Our Musical Writers Lab is a community of writing teams formed in 2019 who meet bi-weekly to work on the development of new musicals through Lab presentations, sharing their process and offering support. Lab members benefit additionally from Theatre Now services including developmental productions, publishing and licensing. This is a highly skilled, active, and collaborative group focused on embracing and fostering the diversity of musical theatre styles, forms, and creators.
There is both a Local NY and an International chapter of the Lab. The Local NY group sessions are hosted in person at ART/NY studios every other Sunday, while the International group sessions are hosted online via Zoom on opposite Sundays with members from all over the states and across the globe. We value community and are aware that building a safe network is important in our creative field, which is why both groups are welcome to sit in on one another's meetings and interact closely with one another.
Meet Our Lab Members
Our current Lab consists of 35 librettists, lyricists and composers from the NYC area and around the world from diverse backgrounds ‒ straight and gay, cis and trans, young and old, rural and urban, white, Black, Latinx, and Asian. It includes members of ASCAP, BMI, and the Dramatists Guild; an Alan Menken Award winner; a Fulbright Scholar; a Kresge Playwriting Fellow; and the first ever Black List Musical Film Fellow as well as early-career writers. These artists have received recognition from prestigious awards, organizations, and festivals, and their work has been heard everywhere from NPR to MTV.
This year, work from our Lab members will be featured in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the Eugene O'Neill National Music Theatre Conference (NMTC), and, for the third year in a row, the National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) Festival of New Musicals.
Through Theatre Now, Lab members have also had the privilege of working with many wonderful performers including Julie Benko, Diana DeGarmo, Wade McCollum, Janine LaManna, Christine Pedi, Klea Blackhurst, Mary Stout, Isabelle McCalla, Jason Veasey, Michelle Dowdy, Kennedy Kanagawa, Heath Saunders, Eric Michael Gillett, Sierra Rein, and many others.
Join our email list to be notified about future Lab openings and other programs that become available!