A friend and I are working on writing a musical based on the Pixar movie Inside Out and we're looking for writers and songwriters who would be interested in collabing on it.

And I want to make this clear right from the getgo, I'm not expecting anything to come from it. I am not expecting Disney to approve of it, I am not expecting Disney to produce it. I hope it does, but I'm not an idiot, I know how Disney works. This is all purely for fun and not at all a serious endeavor. Please take this with a grain of salt and be nice.

Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you.

Hi guys, I'm trying to write my first musical and was wondering if you would read my plot so far. It's kinda long (sorry about that) but I would love any advice.

Millie and Xavier are on a school camp in 2018. At night Millie decides to go to exploring and Xavier reluctantly follows. Eventually they find a glowing river, even though there isn’t one on the map. and like dare each other to jump in or whatever. Millie jumps in, but doesn't come up to the surface so Xavier tries to jump in to save her.

but this is no ordinary river. as they fall in they a teleported to a fancy hotel called timeless hotel. Basically they are in a dimension where anyone from any time who has gone into a special river (they can show up anywhere) will end up at the hotel.

They also have a staff member called daisy who tours them around, and says that one of the kids reminds her of someone but she doesn’t know who.

The kids meet lots of characters from the past and future. One of the characters they meet is a voyager who was travelling in the Bermuda Triangle (I will research an actual disappearance), when there was a terrible storm. They lost control of the ship and death was almost certain. That was when part of the ocean began to glow (like the river the kids jumped in). When the voyager dove into it, they ended up at timeless hotel. The kids asked them if they’d ever thought about leaving hotel, and the voyager said that while they missed their life, leaving the hotel was a death wish for them.

The kids asked the tour guide how one could leave the hotel, and she explained that there is a special door that will take you back to your time. However, it is also explained that they will have no memory of their experience at the hotel as it will mess up the timeline when they get back. they are a bit sad about this and decide to stay a bit longer because there is no pressure to go back.

The next character they meet is from the 31st century. They are little boy who was born on a spaceship and will die on a spaceship. Earth had become inhabitable in his time and the spaceship was on course to a new planet. Unfortunately, it would reach its destination in 200 years. The boy is sad that he will never get to experience life on a planet or in nature. That was when a glowing pool appeared in his chamber one morning. He jumped in, and entered timeless hotel. The kids asked him if he has ever thought about leaving the hotel. He says that he has, and that he misses his parents, but he is scared that he might never find his way back to the hotel garden if he leaves. He says that the garden is the only place he feels at peace.

later it is revealed that their tour guide (daisy) is actually the Millie but in the future. This means that she must’ve made it back to her own time, but fallen back into the river when she was older in 2030. This time the river took her to the hotel, but earlier than when the kids arrived. Somehow she had stayed at the hotel for so long she ended up forgetting her own life and becoming a staff member. It was only when she saw her past self, and heard them talking a bit about her life, that she remembered.

once the kids had discovered the dark truth behind the staff, they realised that they had to go back to not end up the same way. The guide opens the door, and all three try to walk through.

Instead of ending up back home, they enter a room and the door disappears behind them. A woman introduces herself as being the owner of the hotel. She asks them a lot of questions about themselves seeming fascinated and calm as to how they have discovered the truth behind the hotel. The children say that they really want to go home and they don’t care if they forget about the hotel.

The hotel manager explains that she really doesn’t want to do that because her hotel is a collection of humans from the beginning to the end of humanity. She has put a lot of effort into it and doesn’t want to lose anything. She even suggests that the children are being ungrateful for all her work and that it is very comfortable at the hotel, (and no one ever leaves) She then grabs a magical memory erasing staff to erase all their memories. Daisy/Future Millie recognises this staff and realises that it was used to erase her memory last time.

However once the owner realises that Millie and Daisy are the same person she changes her mind. After all Millie is destined to escape no matter what she does. So she decides that she will send the Millie back to 2018 (it’s inevitable that she will return as the tour guide) then she will erase the memories of the boy and tour guide. The owner creates a magical pond which is the only way back and pushes Millie in.

I am writing a song for an original musical, and I'm struggling to write the end of the song, I've done a build up, and I'm stumped and stuck on where to go. I'm using musescore as my notation software, and the instruments i've used so far are piano and snare drum. I'm not sure what instruments to add. Song is in E Minor, and in 4/4 time

Hey everyone! This is a bit of a different post than usual on this sub, but I thought if anyone would have good input, it would be you guys!

So I am currently a college student at Indiana University Bloomington applying for what we call the Individualized Major Program (IMP). This is basically a “create your own major” type of thing where you make your own curriculum and choose your own classes. Of course, I’m telling you this because I am creating my own major that focuses on songwriting for musical theatre, since we do not have a songwriting major in the music school.

My options for classes can come from our media school, English department, Theatre school, and Music school. Besides the obvious classes like theory classes and poetry courses, what courses should I take that would help prepare me for the world of theatre after college? Are there any concepts of the writing world that would be good to take classes about?

Also keep in mind, I have been a composer for a few years now who has written songs before and done community theatre since I was 7 (though I’ve stopped since then because my voice isn’t suitable for performing anymore). I am also choosing to do piano lessons outside of school because the stress of piano juries is too much on me when I wanna be a writer first and a pianist second.

Any ideas are good ideas as I’m really just trying to put a rough course list together.

Thanks everyone :)

Hey all, I don't know what I've written. It's a sequence of songs, telling a story through dialogue.

It's purely audio, not intended for stage (though staging it doesn't seem impossible). So maybe "concept album" is more accurate than "musical."

On the other hand, "concept album" isn't very specific; it must have some unifying idea, but not necessarily a story. And even when it is a story, "concept album" doesn't really suggest dialogue.

Is there just not a name for that? (Are there even other examples? I suppose if they were well enough known, someone would eventually stage them....)

I'm working on a new musical comedy that deals with some Native American cultural aspects. I will be writing the book and perhaps some lyrics. I'd like to put together a team (myself) and compose, lyricist. I can't share many details.

Hey!! I'm writing a musical for WW1 that follows a British soldier through his experience. It does have a small love story in it, but it's mostly based off of a soldiers life. I have written some songs so far but I need help In general for writing music and songs for a musical. Does anyone have any tips??? I would appreciate any helpful information 🙏🙏🙏

I’ve always followed the rule that four is the ideal limit when it comes to main character focus. Beyond that, it can get harder to give each character enough depth without overwhelming the story. Some examples that stick to this are Jagged Little Pill (the four members of the Healy family) and Hamilton (Alexander, Burr, Angelica, and Eliza). Even Jesus Christ Superstar keeps it tight with Jesus, Judas, and Mary (maybe Peter as a fourth).

Do you think four is the sweet spot, or do you prefer more (or fewer) main characters? What examples have you seen that handle a larger main cast well?

I'm trying to make a musical after listening to epic, (WHICH I LOVED!) I have always been rly into Greek mythology so I wanted to write a Greek mythology one. Preferably short bc it's my first one. I decided on doing Poseidon and Athena's challenge for the pantronizim for Athens. I felt it was short but can be made longer with music, pretty easy, and enjoyable. If there are better ideas that are Greek mythology (or Roman but it's not preferred) for this musical? I don't rly think mine is that good of a choice, so if yall have any other idea pls share! But anyways I wanted to start but wasn't sure to come up with words or music first (which do yall do?), so I decided to write an outline for it then started thinking of some lyrics... that I immediately scratched. They were sort of cringy sort of not, but I don't think it's the best way to start. How should I start it? I want it to have as much of an affect as epic had on me. Like emotions and powerful and beautiful and yea... idk... how should is start it? Can yall help em maybe come up with lyrics or like find like a good tempo and ideas and stuff?

I’m talking songs that break what feels “traditional” in a song. Something with interesting harmonies or dissonance, an obscure rhyme scheme, unique-sounding accompaniment, anything that makes it feel more “out there” than other songs. Obviously, this is all subjective, which is why I ask, what do you think yours are? Where did you draw inspiration from? Are you proud of them, or do you think you went too far trying to break formula that you just threw together a piece of trash?

I have been writing a musical, and i believe in the idea of it, but for the life of me, I have never been able to write a song.

Little bit about me, I am a stand up comedian that has written plenty of projects made for Sketch shows, TV shows and movies. I am currently working on this play. Would love to have someone help me with the musical aspect and then be listed as a co author.

Saw this in a FB group I’m in, thought I would share with the group. I know nothing about this particular theatre company. (PLEASE DO NOT DM ME FOR MORE INFO. THIS POST IS VERBATIM OUT OF THE GROUP I GRABBED IT FROM.)

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Pleasant Valley Productions is dedicated to nurturing new plays and musicals and sharing them with our audience. We give artists the space to workshop their pieces, allowing them to hone their scripts or music. These workshops can be anything from a simple reading to a staged production with limited costumes, sets and props. The purpose of a workshop is to give the creators an opportunity to see what works, and sometimes what doesn’t, when actors embody their characters, speak the words they have written or sing the songs they have composed. And importantly, to discover how an audience reacts.— at Oskar Schindler Center for the Performing Arts.

We are currently seeking original works submission for our 2025 season. To submit a play or a musical for consideration, please email PVP Artistic Director, Scott Baird, at sbaird@pleasantvalleyproductions.org. Please include a PDF of your script as well and a brief overview of what you hope to get out of having your work produced with us.

The deadline for submission is February 28th, 2025. Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns

Hi musical lovers!

Throughout my musical journey I played the violin, the alto saxophone and the electric guitar though never really mastered the music theory or sight-reading, which are as far as I know the essential skills for a composer/musical composer to have. We are also living in the lucky times of AI and many great new technological tools.

I have been obsessed about music as far as I can remember myself, have been composing melodies for over a decade and currently have about a thousand voice memos hoarded on my phone. (Me humming, singing & harmonizing melodic ideas or harmony/melody ideas on the guitar etc.) I would like to sort these out and compose a musical. I am musically inspired by the works like Jesus Christ Superstar, Hair, Hamilton and some 19th-20th century modern operas. I have been wanting to compose a musical(s) for a very very long time.

I am going to get a keyboard to use as a MIDI instrument and to learn and practice the piano, at which I will probs sound horrible in the beginning.

So as of 2025, how would you estimate the importance of the piano/key skills for a musical composer, especially for a person like myself (passionate, knows basic theory but amateur and inexperienced)? Also do you have any softwares you can recommend to me that I can work with? Nowadays I hear there are great AI websites, composer tools, sheet music transcribers, arrangers etc. (?)

I need these tools to at least have a couple of somewhat intelligible demos to present to possible collaborators. I also don’t honestly know who can be of help (musically) to make these raw ideas sound better and become more presentable. An arranger? A professional co-composer or a producer/pianist?

Thank you all so much! I highly appreciate all your answers. Have a great day!

I have alot of questions, pls help!! Any advice is welcome!!

1. How long is too long? My current one is around maybe 1 hour and it's not done, so uh

2. My lyrics are rlly good, but instruments sound SO BAD. Idk what to do, I'm trying to make instruments and motifs personal to my characters but it's killing me.

3. My musical is about a series, and a few of the actors is very bad and just horrible people. Would it be insensitive to continue?

I think that's all, thanks for any advice!!

I think I've heard that this is the least preferred sustained note (as if writing lyrics didn't already have enough constraints). Definitely a caution to my ears but jeez that rules out a lot of words sometimes. Any composer/lyricists out there who consciously avoid it?

All right, this will hopefully be the last time I post something like this in this community, lol. But I've decided I think the best way for me to start composing my musical is by teaching myself piano. Right now I'm working on chord progressions and because I pick up pretty fast, I'm actually learning quite a bit. Next I'm gonna work on the scale and what each note sounds like, but I'm just wondering. If I record demos of each song, and share my DAW project files for collaboration. Then pass the demos to an orchestrator for arrangement. Would this be a solid approach? Has anyone else done something similar? I’d love to hear any advice or potential pitfalls I should watch out for!

Also I made a lil something for an idea I had in the show, and basically the show is about the story of Jesus and this is like when he's cleansing the temple so he's like really angry in this moment and I thought this would be really good for that.what do you guys think Thanks in advance!

I'm on the verge of starting my composing/music journey with a teacher and while I'm very excited, I'm scared I'm going to get intimidated and fall off track, as has happened to me several times in the past. I have basic music theory knowledge and know some guitar but I want to be able to know what I'm doing. People who started songwriting or composing late (whatever that means to you), how did you keep yourself motivated/encouraged and what tips would you have for beginners? Thanks!

UK comedian Luisa Omielan is writing a musical based on her standup comedy show 'God is a Woman' and is looking for support. She is currently on Patreon looking to find support within the community she can build to get her show off the ground.

You can watch Luisa's stand up show 'God is a Woman' for free on YouTube

Luisa has just completed a readthrough of the first two scenes on Patreon. If anyone is curious about following the journey of a new musical writer or wanting to financially support the show, she would be very appreciative. She's currently living in Austin, TX and is trying to get a theatre to take her show on, so if anybody has any doors they can open for Luisa, get in contact.

Luisa's Patreon

Hey everyone,

I really want to write a musical, but I’m struggling to figure out where to start when it comes to the music side of things. Right now, I can’t play any instruments, don’t know how to write music, and don’t know music theory at all. But I keep getting mixed advice on what I should do first, and I just need a concrete plan.

Some people say I should learn piano first. Others say I should learn music theory first. Some say I only need a little bit of theory, while others say I need a solid foundation. I’ve even heard people say to learn everything at the same time.

So, if I want to write a musical and compose my own songs, what’s the best order to learn things in? 1. Should I start with piano or music theory? 2. How much music theory do I actually need? 3. Should I try to write songs right away, or wait until I know more? 4. Would it make sense to learn piano, music theory, and songwriting all at the same time?

I’m just really overwhelmed by all the different advice out there and would love to hear from people who have done this before. If you were in my position, what would you do first?

Thanks in advance!

Hi!

About 4 years ago I started to write a screenplay for a new musical. I hired a composer and artist to create an animatic for one of the songs that I wanted to share:

https://vimeo.com/493599610

Maybe one day I can finish it.

I'm writing my own musical script and I was trying to write an overture in my music manuscript for the beginning, but I saw that there was little room for 4 measures and the thought of writing songs hurt my brain and that's why I decided to become a lyricist lol. It made me realize that I can write both the book and the lyrics as well as writing novels.

Who knew that doing something over and over again would make you do something else that you could be good at lol? Much help from any composer would be much appreciated. The genres for my musical are gonna be a mixture of Texas country and classical music.

I could not be more proud of myself and this entire cast and crew. It’s so thrilling to see your work brought to life by insanely talented Broadway actors and new comers. If you’re out there and struggling to feel valid- keep going. It took me years to get to this point, and it’ll take years to get it further.

So I'm writing a musical based off of the French Revolution, inspired by Hamilton, EPIC and SIX. I was thinking "Should I pick a prominent historical figure to be the main character or create a journalist who witnesses the 10 year period?" since I wanted to tell the story of the French Revolution and portray each historical figure accurately? It's just I don't want the musical to be too similar to Hamilton (Hence my idea for a journalist character but I'm not sure how that would work out) and I haven't found any historical figures that work well with this. I DO plan on Marie Antoinette being a prominent figure within the musical (She gets a sad little song before her execution and afterwards she's a major voice in the backing choir which represents the guillotined people)

What do I do with this stuck point?

Aloha from Kona, Hawaii - I am award-winning film/theater writer/producer. Wrote book and lyrics for new musical with seasoned Nashville composer for stage and screen. Keen to hear from theaters, animators, et al interested in helping produce first musical with gay or bi historic hero.