Signature Theatre Accepting New Musical Submissions For Sigworks: Musical Theatre Lab
One musical will be chosen for a two-week developmental workshop under the direction of Anika Chapin.
Signature Theatre will be accepting new submissions for the SigWorks: Musical Theater Lab, a developmental workshop program for musical theater writers. The Lab offers writers an opportunity to focus on the artistic development of their piece in one of the nation's most vibrant theatrical communities. Via an open submission process from October 12 – October 30, 2026, Signature Theatre will invite writers from across the United States to submit their new musicals to be chosen for development in the summer of 2027. Under the leadership of Signature's Director of Artistic Development Anika Chapin, one musical will be chosen for a two-week workshop June 14 – June 27, 2027 at Signature Theatre. The project will receive a public presentation at the end of the workshop.
Signature Theatre will be accepting submissions for original and unpublished musicals October 12 – October 30, 2026. Writers or teams of writers can submit a single musical each (if a writer is working on two or more separate projects with different collaborators, they can submit those). The writers must reside in the United States. The piece must have been written within the past five years and must be the sole intellectual property of the writers – if the piece is based on existing IP, the writers must have the rights to that IP. Previous applicants to the SigWorks: Musical Theater Lab can apply again for the 2026/2027 cycle. The musicals do not need to be fully finished but must be close to a finished draft. They cannot have already had a production, but they can have had other developmental opportunities. There are no limits on cast size or musical styles.
SUBMISSION RULES:
Interested writers must submit biographies for the artists, a brief synopsis of the musical, a character breakdown (1 page or less), a brief explanation of where the musical is in its development process, a 20-page sample from the libretto (this must be consecutive pages), recorded demos from the submitted musical, and the full script of the musical. The submissions will open on October 12, 2026 at SigTheatre.org.
Please note that only five demos will be listened to in the first round – you may specify which tracks those are when you apply. If your script is selected as a finalist, all demos will be listened to.
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