Role of New Media in Contemporary Musical Theatre at Dramatists Guild

Dramatists Guild of America presented DG Conservatory: Behind the Music-al presents MuTube—The role of New Media in Contemporary Musical Theatre livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Tuesday 8 October 2013 at 3 p.m. PDT (Los Angeles) / 5 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 6 p.m. EDT (New York).

To participate in online conversation during this livestreaming event, use Twitter hashtag #howlround and follow @dramatistsguild. Follow @HowlRoundTV for news regarding livestreaming and video recordings.

For our first DG Conservatory of the fall, the Dramatists Guild is thrilled to team up with the writers who created Behind the Music-al, Kyle Ewalt and Michael Ian Walker. Originally presented at 92YTribeca, Behind the Music-al is an exciting behind-the-scenes look at the next generation of musical theatre composers. Special guests discuss how songwriting teams collaborate, showcase exclusive songs performed by some of Broadway's hottest young stars and dish about the back-story on your favorite musical numbers. Using a particular theme for each presentation, Behind the Music-al lets you in on the process of putting together tomorrow's next big hit. The theme for the October 8 session is MuTube—the Role of New Media in Contemporary Musical Theater.

How have video and music sharing sites like YouTube and SoundCloud changed the landscape of developing new musicals? How are contemporary writers using new media to their advantage? Is social networking a required piece of developing a new show? Can it replace traditional avenues for getting a show to production? Has the YouTube-ification of musical theater hurt the development process? Join Dramatists Guild Council member Michael Korie (Grey Gardens, Far From Heaven) as he moderates a concert and conversation exploring how emerging composers Joey Contreras, Zack Zadek, and Ewalt & Walker see the role of the Internet as a positive/negative influence on their work.

Michael Korie (moderator): Grey Gardens (Playwrights Horizons, Broadway, OCC Award); Finding Neverland (Curve Theatre, England); The Grapes of Wrath (Minnesota Opera, Carnegie Hall, L.A. Walt Disney Concert Hall), Harvey Milk (San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, NYCO); Doctor Zhivago (Lyric Theatre, Sydney, upcoming NY); Happiness (LCT); Doll (Ravinia Festival, Chicago); Hopper's Wife (Long Beach California Opera); Kabbalah (BAM Next Wave Festival); Where's Dick? (Houston) and Far From Heaven (Playwrights Horizons). Korie serves on the Council of the Dramatists Guild of America, moderates the Guild’s Fellows Program and teaches lyric writing at Yale. Awards include the Edward Kleban Award, Jonathan Larson Foundation Award, and ASCAP Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award.

Joey Contreras is a musical pop songwriter in the New York scene. His musicals include All The Kids Are Doing It (book/lyrics: Kate Thomas), which just received a workshop production at The Provincetown Theatre with The Steinhardt School at NYU; and the song-cycle, This Thing Called Love. In addition to being featured on Seth Rudetsky’s SiriusXM Broadway show with Doug and Jenn Smith, and in “Cutting Edge Composers” with the New York Musical Theatre Festival, Joey’s original compositions and arrangements have been featured in NYC venues including Joe's Pub, Lincoln Center, Le Poisson Rouge, Laurie Beechman Theater, The Duplex and multiple Broadway in South Africa galas at the Manhattan Center. Internationally, performances of his music have stretched as far as Australia, Germany, South Korea and the UK. His first album, “Love Me, Love Me Not: The Music of Joey Contreras” features performances by exciting Broadway talent and is available on iTunes and CDBaby.com. He is also the creator of the exclusive Playbill.com series, Hot Off The Ivories—a platform premiering new musical theatre works in a sleek and intimate music video format. Recipient of the 2010 ASCAP Foundation Max Dreyfus Scholarship Award, Joey holds an MFA from the Tisch Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at NYU and is currently the Artist-in-Residence with Broadway Dreams Foundation, in which he is currently developing his next album, Young Kind of Love. Facebook (Joey Contreras Music) and on Twitter @joeypatrick, joeycontreras.com.

Zack Zadek is a composer/lyricist and singer/songwriter. His work has been heard at Joe’s Pub, Le Poisson Rouge, Gallapagos Art Space, and most recently as a part of In The Valley: The Songs of Zack Zadek at The Laurie Beechman Theatre. Zack’s musical 6 was presented at the 2012 New York Musical Theatre Festival and is currently being workshopped and developed. In addition to musical theatre, Zack is an active solo artist and has played concerts across the New York and L.A. areas. A Long Island native, Zack studies at NYU and currently bangs on pianos in NYC. Upcoming projects include the Silicon Valley musical The Crazy Ones, a new song cycle, solo album, collaborations with pop artists and various other musical projects. He is a proud member of ASCAP and the Dramatists Guild of America. zackzadek.com

Ewalt and Walker are currently at work on two commissions; one from Broadway Across America, and Pumped, a fashionable new musical about the world of designer shoes. Their show, Bromance: The Dudesical was most recently performed in sold-out concerts at Joe’s Pub and Caroline’s on Broadway, and has been developed by GroundUp Productions. Other shows include Separate: Battle Songs of Youth, selected by Ars Nova for ANTFEST 2010, and The Making of Madeline Moore (The Merc NYC 2009). Their work has been seen in Michigan, Toronto, and London, and in New York at Playwrights Horizons, Joe’s Pub, Theater Row, Galapagos Art Space, 92YTribeca, and as part of the We Are the Song Benefits for the After the Storm Foundation. They are also the curating producers of the new musical theatre series Behind the Music-al, now produced with the Dramatists Guild, which has featured songwriters including Adam Guettel, Stephen Flaherty, Duncan Sheik, Larry O’Keefe, Ryan Scott Oliver, Kerrigan & Lowdermilk, Joe Iconis, and Adam Gwon, amongst many others. ewaltandwalker.com

About HowlRound TV

HowlRound TV is a global, commons-based peer produced, open access livestreaming and video archive project stewarded by the nonprofit HowlRound. HowlRound TV is a free and shared resource for live conversations and performances relevant to the world's performing arts and cultural fields. Its mission is to break geographic isolation, promote resource sharing, and to develop our knowledge commons collectively. Participate in a community of peer organizations revolutionizing the flow of information, knowledge, and access in our field by becoming a producer and co-producing with us. Learn more by going to our participate page. For any other queries, email [email protected], or call Vijay Mathew at +1 917.686.3185 Signal/WhatsApp. View the video archive of past events.