The Creation of a New Musical - Part 4

Preproduction: The Writing, The Composer-Lyricist Collaboration

(a series of articles about how new musicals come to pass)

Preproduction: the period of time during which work is done on a show prior to the first rehearsal.

It is often said that theatre is a collaborative media; nowhere is this collaboration more vital than that between the creators of a show. There have been collaborations where the creators despised each other, slept with each other, were married, divorced, or otherwise attached or estranged; worked in close proximity, through the mail, or by phone (this author's current collaboration is taking place via phone and email!); were major successes in the theatre, were unknown, had never been involved with the theatre, and combinations of all three. Regardless of who they are or how they get along, the creators of the most successful shows have discovered some sort of magic.

A creative collaboration consists of the following:

• Lyricist, who writes the words for the songs;
• Librettist, also known as the Bookwriter, who creates the dialog or "play" portion of the show;
• Composer, who writes the music -- perhaps just the songs, or maybe the dance music, underscoring, or other instrumental music.

Often these roles will be combined, e.g., lyricist/bookwriter, or composer/lyricist: Stephen Sondheim and Stephen Schwartz are composers who write their own lyrics, although both have also put in their time as lyricist to other composers. There may also be more than one person filling a single role: Betty Comden and Adolph Greene collaborate on lyrics (a process my lyricist collaborator cannot imagine). Or the bookwriter and the composer may contribute lyrics and/or polish each other's lyrics:

When the Lambs Theatre commissioned the writing of The Gifts of the Magi, the collaborators were contracted separately. Unfortunately both librettist Mark St. Germain and composer Randy Courts were told that they would be writing lyrics (as they had done on their previous shows). To sort the mess out they agreed to each contribute lyrics and select the lyrics they both preferred. It turned out that they each liked the other's lyrics more. And through the half-dozen projects they've done since they continue to both contribute lyrics and revise the work created by the other.

In my previous editorial, "Adapting to Music," I posed the (oft-posed) question, "What comes first? The music or the lyrics?" The answer is that it varies from collaboration to collaboration. Ever since music and words were combined the process has been changed to suit the writers. The earliest known vocal music was composed to set liturgical texts. So, the creation of a song occurs in any order that best accommodates the team:

• The lyrics are written to a completed melody;
• A melody is written to completed lyrics;
• A potential phrase, a single verse or chorus, or even just a title -- is contributed to inspire the composition of a melody, with the complete lyrics added later;
• A melodic idea is contributed to inspire the writing of a lyric, with the completion of the composing to occur later;
• A lyric is submitted and the composer adjusts the lyric to accommodate changes necessitated by melodic ideas;
• and an endless variety of different combinations of the above.

Sometimes a composer will come up with a "dummy" or placeholder set of lyrics while writing. If he cares to share these with the lyricist some of these dummy lyrics may end up as part of the final, polished lyric. (On occasion, the composer's dummy lyrics may end up being used in toto. Recent postings in the Original Cast Recordings mailing list [CASTRECL: To subscribe, send email to the server address <LISTSERV@MITVMA.MIT.EDU> with ONLY the following in the email body: SUBSCRIBE CASTRECL Your-Name] have discussed this issue in a thread about giving credit in show credits.)

With individual composer/lyricists the music and lyrics may be written simultaneously or concurrently. The same may be true of a team of composer and lyricist who work in close quarters, with each contributing to the growing song.

Next week we'll add the Bookwriter into this volatile mix..

Originally published at Suite101.com Theatre, 3/4/97

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