New Musicals Inc. and Academy for New Musical Theatre Team for July Conference

New Musicals Inc. and the Academy for New Musical Theatre are joining forces to present an extraordinary conference for musical theatre writers, entirely online, over a two-week period from July 10-27, 2017.

The conference will focus on the craft of writing musical theatre, as writers get the chance to write/collaborate, receive critique, rewrite, attend lectures about the craft of writing for musical theatre, and finally see their works presented in concert in front of an audience.

"We're designing this conference to take place entirely online," explains NMI's Executive Director Scott Guy, "So writers can participate from anywhere in the world. We have the capability of including as many as 24 simultaneous video streams, but lectures will be recorded, in case time zones are an issue."

After an inspiring keynote speaker to launch the conference, writers will present material for feedback, followed by a lecture. At the end of the first day, writers will be teamed with collaborators and given a scene/song which will be due on the third day of the conference. NMI will present the material live in Los Angeles, followed by feedback and then another lecture. There will then be a second scene/song with new collaborators, followed by a second round of presentation and feedback.

The second week of the conference will team collaborators together to write a ten minute musical, with a few sessions of feedback, culminating in a rehearsed presentation in front of an invited audience.

Depending on the success of the final presentation, NMI might include screening of the ten-minute conference musicals during Stages Musical Theatre Festival in the weekend which immediately follows the conference.

"It's a very exciting opportunity not only for the writers, but for us," says Artistic Director Elise Dewsberry. "We get to work with writers all around the world, and everyone gets to work with three sets of potential collaborators. Plus, we're all gathered together talking about the craft of writing musicals, discussing what's important, what's trending, and what's the future of musical theatre."

The conference takes place July 10-23, online, although participants MAY attend in person at NMI's workshops in North Hollywood. Rehearsals for the ten-minute musicals will be July 24-25, with presentation on July 26th.

Registration closes June 21; the cost of registration is $450. Participation is limited and by invitation only. To be considered for the conference, writers should email admin@nmi.org with a brief resume, artistic statement, and an indication of which craft the writer would like to focus on for the conference (pick one): bookwriter, composer, lyricist.