fbpx Musical Theatre and Theatre With Music | HowlRound Theatre Commons

Musical Theatre and Theatre With Music

Content in this section explores the popular art form of musical theatre and theatre works that integrate music in other ways. You’ll find thoughts and conversations from artists, articles about contemporary and historical works, and performance videos. The #MusicalsWeek series is a great place to begin, as is “The Black in Black Musical Theatre” episode of the Daughters of Lorraine podcast.

The Latest

Opening the Channel with Masi Asare
Podcast
Opening the Channel with Masi Asare
by Masi Asare, Leticia Ridley, Jordan Ealey
28 February 2024
Justice for Movie Musicals, or Why the Musical Adaptation of The Color Purple Matters 
Podcast
Justice for Movie Musicals, or Why the Musical Adaptation of The Color Purple Matters 
by Jordan Ealey, Leticia Ridley
14 February 2024
An Art Festival in Rwanda Converses with the Past and Celebrates Our Shared Present
Essay
An Art Festival in Rwanda Converses with the Past and Celebrates Our Shared Present
by Giulianna Marchese
5 October 2023
Three Reasons To Cheer Deaf West's Spring Awakening, and One Thing To Hope for the Future
Essay

Three Reasons To Cheer Deaf West's Spring Awakening, and One Thing To Hope for the Future

1 October 2015

Jonathan Mandell on the Deaf West Broadway production of Spring Awakening

This Ain’t No Quick Change
Essay

This Ain’t No Quick Change

1 October 2015

Producer Branden Huldeen discusses examples of new, exciting forms of musical theatre, and how much opportunity there still in for growth in the field.

Unpacking “Diversity” In Musical Theatre
Essay

Unpacking “Diversity” In Musical Theatre

30 September 2015

Michael R. Jackson proposes a way to challenge whiteness as the standard lens through which to see story and song artistically and politically.

Musical Theatre Factory and the Means of New Musical Development
Essay

Musical Theatre Factory and the Means of New Musical Development

29 September 2015

Artistic Director Shakina Nayfack discusses the origins and trajectory of the Musical Theatre Factory, which advocates new musical development.

#MusicalsWeek: Protecting, Developing & Celebrating Musical Theatre
Video

#MusicalsWeek: Protecting, Developing & Celebrating Musical Theatre

Monday 28 September to Thursday 1 October 2015
New York, NY, United States

Samuel French presented four discussion panels for #MusicalsWeek: Protecting, Developing, & Celebrating Musical Theatre livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Monday 28 September to Thursday 1 October. Follow @MrSamuelFrench and #MusicalsWeek for live-tweeting.

Promotion and Protection of Musicals
Essay

Promotion and Protection of Musicals

28 September 2015

Sean Patrick Flahaven dispenses practical advice to aspiring musical theatre writers.

Welcome to #MusicalsWeek
Essay

Welcome to #MusicalsWeek

Protecting, Developing, and Celebrating Your Work

27 September 2015

Ashley Moniz and Courtney Kochuba introduce this series of articles and live events taking place this week online and in New York City.

The American Musical in Black and White
Essay

The American Musical in Black and White

How race relations in the United States directly affected the development of musical theatre

5 September 2015

A brief history of the American musical through America’a racial history, from blackface and minstrel shows, to vaudeville and the Golden Age.

Blood Wedding
Essay

Blood Wedding

Oklahoma! at Bard SummerScape

27 August 2015

David Bruin on Daniel Fish’s production of Oklahoma! at Bard’s Fisher Center.

Windy City Midwifery
Essay

Windy City Midwifery

Birthing the New Musical in Chicago

18 August 2015

Aaron Hunt on new musical development in Chicago, Illinois.

Playwriting and Parenting
Essay

Playwriting and Parenting

The (Re)Education of Laura

16 July 2015

In this installment, Catherine Trieschmann shares what happened when her daughter became addicted to "Frozen" Radio, and a musical re-education became imperative. 

Bands, Bars, and Bass
Essay

Bands, Bars, and Bass

How Dave Malloy and Pigpen Theatre Co. Are Playing with Music

12 July 2015

Dan Rider considers the line between a theatrical play and a live music concert in theatre today by looking at theatre artists who are also bands.

In Defense of Broadway. Plus 2015 Must-See (And Can-Afford) Shows
Essay

In Defense of Broadway. Plus 2015 Must-See (And Can-Afford) Shows

4 June 2015

Jonathan Mandell on  the intersection of not-for-profit and commercial  theatre, and how to  affordably see  Broadway's best  of 2015. 

Panel: Diversity in Musical Theatre Writing: Behind the Music*al and Dramatists Guild Conservatory
Video

Panel: Diversity in Musical Theatre Writing: Behind the Music*al and Dramatists Guild Conservatory

Tuesday 28 April 2015
New York, NY, United States

The Dramatists Guild and Behind the Music-al hosted an important conversation about the state of composing in New York: Diversity in Musical Theatre Writing, livestreamed on HowlRound TV on Tuesday 28 April at 6 p.m. EDT (New York) / 5 p.m. CDT (Austin) / 3 p.m. PDT (Los Angeles) / 22:00 GMT. To participate on Twitter, use hashtag #howlround and direct your questions to @DramatistsGuild. Additionally, follow @HowlRoundTV for updates.

Out of Sight, Not Out of Mind—Hearing the Voices of the Future
Essay

Out of Sight, Not Out of Mind—Hearing the Voices of the Future

25 April 2015

Norwegian composer Marte Røyeng has created a musical exploring sustainability with children, hoping to help them think about big issues.

Technicolor Broadway
Essay

Technicolor Broadway

On The Town, Gigi, and An American in Paris

23 April 2015

The author on three musicals that have opened on Broadway this season, all descended from movie musicals that the MGM movie studio made in the Technicolor era. 

A Call for Solidarity: A Real-Time Networked Performance Linking Hawaii, Alaska, and NYC
Video

A Call for Solidarity: A Real-Time Networked Performance Linking Hawaii, Alaska, and NYC

Wednesday 15 April 2015
Alaska, Hawaii, & New York City; United States

A Call for Solidarity—a real-time networked performance linking Hawaii, Alaska, and New York City—livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Wednesday 15 April at 8 p.m. EDT (New York) / 7 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 5 p.m. PDT (Los Angeles) / 4 p.m. AKDT (Alaska) / 2 p.m. HAST (Hawaii).

I Can Hear You
Essay

I Can Hear You

Cross-Cultural Music and Complicated American Identities

25 March 2015

Jonathan Bradshaw looks at the music of BETSY!, and how the banjo and cuatro—both distinct instruments in Mountain music—come together for the work of cultural engagement.

Beyond Cliché
Essay

Beyond Cliché

Dramatizing Our American Identity

22 March 2015

Pregones Theater and Roadside Theater review their twenty-one-year artistic collaboration and their upcoming Off-Broadway production of BETSY!.

The Making of an Immigration Musical
Essay

The Making of an Immigration Musical

18 March 2015

Noemi de la Puente outlines her process of writing a musical comedy and the decision to self produce.

Hamilton
Essay

Hamilton

Five Ways Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hip-Hopped History Musical Breaks New Ground

5 March 2015

There is a sense that this piece somehow transcends theatre even as it embodies it—or, as Hamilton puts it: “This is not a moment, it’s a movement.”

Political Cabaret
Essay

Political Cabaret

Herbert Hoover’s Comeback in Leather

3 March 2015

Martha Steketee speaks with playwright Sean Cunningham about Here’s Hoover! The Historic Herbert Hoover 2014 Comeback Special, which recently concluded a brief run in New York City. Herbert Hoover’s return, replete with leather, works like gangbusters.

Seminar Perfect Rhyme, Perfect Harmony: The Challenges and Rewards of Collaboration at Dramatists Guild
Video

Seminar Perfect Rhyme, Perfect Harmony: The Challenges and Rewards of Collaboration at Dramatists Guild

Wednesday 25 February 2015
New York, NY, United States

Dramatists Guild of America and the Society of Composers and Lyricists presented an evening with two of the musical theatre's most exciting collaborative teams: Tony winners and multiple Grammy, Tony, Golden Globe, and Oscar nominees Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, and Rodgers, Roth, Larson, Kleban, and Ebb award-winners Chris Miller and Nathan Tysen, livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Wednesday 25 February at 6:30 p.m. EST (New York) / 5:30 p.m. CST (Chicago) / 3:30 p.m. PST (Los Angeles) / 23:30 GMT (London).

 

avant bard logo
Performance & Discussion of Visible Language 
Video

Performance & Discussion of Visible Language 

A World Premiere Musical in American Sign Language and in English

Sunday 16 November 2014
Washington, D.C., United States

The WSC Avant Bard theatre company and the Gallaudet University Theatre and Dance Program presented Visible Languagea world premiere musical, performed in American Sign Language and English, about the 1890s culture war that changed the life of every Deaf person in America livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Sunday 16 November 2014, at 11 a.m. PST (San Francisco) / 1 p.m. CST (Chicago) / 2 p.m. EST (Washington, DC). 

Logo for Dramatists Guild.
Behind the Music-al at Dramatist Guild
Video

Behind the Music-al at Dramatist Guild

Tuesday 28 October 2014
New York, NY, United States

The Dramatists Guild of America presented the conversation Behind the Music-al livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Tuesday 28 October 2014.