on fire, what are three things you would grab to save?” She told me to use her feedback, but never lose what was most important. Now I always try to hold people’s advice up to what matters most in telling my particular story.
“If your play was on fire, what are three things you would grab to save?”
Writing a musical isn’t easy. What’s your “why” in being a musical writer?
KS: Writing musicals is what I feel called to. I grew up acting, singing and dancing and fell in love with the art form. However, in high school, I started writing my own music. I performed one of my songs at a talent show, and a light bulb went off. My whole life I’d been telling other people’s stories, but at that moment, I was telling my own! It was then when I decided to go to school for writing music rather than performing it.
Why did you join MusicalWriters Academy?
KS: I had met Holly Reed through the theater grapevine. She actually ended up attending my self-produced musical in 2019 as a theatre critic. I was thrilled by the amount she cared about making her musical a success and helping others like me along the way. I later learned that MusicalWriters.com has a lot to offer and is the kind of community that I was looking for.
How did you get bit by the theater bug?
KS: I started inviting family friends over to watch the dances that I’d come up with and my parents knew they had to put me on stage. My first show was The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. I had one line where I screamed “My turtle!!!” and ran across the stage. My favorite director saw potential in me, and the rest is history. From then on, I performed in as many shows as my parents would let me.
What do you love about MusicalWriters.com?
KS: I love getting to be Community Manager. It’s truly a dream to get to build a community for writers all over the world. I love meeting so many people from the theatre industry and having the ability to ask them questions. I love Pitch Night! I love getting to hear about everyone’s musicals and then seeing them produced. Most of all, I love that I have friends that understand the crazy world of what writing a musical is.
What is your favorite musical writing tech tool?
KS: I love Sibelius and Final Draft. I also love the Final Draft template that Holly made. It made setting my book up so easy. It also took the mystery out of what the best formatting was. It takes a little bit of stress out of the whole submission process.
Kenady Sean holds a strong proficiency in many aspects of musical theatre. In the Summer of 2019, Kenady produced, directed, and choreographed her original musical Beyond Perfection. Kenady is currently working on three musical projects other than Beyond Perfection: an adaption of the Scarlet Letter, a children’s musical, and an all-women show about World War II. She is the community manager for MusicalWriters.com, a resource and community for musical theatre writers. Kenady has also performed in many theatre productions. Her most notable performances include an Off-Broadway appearance as Samantha in the production of Circle of Friends in New York, playing Alice in Alice in Wonderland at Casa Mañana, and playing Sally Brown in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown at DBU. Kenady graduated with an MBA and a BS in Music Business from Dallas Baptist University where she received the Texas Business Hall of Fame Scholarship.
