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Event Details
  • February 28, 2016
    10:00 am - 3:30 pm
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FEEDBACK WORKSHOP #2: CONFLICT & OBSTACLES

NOLA Rehearsal Studio
250 W. 54th St.,  11th Floor

This workshop is dedicated to fostering a conversation about musical theater structure not only for writers but also for producers, directors and everyone involved in the creation and production of new works. The cost for non-participants to attend for the full day, to observe the presentations and be part of the discussions, is $50 ($30 for TRU members). Download the Application, fill it out, and email to TRUStaff1@gmail.com to sign up.

Submission deadline: Wednesday, February 17th. This workshop is scheduled to run from 10am to 3pm only due to panelist availability.

Our professional panel of commercial producers, directors and writers will include:

  • Ken Cerniglia, dramaturg and literary manager at Disney Theatrical Productions (Aladdin, Hunchback, Newsies, Little Mermaid);
  • Nancy Golladay, literary consultant (NY Shakespeare Festival, O'Neill Conference, more), moderator of the BMI Librettists' Workshop; 
  • Tom Polum, producer (The Toxic Avenger, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, All Shook Up);
  • Skip Kennon, composer/lyricist (Herringbone, Don Juan DeMarco, Time and Again), former Artistic Coordinator of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop and teacher for two decades.
  • Bob Ost, executive director of Theater Resources Unlimited, and TRU Literary Manager Cate Cammarata will facilitate.

Writers (or producers!) are invited to submit no more than 25 pages of a show you are working on. We want to see the section of your show in which conflict and obstacles arise – the plot complications – plus MP3s of the songs within only those pages. Also send a concise synopsis of the opening in which you introduce the world of your show, and the want of your characters and how it prepares us for the conflict in the section presented.

In the workshop we will focus on three main aspects:

  • 1) Songs that express differing points of view, or conflict;
  • 2) "Turnaround Songs" in which a character changes his course of action;
  • 3) The climactic moment (sometimes the first act finale) that drives us forward into the resolution (note: "resolution" will be in workshop #3). 

We will discuss "I am" songs and "I feel" songs, and the function of each, with special attention paid to the way they move the action. In addition, we will continually explore the delicate balance between script and song.

**If accepted for presentation of 10-15 minutes including one song and scene, plus feedback, there will be a participation fee of $100 ($80 for TRU members), which includes 2 seats for the entire day workshop as well as your presentation slot. Space is limited. Any additional attendees from the musical team (including music director, additional collaborators and cast members) who wish to observe the entire workshop must reserve in advance and will be charged $20 per person.

Submission fee is $10 for members, $20 for non-members. If accepted, it will be applied to a participation fee of $100 ($80 for TRU members).

Panelists
  • KEN CERNIGLIA

    is a veteran dramaturg, writer, and creative executive. He dramaturged the innovative Broadway hits Hadestown (8 Tony Awards, including Best Musical) and Peter and the Starcatcher (5 Tony Awards). As resident dramaturg and literary manager for Disney Theatrical Productions for 16 years, he developed over 60 titles for Broadway, touring, international, and licensed productions, including The Hunchback of Notre DameFreaky Friday, Aladdin, NewsiesThe Little MermaidHigh School Musical, and Tarzan. He recently conceived and developed Marvel Spotlight, a collection of one-act plays with teenage super hero protagonists who tackle real-world problems in a diverse society. Other dramaturgy includes the chamber opera Blood Moon (PROTOTYPE 2020); the new musical Bridges (Berkeley Playhouse); Passion Trilogy (Fisher Ensemble/Loyola Marymount University); and Bud, Not Buddy, The Gift of NothingThe Cricket in Times Square, and OLIVERio: A Twist on Dickens (Kennedy Center). Ken is a frequent guest lecturer, artist, and adjudicator at conferences, universities, and festivals around the world. He is immediate past president of Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA), co-founder of the American Theatre Archive Project, and Artistic Director of Two Turns Theatre Company. He holds a Ph.D. in theatre history and criticism from the University of Washington.

  • NANCY GOLLADAY

    has served as a literary consultant with the New York Shakespeare Festival, Paul Sills, the O'Neill Playwrights Conference, Ellis Rabb, Warner Brothers Films, Punch Productions, the Nederlander Organization, Tenterfield Productions, the La Jolla Playhouse, the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, and Davenport Theatrical. Nancy was actively involved in the founding of the U.K.'s Book, Music, and Lyrics (BML) Workshop, an evolving group focused on the development of musical theatre writers and choreographers. She was an invited speaker at Mercury Musical Developments writers' conference in London, and appeared on the original Dramatists Guild "Art of the Synopsis" panel in New York. Nancy has worked for many years on the Drama League, Drama Desk, and Tony-honored BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop as a member of the faculty and Advisory Committee. As Moderator of the Librettists Workshop, she has recently created a popular program of in-house table readings of its members' new projects.

  • TOM POLUM

    co-founder and CEO of Streaming Musicals, producer of the films of Emma, Marry Harry, No One Called Ahead, Pride and Prejudicewww.StreamingMusicals.com.  Author of Mambo Italiano which had it's world premiere at the Westchester Broadway Theatre.  Outer Critic's winner Best off-Broadway musical for The Toxic Avenger; produced the Houston production of The Toxic Avenger, following the off-Broadway New York premiere of  the show about the first superhero from New Jersey by Joe DiPietro (I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change) and David Bryan (keyboardist and founding member of Bon Jovi) and directed by Tony Award-winner John Rando. He also co-produced Last Call, a musical documentary by Broadway director Christopher Ashley (Xanadu, Rocky Horror Show, All Shook Up) and is developing the musical comedies Mambo Italiano (based on the Canadian film starring Paul Sorvino) and Zombie Honeymoon, as well as other musicals, including Heloise and Abelard, The Toxic Avenger Christmas Chaos and Finding Frida Kahlo. Past credits include the tour of Broadway’s Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Tony nomination for Best Musical).

  • SKIP KENNON

    was the overall Artistic Coordinator of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop and the teacher of the first year there for two decades. He wrote the music for the one-man musical Herringbone (Playwrights Horizons - starring David Rounds, Hartford Stage - starring Joel Grey, Edinburgh Festival, Philadelphia's Prince Music Theater, Chicago's St. Nicholas Theater, 2007 season opener at Williamstown Theater Festival - starring B.D. Wong), the music for Here's Our Girl (workshopped at the New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater), and the music and lyrics for the musical version of The Last Starfighter (Storm Theatre, Village Theatre Festival of New Musicals - summer 2006, New York Musical Theatre Festival readings - fall 2006), Blanco (Goodspeed Opera House at Chester, National Alliance for Musical Theatre, National Music Theater Network), Feathertop (WPA Theater, Pennsylvania Stage Co.), and Time and Again (Manhattan Theatre Club, San Diego's Old Globe Theater, Eugene O'Neill Center National Music Theater Conference). Kennon also wrote the music and lyrics for the one-act musical Plaisir d'Amour (book by Terrence McNally), which was produced at New York's Triangle Theater and seen in workshop at Circle Rep, as well as the music for the one-act musical Afternoon Tea (book & lyrics by Eduardo Machado), which was performed at Theater Row Theaters in 2005 by Ed Harris and Amy Madigan. He was a classical music critic at the Hollywood Reporter for five years.

  • CATE CAMMARATA

    is an Off-Broadway producer, director and dramaturg in NYC specializing in the development of new plays and musicals, and has been the Literary Manager for Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) for ten years. She is the Founder and Executive Producer of CreateTheater's New Works Festival and Artistic Director of The Experts Theater Company. Her company CreateTheater.com has developed and produced dozens of new plays and musicals since its founding in 2016. Off-Broadway: The Assignment, My Father's Daughter. Regional: My Life Is a Musical (Bay Street Theater), Bran Castle (Porchlight Theater). In development: Atlantis (book by Ken Cerniglia & Scott Morris, music & lyrics by Matthew Robinson), The Falling Season, a new hip hop musical by international hip hop legend Masta Ace,. During the shutdown of 2020-2022 CreateTheater developed and/or produced more than 70 shows with online readings, workshops and dramaturgical guidance. For this work Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) has honored her with the TRU Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2022. Cate holds a BFA in Acting/Directing from Syracuse University and an MFA in Dramaturgy at SUNY Stony Brook, and is Associate Professor of Theatre Arts at CUNY Baruch College. Her book, "Contemporary Monologues for a New Theater," published by Applause Books, was listed as one of the Top Ten Books for theater lovers by BroadwayDirect in 2018. www.CateCammarata.com  www.CreateTheater.com

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