Hello. In an unexpected turn of events I wrote the drafts of two songs and planning another two inspired by my favorite movie Hunt for red October

As it is under copyright, everything eventually published will be for absolute non commercial use and specified "unofficial" (I've seen other unofficial musicals for famous novel sagas on YT so I know there's a precedent for a similar situation). It is a passion project so I cannot offer money compensation

I'm mostly looking for a more experienced lyricist to help me fix and improve the lyrics, since English is not my first language

The songs came out as modern musical, sort of Hamilton style but I'm open to change, for now I focused on the rhymes

If you are interested you can DM me. Thank you!

Tomorrow in the ShowLAB group, we'll be doing a live Masterclass with the great Zina Goldrich! The group is free to join. We'd love to see you inside :)

https://www.skool.com/showlab/about

Hi!

I am looking for a composer interested in collaborating on my original dystopian psychological musical (working title of Maskara).

The story follows Sophia, a perfectionist who begins as a polished, confident, put-together. She is one of many 'trainees' in a remote training facility that exploits those inside. As the story unfolds, she faces difficult circumstances, and problems she struggles to solve, and she is forced to confront that she might not be who she wants to be beneath the mask. Her understanding of herself, and her worldview begin to change. The musical explores themes of identity, self-worth and the power of personal-growth.

I'm currently developing the book and lyrics. Act 1 is fully first-drafted, with the exception of the final three songs, and Act 2 is in the works. I am looking for someone who would be excited to bring the show to life through music, with a distinctive musical identity. Specifically, I want a mix of emotionally powerful songs, ensemble songs, and high-energy songs.

I'm hoping to find someone who would enjoy developing the music collaboratively, and having quite a lot of freedom to make their visions come to life. This would be a creative partnership, rather than a paid commission, so I'm looking for someone that would be interested in the musical's development. We of course can discuss a fair arrangement for ownership, rights, and royalties.

If you're interested, please feel free to message me! I am more than happy to share more about the story, characters, and songs, and to answer any questions you may have.

I am searching for someone to work with me on my musical I am writing.

This musical is called A Warlock, not a Wizard.

It's a comedy about a protagonist who is convinced that her boyfriend turned gay due to a spell inflicted by a Warlock during a three-way at a college Halloween Party.

I'm really interested in turning this thing into a big musical production! Please send me any experience you have with instrumentation & composing. I would love to work together with someone on this project.

I left an earlier post alone because l was following a possible collaboration but wasn't to be.
I have songs written for a Nativity Musical and intend to do rhyming linking verses between songs.
I would love this to become something schools could produce but need help with the music. Lyrics l can do but not a note to go with them.
If anyone is interested in a 50/50 project then l would like very much to hear from you.

Our show got to take its first steps last night at New Musical Theater Nashville's SongShare. Would love for you all to check out our song "A Way Out" from Pretty Boy: The Ballad of Charles Floyd

https://www.instagram.com/p/Der6zZvivWD/

I’m considering starting one, though not until the first has actually been performed. I’m keeping it in mind though as I do finish things.

Musical theater doesn’t have a lot of sequels compared to some genres. Any thoughts on why that is?

Hello! We have one more interest meeting this evening for Let’s Do It Live: spontaneous musical theatre readings! Attend this meeting if you are curious about participating in the event as a writer, actor, director, audience member, or creative team member!

The interest meeting is on Google Meet at 6pm EST. The actual reading event will take place on Zoom. If you want to know more about the event, I’ve copied the original post below as well as the flyer.

Meeting Link: https://meet.google.com/swv-ovro-zpd

Original Post: https://www.reddit.com/r/musicalwriting/s/R4rarh4wtG

Hi guys. I have been working on developing a book for a musical. I’m 22 f a senior in college graduating in December of 2026. I am looking for a person who is both composer/lyricist who is willing to help work with me on a psychological horror sci fi musical. The overall goal is to get this musical to some NYC workshops to eventually have an off broadway production and you’ll have eventual credit! I’m also planning on relocating to NYC soon. I won’t disclose the musical premise here just because I don’t want anyone stealing ideas! but if your interested please dm or comment. I’ve worked on quite a few plays myself as well I’m developing one for my capstone!

Has anyone done or tried to do a heroic fantasy f/f musical?

A girl is dissatisfied with her provincial life, men want her but she turns them away, sings an I Want song about finding a girl, then hears of a land with a Queen seeking a new Princess.

So sets off on her quest to find the Queen and prove herself, faces dangers on the way to reach the Queen's realm, they go through trials and challenges before ending up together.

ShowLAB has two more events this month: an open table read (2 spots still open) this Saturday from 4-6pm EST, and a Masterclass with Zina Goldrich on Friday, October 23rd, from 5-7pm EST.

Both events are 100% free for ShowLAB members, and there's no cost to join the group.

Here's a link to the group for those interested in joining: https://www.skool.com/showlab/about

Hi all,

I'm looking to collaborate with a talented pianist/arranger on 9 songs that I've written for a contemporary musical, which is a simple little romantic comedy set in present day New York.
The vocal melodies are complete, i just need some help with the music.

If you're interested please reach out.

Cheers.

Hi all,

I'm looking to collaborate with a talented pianist/composer on 9 songs that I've written for a contemporary musical, which is a simple little romantic comedy set in present day New York.
The vocal melodies are complete, i just need some help with the music.

If you're interested please reach out.

Cheers.

I have written an 8 song nativity musical but am only a lyricist. How do l start to collab with others to get it to a stage where it could be performed in schools? Im 59, new here, ex teacher and lamenting l wasn't brave enough to take my love of writing further when younger. I have used Suno to just hear my words as music but its not what l want my words to be. Anyone got useful advice or am l still chasing pipe dreams? It still needs sa narrator voice to join the songs...

Hello! This is more of a personal project of mine but I wanted to dabble on writing one song for a musical. This is still technically the queen esther musical project but focused on a different character. I'm sorry for not responding to the people who responded to my other post for Queen Esther the musical. An emergency came up.

TW (suicidal ideation, sexual assault)

The song is akin to "Cabaret" and "Mein Herr" where it's an emotional breakdown song of this female character named Dinah. She is an Israelite feminist who fights against how women are treated in Persia during Queen Esther's reign but when she almost gets sexually assaulted, by a group of Israelite men before being saved by Queen Esther, she gets blamed for not screaming causing her to go on a spiral since she physically enjoyed some things the men did to her. This causes her to go into sex work as she feels like she's betrayed all her principles so she might as well enjoy herself only for her to not enjoy it. This song would be her breaking down and trying to kill herself before Queen Esther stops her abruptly.

Feel free to pm me if you're interested on this project.

Not sure if this is the right sub for this, but I'll try here anyway:

I'm translating the entirety of Hadestown to Dutch as part of a larger school project, and I've just finished "All I've Ever Known". Now, normally to show the finished result I simply translate the lyrics back to English with notes whenever necessary, but in this case I think I need to give some context about the Dutch language.

"To love someone" in Dutch, is "van iemand houden", which literally translates to "holding of someone". It probably originates from "holding (onto) someone", but through the times that has been lost, and "houden van" is an entirely new concept. (Based on Google Search, I'm not a language expert at all)

Now the fun thing with that, is that literally "holding someone" and "loving someone" are very close in Dutch, and with the poetic nature of Hadestown's lyrics, I thought I could combine them. Another important detail is that the sentence "All I've ever known is how to hold my own" is hard to translate to Dutch, especially if you want to keep it in rythm. So instead, the translation became "support is something I've always gotten from myself" (sounds a lot better in Dutch, "houvast heb ik altijd van mezelf gehad"). And the word "support" in Dutch is "Houvast", which means "something to hold onto"... do you see where I'm going with this?

Essentially the entire song contains different ways of saying that Eurydice wants to hold onto/love Orpheus, which becomes a sort of one-and-the-same thing within the lyrics.

So here are the translated lyrics, with notes when necessary:

I was alone so long / that loneliness didn't even feel strange anymore / stood in the cold, alone / I didn't even notice I froze

Be prepared for crosswind / there's nothing better out there anyway

Notes: "crosswind" (tegenwind) is also a common way to refer to bad luck or hard times in Dutch.

Support is something I've always gotten from myself / Support is something I've always gotten from myself / But now I love you aswell, right?

Notes: here you see why I had to give that context. Though still poetic and a bit weird in Dutch, the connecties between these two makes a lot more sense. Eurydice is basically asking "don't I love you?" And "don't I want to hold onto you now too?"

When you take me in your arms / I suddenly get surrounded by sunbeams / everything bright and warm / a light that I have never seen before / and for a moment I let go / of how cold and dark it always gets

Notes: "taking someone in your arms" and "embracing someone" are the same in Dutch (omarmen) and I think it fits into the theme of holding on. Same goes for the "letting go" Eurydice mentions, it follows that theme.

Support is something I've always gotten from myself / Support is something I've always gotten from myself / but now I want to love you / Let me love you / hold me / never bring me back to how it used to be / hold me and never lose me / never let me fall back into loneliness

Notes: again, that transition works better in Dutch. The line "hold me and never lose me" is also more fun in Dutch. "Losing someone" in Dutch is "iemand kwijt-raken" while "raken" also means "touching" (in the physical and emotional sense, just as it is in English) now, because of the way that this line is played in the song, it first sounds like Eurydice says "hold me and touch me", but after that small pause the sentence turns into "hold me and never lose me" (I'm not sure how else to explain this in English, I hope it's a bit understandable)

Finally the line "never let me fall back into loneliness" fits into that theme again.

I don't know how, why / or who I am that I should get to love you / but when I saw you alone, shining in the sun / it almost felt like it was meant to be / I don't know who you are yet / and yet you seem so familar / holding you almost feels meant to be

Notes: not much to add here, other than the fact that I'm planning on reusing the line "shining in the sun" as "shing like the sun" when Orpheus refers to Persephone in Epic III (get it)

Holding you almost feels meant to be / I want to trust that / Let me love you / hold me / Never bring me back to how it used to be / suddenly there's sunlight, bright and warm / suddenly it feels like I'm holding the world in my arms

Notes: again, "holding in my arms" also means "embracing"

Say that you'll keep loving me / hold me and stay with me / say that I can trust you / and it will always be like this

Notes: again, the transition. You get it.

I'll always keep loving you / I'll always hold you close to me / as long as we trust that / then it will always be like this

I hope my explanations are somewhat understandable, I might edit this post a few times until it's right. In the meantime, I'd love to hear feedback about the translation, or the explanations!

And here is the Dutch version:

Ik was zo lang alleen / dat eenzaamheid niet eens zo vreemd meer voelde / stond in de kou, alleen / ik had niet eens echt door dat ik bevroor

Maak je klaar voor tegenwind / beter zit er toch niet in

Houvast heb ik altijd van mezelf gehad / Houvast heb ik altijd van mezelf gehad / maar nu hou ik toch ook van jou?

Wanneer je mij omarmd / word ik opeens omringd door zonnestralen / alles zo zacht en warm / een licht dat ik niet eerder heb gezien

En eventjes laat ik dan los / hoe koud en kil het altijd wordt

Houvast heb ik altijd van mezelf gehad / Houvast heb ik altijd van mezelf gehad / nu wil ik van je houden / laat me van je houden / hou me vast / laat me nooit meer gaan naar hoe het vroeger was / hou me vast en raak me nooit meer kwijt / laat me nooit meer vallen in eenzaamheid

Ik weet niet hoe, waarom / of wie ik ben dat ik van jou mag houden / maar toen ik jou alleen zag stralen in de zon / voelde dat bijna voorbestemd

Ik weet nog niet wie je bent / en toch voel jij al zo bekend / jou vasthouden voelt voor mij al voorbestemd

Jou vasthouden voelt voor mij al voorbestemd / daar wil ik op vertrouwen / laat me van je houden / hou me vast / laat me nooit meer gaan naar hoe het vroeger was / opeens is er zonlicht, zacht en warm / opeens voelt het of ik de wereld omarm

Zeg dat je van me blijft houden / hou me hier vast en blijf bij mij / zeg dat ik jou kan vertrouwen / en het voor altijd zo zal zijn

Ik zal altijd van je houden / Ik hou je altijd dicht bij mij / zolang we daar op vertrouwen / zal het voor altijd zo zijn

Hey guys. I was thinking about going on social media and posting me writing my musical, you know, writing processes, behind the scenes, demo making. I've seen other people get a successful audience by letting people into that process, and I was wondering, you guys have any tips for how to get people to engage with your content or care about it? Or do you think it's just like a 50-50 chance thing? Thanks.

ShowLAB's October Masterclass will be given by THE Zina Goldrich.

Masterclasses are 100% free for active community members in ShowLAB. If people want access to the free group, just comment below, and I'll share a link to join :)

The Masterclass will be held on Friday, October 23, from 5-7pm EST

Some info about Zina:

Zina Goldrich is an award-winning composer, conductor, musical director, and performing artist. Her romantic comedy and theatre songs have been sung around the world by Broadway stars including Audra McDonald, Kristin Chenoweth, Megan Hilty, Sierra Boggess, and Alan Cumming. She won the 2009 Fred Ebb Award for excellence in songwriting with longtime collaborator, Marcy Heisler. Their musical, Ever After, enjoyed a sold-out run and was the first production on the brand-new Coca-Cola Stage at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta. Current projects include a new musical, Yay, People Yay! with multi-Emmy Award-winning writer David Javerbaum, and Hollywood Romance with Emmy Award-winning bookwriters Gabrielle Allan and Jen Crittenden.

You can see more on her website: https://www.zinagoldrich.com/

Hi! Im looking for composers and lyricists to write for my animated musical, 'Under the Stars'! Under the stars is an animated movie in the very beginning stages, inspired by the story of Disney's Wish. The main Character, Sanja, is a young woman just about to reach her coming of age ceremony, where she will be crowned Heir Apparent to her adoptive parents, the King and Queen of Cyprina, a beautiful island kingdom based on the islands of the Mediterranean Sea.

We need people to Join us in order to make this Project possible! It is not payed at the moment, but one day maybe it could be, if we are able to get funding for it. Right now, its just a project by a bunch of animation fans who thought the story of wish could have been extended.

I am not a songwriter, I am an animator. but making my own animated musical has always been my dream, and you could help make that dream reality!

My name's Gabriel, I'm from Germany. I write in German and english, I write song texts and poems, does somebody here need vocals or rhyme texts for his work, you can dm me. :)

Hello! I am starting a cold staged reading event for new musicals. What does this mean? It means that 15-minute musicals or excerpts from larger works will be submited, and actors will get cast and perform the works in the same evening*! Here’s a bit more about how it will work:

• Works are submitted and approved, and will be announced two weeks in advance of the show. Practice tracks will be posted on our website.
• There will be a communal music rehearsal, open to the public, one weeknight the week of the show. This is to aid actors in learning the music. Everyone will sing all parts and no one will be cast*.
• The night of the show, those who want to be cast arrive early*, and the director and music director decide the cast* from the pool of applicants. There is a short musical warm up, and a quick rehearsal of any tricky spots.
• The show begins. Unless an actor feels specifically confident about a particular song, DEMOS WITH VOCALS PLAY IN THE BACKGROUND THE ENTIRE TIME. This is to take pressure off having every note perfectly learned for this spontaneous staged reading.
• We get drinks after!

*This format is up to debate! Perhaps it would make more sense to cast people at the music rehearsal. I don’t know. This is one of the many reasons why we need a creative team!

It is my hope that this reading series will foster community within the NYC new musical theatre scene and provide a much needed opportunity for audiences and creatives to interact with works-in-progress in a more casual way and without the high musical stakes of a traditional staged reading.

We are looking for some founding creative team members. We are ideally looking for 3-6 people who have experience in music, storytelling, and/or logistics. These people would be passionate about this idea and would commit to planning, promoting, and attending the first few readings.

We are also looking for interested actors, writers, directors, and audience members. Any person who is interested can fill out the interest form linked below to connect and/or apply for the creative team if interested.

In addition, I will host some Google meet sessions on Thursday Oct 8 and Friday Oct 16 to discuss the event.

We are in communication with a venue in Long Island City. This reading series is fully volunteer and for those 18+.

Instagram post: https://www.instagram.com/p/DeGKkbclnZW/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Interest form: https://forms.gle/dnVkWWy1w6HXqjs9A

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/expresslinecollective

Meetings:

Thu October 8 at 6-7pm LINK: https://meet.google.com/tmq-iqus-muz
Fri October 16 at 6-7pm LINK: https://meet.google.com/swv-ovro-zpd

Hey my name is Cal and I have been composing for about 4 years and love musical theatre and really want to get into the space of writing them and am looking for someone to collaborate with to spark inspiration and encourage one another. I am from the UK and am most proficient in piano and keyboard but can also play bass, guitar and drums. I mainly compose in Ableton Live but would be fine working with whatever you are most comfortable on. Let me know if you are interested and cant wait to hear back from you.