/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.1369814]

Hi /lit/; this is my first time here!

Anyway; I'm trying to write a musical; and I'm not really sure how I should tackle it.
Do you have any tips/guidelines?

Should I write the book and then see where I can fit in music?
Do I plot it all out first?
Pic related- I'm adapting Faust; I want to make it a dramedy

I also want to have alot of flexibility as far as what actors can play what, but that's a whole other animal.

[Anonymous No.1369824]

Just write a regular play, and tell everyone to sing their lines.

[Anonymous No.1369832]

>>1369824
.....

[Anonymous No.1369840]

Subtly rip off this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03cW5S2XI1A

[Anonymous No.1369862]

>>1369824
Any guides for that?
I have an outline, I'm just wary of actually writing out the dialouge and everything.

I'm still going to write the music; but I want music to advance the story, this isn't to be a play with music.

>>13698040
When I can use flash I will look that up; thanks.

Is there a way I can make sure it's "good"?
As previously mentioned, I have an outline and I sketched out the leads desires/goals and purpose.
I'm just not certain how I should procede.

[echostation !YtBZ8w9JzI No.1369869]

Study your favourite musicals and find out what makes them tick.

I.e. Rent - What makes Rent work so well? Why has it established a cult following? Why does it bring out such deep emotions from the audience?

Spring Awakening - How can the adaptation of a German play from 100 years ago work so well?

Also depends on whether you want to write it like a Rock Opera (Rent), where no one simply speaks their lines but rather nearly every single line is sung... or a musical like Grease or Hairspray, where there's plot existing in between the songs.

I would also research how bands write their songs... as I think it works much the same way. Most bands seem to have music first, then fit lyrics to those songs. I think it's easiest to write the music first and then adapt your lyrics to it... not sure how this works for adaptations.

[Anonymous No.1369893]

>>1369869
No, I want a "traditional" musical, like `'The Music Man' or 'West Side Story'.
Study those then?

I don't want a rock opera.


As far as writing the actual music; I'm a song writer already, I usually come up with a melody ,and then music/lyrics at the same time.

In this case I'll need to know what exactly the song needs to accomplish before I can write it.

[echostation !YtBZ8w9JzI No.1369896]

>>1369893
Definitely.
I don't know much about the Music Man, but I'd study the kind of arc that West Side Story has... it follows a great arc.

Basically, with writing, it's more about what works for you... as well as what works for the audience, since they're the ultimate aim for your musical.

[Anonymous No.1369900]

>>No, I want a "traditional" musical, like `'The Music Man' or 'West Side Story'. Study those then?

Look, if you honestly want to write a traditional musical like that, then you need to study Stephen Sondheim. Who wrote the lyrics to "West Side Story" but has also written music and lyrics on his own in a series of amazing musicals ("Sweeney Todd" is probably the best known, but there's also "Follies," "Company," "Assassins," and numerous others).

Sondheim apprenticed himself in his teens to Oscar Hammerstein (the lyricist for Rodgers & Hammerstein) because he wanted to learn how to write the perfect lyric. Then he studied musical composition seriously (including a stint with the Schoenbergian 12-tone composer Milton Babbitt).

But the important thing to note here is that Sondheim is actually INTELLIGENT, and Sondheim is probably the only person capable of talking theoretically (from the standpoint of a well-informed practitioner) about *how* a musical actually works as drama.

So it's Sondheim who says that a song must emerge organically from the dialogue (at the moment when, emotionally speaking, the character must, dramatically, burst into song to heighten or advance the scene that is occurring) and that, structurally, a song has to be like a one-act play. The song itself is like a drama in miniature (which even holds true in musicals like the ones you *don't* want to write---"Mamma Mia" works for audiences because some of those original ABBA songs are like mini-Ibsen-dramas) and so the construction of the song needs to be accordingly dramatic (and structured). You need to get a copy of Sondheim's new book, and just read it cover to cover. That will teach you anything you need to know.

[Anonymous No.1370688]

>>1369900
Sondheim?
Ok; will do.
It's funny you say that because I was thinking that he's probably the best person to follow.
>>But the important thing to note here is that Sondheim is actually INTELLIGENT, and Sondheim is probably the only person capable of talking theoretically (from the standpoint of a well-informed practitioner) about *how* a musical actually works as drama.
What is the name of his book?

>>1369840
...:/