Photos: Inside The ASCAP Foundation's First-Ever Musical Theatre Fest With Stephen Schwartz And More
The two-week, in-person event series gave emerging musical theater composers the chance to learn from the industry’s leading lights.
In mid-July, The ASCAP Foundation held its first-ever Musical Theatre Fest at The Wallis in Beverly Hills. The two-week, in-person event series gave emerging musical theater composers the chance to learn from the industry’s leading lights. See photos from the event below!
Week 1 (July 11-13) presented panels exploring the intersection of Hollywood, streaming and musical theater. The conversations featured advice and insights from top composers and industry executives, including the Oscar, Grammy and Tony Award-winning creative team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Dear Evan Hansen, La La Land), Emmy-winning songwriter and screenwriter Cinco Paul (Despicable Me, Schmigadoon!), and the Emmy-nominated songwriting duo Michael Kooman and Chris Dimond (Ridley Jones, Vampirina). A feedback panel put emerging ASCAP members face to face with the creative team at Netflix for real-time reactions to their songs. The sessions were presented with support by the Gary Geld Musical Theatre Foundation.
The 2023 ASCAP Foundation/Universal Theatrical Group (UTG) Musical Theatre Workshop returned for Week 2 (July 17-20) of the Musical Theatre Fest. Led once again by celebrated artistic director Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Godspell), the workshop gave emerging musical theater composers the opportunity of a lifetime to workshop their new musicals in front of a live audience and a panel of seasons professionals, including Zina Goldrich and Karey Kirkpatrick (July 17), Alan Zachary and Winnie Holzman (July 18), Karey Kirkpatrick and Kevin Bannerman (July 19), and Cinco Paul and Stephen Bray (July 20).
More info about the Musical Theatre Fest: www.ascapfoundation.org/musicaltheatrefest
