Atelier Course Teaches Students "How to Write a Musical"

A line of actors perform from scripts on a music stand

Photo by Zohar Lavi-Hasson

An actor standing between other actors pretends to talk on a phone

Photo by Zohar Lavi-Hasson

Two actors perform a reading of a play from music stands

Photo by Zohar Lavi-Hasson

A person plays on an electric piano as actor perform on stage reading from scripts

Photo by Zohar Lavi-Hasson

Two people wearing masks address an audience

Tony Award winning artists Greg Kotis and Mark Hollmann. Photo by Zohar Lavi-Hasson

Two actors perform from scripts on music stands

Photo by Zohar Lavi-Hasson

A person plays on an electric piano as actors perform on stage reading from scripts

Photo by Zohar Lavi-Hasson

Three actors perform a rehearsed reading from scripts on a stage

Photo by Zohar Lavi-Hasson

A group of actors performs on a stage in a theater surrounded by an audience on three sides

Photo by Zohar Lavi-Hasson

Three actors wearing colorful hats perform on stage

Photo by Zohar Lavi-Hasson

Two actors wearing colorful hats perform on stage

Photo by Zohar Lavi-Hasson

During the fall 2022 Atelier course How to Write a Musical, taught by Tony Award-winning writers of Urinetown, the Musical Greg Kotis and Mark Hollmann, students teamed up to compose music and write book and lyrics for an original musical. On Dec. 7, the students took to the Whitman Theater stage and presented 10-minute performances of their work in an end-of-course showing. The students left the class with a better understanding of story and song structure, shaping material for an original musical, and the art of collaboration.