Listen: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty Visit THE ENSEMBLIST Podcast

Mo Brady and Nikka Graff Lanzarone announce the release of The Ensemblist's 34th episode: "Writing for Ensemblists."

On this latest (super-exciting!) episode of The Ensemblist, Nikka and Mo interview three Tony-winning composers/lyricists who have created musicals filled with large ensembles. Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty, and Lin-Manuel Miranda explain how they wrote some of the most memorable ensemble numbers of the past couple of decades. They discuss their inspirations, their support team, how they think of ensembles and ensemblists during the creation process, and what they look for when putting together an ensemble.

Scroll down to listen to the podcast!

Ahrens and Flaherty (Rocky, Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life, Seussical, Matters of the Heart, Ragtime, My Favorite Year, Once On This Island), who have worked together for more than thirty years, discuss how their writing process has developed and become easier over the years. Ahrens reveals how ensemblists' performances can often inspire changes in their initial plans, and Flaherty discusses how some musical numbers are not always chronologically developed. Miranda (Bring It On The Musical, In the Heights) explains his unique, personable approach to creating a score. He also details how every musical's story presents different writing challenges.

New episodes of The Ensemblist can be downloaded every two weeks through the iTunes store by searching for "The Ensemblist." Episodes can be also be streamed on Stitcher Radio, TuneIn, and downloaded directly from Podbean at theensemblist.podbean.com.

The website, TheEnsemblist.com, features stories, Q&As, and blog posts from those in the know about life as an ensemblist, plus cool stuff the team can't NOT share. You can also follow @theensemblist on Twitter and Instagram and Like us at facebook.com/theensemblist.