composing Archives | MusicalWriters.com

How Opening Numbers Reveal a World or Launch the Story

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Carol de Giere and Stephen Schwartz discuss the importance (and challenge) of constructing successful opening numbers — and offer a few tips!

How Musicals Make the Most of Time: Montage, Backstory, Memories, and Ticking Clocks

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Today’s musicals journey through time with concentrated stories and employ devices like montages, backstory, and ticking clocks to keep audiences engaged.

How Musicals Make the Most of Time – A Conversation with Stephen Schwartz

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Carol de Giere and Stephen Schwartz explore how musicals convey time through backstory, memories, and compressed action.

Orchestrating a New Musical: The Wind Section

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The musical theatre orchestra wind section includes both woodwind and brass instruments and can be used to provide color, texture, and a big band jazz sound.

Orchestrating a New Musical: The Rhythm Section

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The rhythm section of a musical theater orchestra is usually defined as the keyboards, guitars, drum kit, and bass. Travis Frank discusses how this section keeps the rhythm and groove throughout numbers and how best to write for this versatile group of musicians.