The Creation of a New Musical - Part 2: Preproduction: The Writi

the production team and producer(s) (if there are any at this stage) an idea of what kind of condition the work is in.) At this point the show was more revue than book musical. It didn't quite work as a show yet, but as a showcase for the music and lyrics of Stephen Schwartz it was very successful.

More work was done on the show, revising of the book and musical selections dropped and added. Another workshop was done, which led to another period of rewriting and revising. They then were able to get a pair of productions scheduled, with two smaller regional theatre footing the bills. During the rehearsal processes of both of these productions more rewriting and revising was done. Since much of the material was only superficially connected, Mr. Schwartz adapted lyrics to better fit the plots of the new show. The result of all this revising, rewriting, and adapting, although reminiscent of the earlier revue version, was now very much more a book musical. And even though the book scenes were more successful than the initial drafts, the songs now suffered. The mood of several numbers, in order to fit into the current scenario, had to be changed to the point where they last there original appeal; other songs appeared as frustratingly short fragments, alluding to beautiful material that never actually appeared. So the piece had gone from a lively, celebratory revue of the work of Stephen Schwartz to a pleasant book musical, somewhat buoyed by his work.

When a musical is being created, there is always some sort of give and take. When writers set out to create a work out of existing songs, the formula becomes much more complicated. How can you create a work and still do justice to the original material, in fact not damage the material? In this kind of juggling act, the writers often end up stealing from Peter to pay Paul.

Most musicals are adapted from some existing work -- be it a play, a novel, or short story -- as are many of the most successful musicals. Next week will take a look at this kind of adaptation.

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