Core Curriculum

If you live in Los Angeles, or can get to LA one weekend a month, and you want to join the ANMT community of bookwriters, lyricists, and composers, then the CORE CURRICULUM is the place to start.  The first part of ANMT's famed Writers' Workshop, the Core Curriculum is where experienced writers and novice writers alike begin, concentrating on the unique vocabulary and collaborative process of creating new musical theatre.

ANMT’s exciting curriculum takes you from blank page to stage in nine months. Along the way you’ll study and write charm songs, ballads, duets, ensemble pieces, musical scenes, plus, you’ll have a production of your original 15-minute-musical in a professional theatre in Los Angeles.

Additional craft lab sessions focus on the specific tools you will use when you write your full-length musicals: adaptation, rhyme, structure, music notation, style, spotting songs, prosody, character through diction, progression, popular music vs. theatre music, plays vs. musical books, etc  (see more details in Lab section)

You’ll write something new - with a different collaborator - every month, and you’ll get direct, immediate, and honest feedback from the ANMT staff.

15-Minute Musicals

Your final collaboration is a 15-minute musical, which ANMT casts, directs, rehearses and produces for you. It’s a very intense and memorable experience. You’ll write an original show for five specific actors, and over the course of eight very active weeks, you’ll write an outline and three drafts, receiving readings and feedback at every step of the way, before your script is launched into production.  The annual 15 Minute Musicals are a much anticipated sold-out event, attended by ANMT bookwriters, lyricists, and composers anxious to check out the new talent joining the community.

ANMT’s Core Curriculum is run by internationally-acclaimed John Sparks, who has conducted workshops in Los Angeles and Chicago for thirty-five years, with support from Elise Dewsberry, who for ten years ran Toronto’s renowned Script Lab. Lab instructors include Director of Music Curriculum Ross Källing, and multiple Emmy-nominated Scott Guy, whose musicals have been seen in Chicago, London, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and beyond.

Schedule 2010-11

Beginning in the fall of 2009, the Core Curriculum will meet one weekend per month from September to June. 

Saturdays: 10am to 2pm
Sundays:    3:00pm to 8pm
Location:    5628 Vineland Ave. in North Hollywood

September 11 & 12

October 9 & 10

November 13 & 14

December 11 & 12

January 8 & 9

February 12 & 13

March 12 & 13

April 9 & 10

 

The 15-Minute Musicals writing, revisions, rehearsals, and performances take place from April 10 through (approximately) July 1st.

The fee for the Core Curriculum is $895, plus a minimum of one of the three Craft Labs ($495 each).  Fees are payable in full in September, or in quarterly installments (Sept. 15/Nov. 15/Jan.15/Mar.15).  For Lab schedules, CLICK HERE.

Testimonials for ANMT's Core Curriculum

"John Sparks is a wonderful
teacher and was a real help to
me.  I still think about things he said in that workshop.  He's a
real boon to people writing musicals."

Mark Hollmann

Tony Award-winning composer, Urinetown

"I couldn't be more impressed with the folks at ANMT. They are dramaturgs, coaches, and teachers of the greatest, highest caliber. The feedback they'll offer you on your work is astonishingly insightful and detailed. I was amazed to find this level of professionalism and intelligence about musical theater outside of NYC. ...when they critiqued a project I wrote there, I found 90% of their feedback right on the money and incredibly helpful, and the project I was working on there grew by leaps and bounds because of their input. I highly, highly recommend getting their input on your new musical projects. Their teeth are sharp as sharks', but they don't bite."

Jeff Marx
Tony Award-winning writer, Avenue Q

HOW TO APPLY

You can complete all or part of your application online by clicking below:

Or, download an application and submit it to us with your resume, and a sample of your work.

Lyricists: include three sets of lyrics.

Composers:  include a CD or cassette of three musical selections and the piano/vocal score for the same selections.  If no lyrics exist, piano score is sufficient, but no lead sheets please.

Bookwriters: include three writing samples of any kind of writing (each sample should not exceed ten pages).

If you are applying in more than one category, please send the samples applicable to each category.

Send resume, application, writing samples, and a $60 application fee to:

ANMT
5628 Vineland Avenue
North Hollywood, CA  91601

The application fee will be applied to your first year's dues if you are accepted into the workshop.  If you are not accepted, the fee will be refunded.

Applications received by July 1 will receive priority consideration.

THE LABS

The Craft Labs are specialized sections of the workshop, designed to focus on particulars of each discipline. There’s one for lyricists, one for bookwriters, and one for composers. Labs are structured with small, bite-sized exercises that illustrate and emphasize a particular aspect of craft. Some exercises will take place entirely within the context of the lab itself; other exercises are meant to be worked out on your own time. 

Each Core Curriculum participant attends a lab in at least one particular area: music, book or lyrics. You’re allowed to take one, two or three labs, but the workload gets fairly substantial, and most people prefer to take only one in each particular year.

There’s also a chance to take the Labs during the summer, for those who want to get them out of the way and concentrate on the Core Curriculum all by itself. We recommend this, if you can, as the Core Curriculum workload can be significant.  The summer Labs can also be taken by people who are not planning to take the Core Curriculum.  For information on the summer Labs, CLICK HERE.

THE CRAFT LAB

BOOK LAB

Saturdays, 2:30-5:30pm
Sept. 11, Oct. 9, Nov. 13, Dec. 11,
Jan. 8, Feb. 12,

The Book Lab is designed as an introduction to writing the book of a musical while also outlining the collaborative steps involved in creating a new musical with the whole team.

The Book Lab includes a series of six on-line video lectures (The Idea, The Outline, The Rough Draft, Adding Songs, Revisions, Finishing) with accompanying handouts, tests, exercises, and assignments, along with one-one-feedback.  Topics covered include theme, goals, character diction, exposition, pointing forward, and much more.

All Core Curriculum members specializing in the area of bookwriting are required to take the Book Lab. 

LYRIC LAB

Saturdays, 7:00-10:00pm
Sept. 11, Oct. 9, Nov. 13, Dec. 11,
Jan. 8, Feb. 12,

Sixteen videos on topics which include:

Structure
Rhyme
Character Through Diction
Spotting Songs
Progressions
The purpose of a song
in musical theatre
Which Structure to Use?
Writing with Parameters
Alternative Refrain Structure

Also: Interactive Tests, Exercises, Assignments, One-on-One feedback with evaluator

(The Lyric Lab is offered on-line)

All Core Curriculum members specializing in the area of lyrics are required to take the Lyric Lab. 

MUSIC LAB  

Sundays, 12:00-3:00pm
Sept. 12, Oct. 10, Nov. 14, Dec. 12,
Jan. 9, Feb. 13,

Style, melody, prosody, harmony, rhythm, form, popular music vs. theatre music, notation, accompaniment support from the piano, chord symbols, and preparing a score for rehearsal.

All Core Curriculum members specializing in the area of composing are required to take the Music Lab. 

The Lab fee is $495 each.  It is possible to take more than one Lab at a time, but we discourage anyone from taking three Labs at once because the workload, along with the Core Curriculum, is just too heavy.

The Lab requirement for the Core Curriculum can also be satisfied during the Musical Theatre Summer Boot Camp.  For the current Boot Camp schedule, CLICK HERE.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Bookwriters, lyricists, and composers who have successfully completed the Core Curriculum (including at least one Lab, and a 15 Minute Musical) are eligible to be invited to become a Member of the Writers' Workshop at ANMT.  The Writers' Workshop is a vibrant community of collaborators, and includes the Full Length Curriculum, the General Workshop, and the Open Workshop.  Writers' Workshop members are also encouraged to write Guerrilla Musicals, and are considered for the various producer-driven projects which come in through the Developers' Workshop.

Full Length Curriculum

Bookwriters, lyricists, and composers who have successfully completed the Core Curriculum, and been invited to join ANMT, will spend a season working on a full-length musical, based on material from the public domain, under a set of rigorous deadlines. 

We give writers nine-months to go from initial idea to first draft, guiding them at every step of the way. Before any songs are written, the collaborative team submits an idea for approval, and then the staff leads the project through a series of increasingly-detailed outlines. 

Once the outline is approved (which sometimes takes several drafts), writing teams begin presenting songs and scenes in structured, twice-monthly workshops. 

Teams which complete a full first draft of their musical by mid-April receive the greenlight for a lightly rehearsed reading and staff assessment as part of the annual 1000 Minutes of Musical Theatre. 

General Workshop

General Members of the Academy for New Musical Theatre are invited to bring in projects of their own choosing in their own timeframe. 

Projects range from standard musicals to opera, children’s shows, avant-garde pieces, contemporary, religious and just plain bizarre. At ANMT, we believe that whatever you want to write is fine with us: we’re here to help you make it the best that it can be. 

General Members also have access to monthly sessions specializing in Book, Music, and Lyrics, and are automatically considered for projects we are developing for producers.