Online Seminar: Musical Theatre Book Writing

taught by Core Writer Crystal Skillman
Sunday, February 21st from 2:30pm - 5pm CST
Venue: 
Online via Zoom
Cost: 
$5 for Members, $15 for Non-Members

Class Type: Playwriting Craft                         Class Level: Beginner to Intermediate

When: Sunday, February 21st from 2:30 pm - 5 pm CST

(12:30pm PST, 1:30pm MST, 3:30pm EST)

Where: Online via Zoom, check out this quick video on the process.

Structure: Presentation, Q&A session

Participants must register to join this class, Sign Up at the bottom of the page


DESCRIPTION

The secret to writing the book of a musical is a unique recipe of conquering structure, creating clarity for each character’s motivation, and setting the rules of your world. Add on top of that a strong dose of harnessing the creative soul, which is always completed by that very important dash to the stew - the art of collaboration - and we are cooking with gas! Join us for this fun seminar, led by Crystal Skillman, that will guide you in learning/improving the skills of structuring your original musical, as well as how to approach adaptation, be true to your theatrical language, find the right tone and balance between book and song, and explore how a song, and the scene leading up to it, can work together and always push your story forward. This special seminar will share what Crystal has learned being a dramatist now writing for several musicals. Writers will leave the seminar with a strong toolkit to strengthen their pages, and/or enhance how they work “in the room” with their collaborators, and with inspiration for new show ideas. 

This is the seminar for you if you:

  • You are a composer seeking to learn how to improve your own bookwriting skills/or working with a book writer.
  • You are a writer who writes plays with music looking to take the leap into musicals or strengthen that work. 
  • You are a writing team looking for guidance on your musical, and ways to strengthen your work together.

Important Things to Note:


INSTRUCTOR BIO

Crystal Skillman is an award-winning dramatist. Plays include: NYTimes Critics Picks OPEN (The Tank/AFO), GEEK (Vampire Cowboys), CUT (Theatre Under St. Marks), as well as PULP VÉRITÉ (Kilroys List), and RAIN AND ZOE SAVE THE WORLD (EMOS Prize). Her new play with music, THIS SHOW IS MONEY (Music/Lyrics Gaby Alter), is currently being developed in The Civilians R & D Group. Crystal is the bookwriter of the musical MARY AND MAX  (Composer/Lyricist Bobby Cronin), which just had its European premiere and recently livestreamed to great acclaim. POSTCARD AMERICAN TOWN, with Composer/Lyricist Lynne Shankel, is currently a finalist for the 2020 SDSU New Musical Initiative. A two time finalist for the McKnight Fellowship, Crystal has been granted two Alfred P. Sloan commissions, received a Clifford Odets Ensemble Play commission, and won the NY Innovative Theater Award for Outstanding Play (THE VIGIL OR THE GUIDED CRADLE). She has cut her teeth in playwriting groups such as Youngblood, Soho Rep’s Writer/Director Lab, WP Lab, and is a member of Ensemble Studio Theater and Rising Phoenix Rep. This summer she will work on two commissions: SEEN and THE ROCKET MEN. TV/Comic Books include: ADVENTURE TIME (Boom! Studios), EAT FIGHTER (WebToon), and OVERNIGHT SUCCESS (Kampfire Films). 

Instagram @crystalskillman


 Sign Up Below! 

Questions? Email Membership Programs Associate, Alayna Barnes, at alaynab@pwcenter.org