On Collaboration

NOMTI encourages collaboration. It is extremely rare for a single person to bring together enough skill in all areas – book, music and lyrics – to produce a successful musical. There are many ways to divide up the work, but it is always helpful to have someone with whom you can bounce around ideas, solve problems and share early drafts.

All work that is presented in the Advanced Writers Lab is presented on the understanding that all collaborators are open to feedback and change. In musical theater the book (story line), music and lyrics are so deeply interwoven and interdependent that feedback is rarely very useful unless all elements are part of the discussion. If your collaborators are not willing to consider revising their own contributions, AWL is not the right setting for you to develop your work.
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Collaborators are encouraged to become regular members of the Lab, but we understand that this is not always possible. Long-distance collaborators may sit in on sessions when their own work is being presented (we have even had collaborators attend their own sessions via Skype). When Collaborators are present in AWL, they are expected to meet the same standards for receiving feedback as a regular AWL member.

Rehearsal for Cupcake, book by Bradley Seeman, music by Michael Wartofsky, lyrics by David Reiffel. From left: Karen MacDonald, Max Sangerman, Hallie Brevetti, Jeff Kubiatowicz, Grant MacDermott, Mark Linehan, Guy Ben-Aharon, Michael Wartofsky (at piano).