Student Blogger: Michael Scuotto

Yeah, But Not Right Now is a deeply personal exploration of Holmes' childhood and past relationships. It was also a meditation on the nature of performance in daily life. How much are we using our talents to find fulfillment in our day-to-day life? As an artist, this through line was particularly impactful to me. Holmes' stories are linked together by musical comedy songs, which allow for a showcase of Holmes' unique writing style. His comedic lyrics are complemented by his complex and gorgeous melodies.

I'm extremely lucky to have all my classes in person (masked, of course). While I'm thrilled for each and every one of my classes, my theatre classes have been particularly exciting. The opportunity to be in a room again with other theatre makers has been magical. In just a few days, I feel like I've established a thriving community of artists and makers who are gonna take this privilege to do wonderful things. There's a sense of joy and excitement vibrating throughout the air, and I cannot get enough of it.

Carving out your niche as an artist is difficult. As I think ahead to my career post-college, I'm realizing that goes double for musical theatre writers. There's not a gigantic market for original musical theatre. Unless you're adapting a recognizable property, or centering a star, it's not the easiest thing to get a massive audience invested in your musical.

Rewriting can sometimes be tedious and arduous. At times, it feels like the joy has been seeped from the creative process. A lot of the work is very technical. There's less spontaneity and opportunity to revel in creative joy. There's also a weight on your shoulders: you're so close to finishing. Finishing the song, the draft, the script. You know the pure euphoria you'll feel upon completion. You know that with a little more elbow grease, you can make a hat where there never was a hat.

For years, my mother and I have volunteered as ushers at a local theatre. I know some of the folks who perform there, and it's a great way to see their shows for free. As soon as I stepped into the theatre, a surreal feeling washed over me. Standing in an actual brick and mortar theater was overwhelming. As I showed patrons to their (socially distanced) seats, I got more and more excited.

This past weekend, I watched A Place For Us: Celebrating Trans and Non-Binary Artists in Musical Theatre. This was a theatrical virtual event that did exactly what it says on the tin. And believe me when I tell you it was an absolute joy from start to finish.

I was not in the audience of the St. James. I was somewhere better: Redbank, New Jersey to be exact. I was there for the second show in a series of concerts featuring Joe Iconis and Lauren Marcus. This show was part of Two River Theater's Plaza Players series, which takes advantage of their newly renovated outdoor plaza space.

It's a fun little niche. And it's a great way to have an experience with a show, even years or decades after that show is closed. Do any of you collect Playbills? What are your best finds? Or your dream finds? I'd love to hear about them!

Summer is almost upon us! That means it's time to kick back and unwind. Or at least, that's what I try to tell myself. See, I have a really hard time with 'downtime'. There's always a voice in the back of my head telling me that I should be doing something more productive, or that I'm 'wasting time'. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way.

This past week, I finished up school for the year. I'm now officially a Junior. My college experience has been particularly odd. I spent more of my college career on Zoom than I did in person. It's been really rough. However, in all that time, I never stopped creating. During COVID-19, I learned a lot about myself, my craft, and my process.

I've been thinking about Newsies a lot this week. At its core, it is a show about activists fighting for change and battling against the status quo. Obviously, this is a fairly pressing and urgent idea, this week especially. It tells us that we should raise our voices to protest unjust systems, and that if we hold out, important bounds forward can be made to better things for ourselves and others.

In celebration of Stephen Sondheim’s 91st birthday, I’m compiling a list of 18 Sondheim songs, one for each show he’s written!

In celebration of Stephen Sondheim’s 91st birthday, I’m continuing to compile a list of 18 Sondheim songs, one for each show he’s written!

When I was about 7, I saw the West Side Story movie for the first time, and I loved it. I memorized the entire script, snapped my way around the school yard during recess, you know, normal kid stuff. Even then, I remember thinking “hey, this Sondheim guy is pretty cool”.

Proshots are a marvelous thing. At the risk of generalization, I simply don’t believe there are any cons. Many proshots begin their lives with theatrical releases in movie theaters across the country. Most of them also see release on streaming platforms, notably BroadwayHD, which is slowly gaining a beefier library.

Classes are back in full swing for me, so I’m happy to have a creative outlet like this, and such a wonderful platform here on BroadwayWorld. I hope everyone is doing well. 

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of watching Derek DelGaudio’s In & Of Itself on Hulu.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve turned to music, and more specifically musical theatre, to help me sort out my feelings.

I wanted to talk about the bigger picture: what is the current state of movie musicals? 

Joe Iconis is one of my favorite songwriters, and he helped reinvigorate my drive to write songs when I started my songwriting class this year.