I'm...not entirely sure if this is gonna end up being a big thread But I've been writing a musical (well TWO musicals but only one is almost Done) and I NEED SOMEWHERE TO SCREECH ABOUT IT It's about an Improv Troupe that's going to lose their funding at the end of the school year (which, for the sake of drama, means they're getting Shut Down) because they're down to TWO members, and the Student Government Association is Doing Major Budget Cuts The two remaining members pull together and manage to recruit six new people (out of their eight sign ups!) and pull off a spectacular show...and then things go to shit, as they So Often Do So, uhm...would anyone be down to hear more about this?
HOKAY SO LIKE Felix and Madison are the Main Two Characters! They've been with the troupe the longest, and end up looking after it, and they work REALLY well together—to the point that they can finish each other's sentences in a scene, and play off of each other really well ("The Role Call Song") Each new character introduced gets their own "I Want" song! There's Kerry, who's tied to the SGA—as the newest member, she was given the job of telling a bunch of groups that they were going to lose their funding ("I Didn't Sign Up For This"), which is the last thing she expected or wanted to be doing! (I'm not putting the songs in a very good order, just a heads up) Then there's Quinn, the faculty advisor, who REALLY loves improv and is in a troupe of their own ("(God Do I Love) Doing Improv"), and the eight hopefuls—Jessie, who needs to find their confidence ("My 'I Want' Song"), Riley, who got REALLY LOST and is JUST trying to find the Theater Club holy hell what's HAPPENING ("Mixed Up"), River, who got told to quit clowning around in high school because "girls can't be funny" ("Reclaiming My Funny"), Skyler, who's there on a bet/dare/SOMETHING ("Take A Bet"), Chad, who's kind of a self-centered asshole ("Because I Come Alive (It's Really Quite Funny)"), Taylor, who had a sister who helped to found the troupe ("Imma Be Better"), Hunter, who started their own troupe in high school and ran it with an IRON FIST (still working on their song, UGH), Kai, who finds the humor in EVERYTHING ("Laugh!") Everyone but Hunter and Chad make the cut—also, I've been using they/their/them because I tried to pick (almost) all gender neutral names for these characters! They can be played by literally anyone, with a couple of exceptions. (Chad's full name is Dylan Chad _____, gotta pick a last name, and Madison is actually Teddy Madison!) River is played by someone who identifies and presents as female, and Felix is set as a nonbinary dmab person (uses they/them)! (as something of a tribute to the person who inspired Felix) Oh, I've also included like...improv sections? So at points in the musical, the actors/improvisors will actually be taking suggestions from the audience, and playing improv games on stage! I'm hoping to cover a decent range of different improv games, and I'll be careful on time there too. I'm not TOTALLY done with songs, but I'm working on a set list...oh, and Riley is a MAJOR fourth wall breaker. (The scene restarts, and Riley, looking resigned, raises a hand.) FELIX: Yes, you in the _______? RILEY: So is this the part where we do an audition montage? annnd then later: SKYLER: Has anyone noticed that we sing a lot? RILEY: You get used to it. and my FAVORITE: FELIX: And before anyone asks—Riley—yes, this is the part where we do a training montage.
awwwww man I love the sound of this!!! I have....always been weirdly good at improvising songs, but I can never remember them later ^.^" my dream of writing a musical is probably sort of dead in the water because of that. but this is really cool, what you're doing!!
you guys are awESOME honestly the #struggle for me has been that I'll like come up with a song in the shower then have to re-sing the first few verses or forget before I get out?? so @chaoticArbiter dude you should totally try having some kinda recording shit going on! it HELPS SO MUCH this is one of the songs—they still HELLA need to be polished, and...the main reason it's not Done is because I actually need help from my friends who are...Legit In Improv—but this is "Legacy"! Kerry and Quinn walk off stage. Felix and Madison are left alone, with Felix staring at the ground. Madison glances offstage, then takes a step towards Felix. MADISON: We need to face it, Felix. I don’t know if you know What I’m trying to say– FELIX: But when we do improv… It’s always that way. BOTH: Why did it have to be us Why did you have to Leave us all behind How do we know who to trust How do we know how to keep this troupe alive– You left us a legacy A dream to protect Before we were ready And did you regret That you left us your legacy It’s ours now too… How in the hell do we live up to you? MADISON: Three years of training Weren’t enough for this FELIX: Three years of waiting And it gets me this BOTH: This is nothing like I thought it ought to be And is this really going to be our legacy FELIX: We never had a chance MADISON: They ate us alive FELIX: I wanted one last chance MADISON: I can’t even try BOTH: Because I know you thought that you could count on me So much for our onetime legacy FELIX: We could cut our losses, call it off MADISON: One last show, it’s all we’ve got I know it might seem bleak But give it one last shot– FELIX: I will But from the very start we both knew it was through BOTH: There’s no way in hell we could live up to you.
Felix is a little bit self-centered—that's part of their plot arc, they kinda forget that you're supposed to be doing this shit together, and they end up being so certain that the troupe's failure or success is ALL riding on them Madison is...a bit faster to give up? But also more team oriented! They want to build something that's going to outlive them! I'm a little biased, but outside of those two I think my fave character is Riley!! (who's my good little fourth wall breaker, that's right, YOU ARE)
DAMN. that is good. I really like Madison omg. also I always run into one of two problems: - I sing a thing and don't have anything recording and immediately forget what I was singing - I come up with a song name, but no ACTUAL SONG but if I remember then next time I start singing I'll record it!!
.......of course the other problem is that I can never think of a damn plot for a musical or play >.> I feel like if I could do that then maybe writing the songs would be a little easier.
eeeee thank!!! Madison is one of my FAVES They used to go by Teddy, but then Hamilton came out, and the ENTIRE TROUPE started calling them Madison, eheheh oh, dude. dude. no. holy crap. I actually came up with two songs before I even THOUGHT of a plot??? Like. There was no plot. None. I had the songs, and then I started thinking about the characters, and why they were singing what they were singing, and the plot...came along and built itself? seriously, if you have a starting point it HELPS SO MUCH, even if the back of your brain is like "OMG YOURE DOING IT /WRONG/"
NICE. hmmmmmmmmmmm. contemplates. attempts to come up with LITERALLY ANYTHING. brain: here how about this plot that only works if it's spanned over several novels me: you are not helpful
eheheheheh I so feel that problem fun fact: I'm actually going to end up making a couple of variations on the musical—one will be a more, uh...truncated version, that might mainly be the songs, and the other will be the Full Length Thing? So in case some group wants to perform it for a singing competition, boom, good to go ^ ^ EDIT: You can always cut plot down :D
ohhhh, cool! and I mean...theoretically cutting the plot down is possible.....but my brain just produces such convoluted plots that it's like "if you cut out any of this, nothing else will make sense anymore." :P plus I I sort of want to write something about like idk something to do with high school and a GSA or something I'm not totally sure
Dude, do it!!!!!! My other musical I'm working on is about a writer who used to be hella popular in this one fandom but all the pressure started getting to them, and they ended up summarizing/finishing all their extant fic, then mainly pulling their presence from the interwebs and now they're in college (grad school?), working at a coffee shop and wondering if maybe they should go back MEANWHILE, online, there's been an ONGOING STREAM of CONSPIRACY THEORIES wondering what the HECK happened to them, where they went...and if they're still around (spoilers: they are! they made a new account, and they don't super post much, but they've been able to watch as things develop)
duuuude plots can be TOTALLY cliche and still WORK your first run doesn't have to be the next hamilton, yfeel? fr'instance, here's mine: Spoiler: LONGASS SYNOPSIS ACT I Arrayl State University’s Premiere (only) Improv Troupe, West Wind Drift, has just made nine years—unfortunately, age doesn’t do much for a troupe that’s down to two members, Seniors Felix and Madison. With pressure from the cost-cutting SGA to build the troupe back up to eight members or shut down, an initially reluctant Madison and determined Felix decide to hold auditions, with help from their faculty advisor, Quinn. Their first show, a two-person montage, goes off without a hitch, and manages to attract eight prospective improvisors—Chad, River, Taylor, Skyler, Jessie, Riley, Hunter, and Kai—who each have their own reasons for trying out (except for Riley, who got the wrong room, and would really like directions to the theater club, please?). [can be omitted: Chad is the self-proclaimed “funniest kid on campus”, while River is there to “reclaim her funny”, after a lackluster high school career of shutdowns. Taylor’s older sister was a founding member of the troupe, and Taylor knows they can do better, while Skyler is trying out as part of a bet. Meanwhile, Jessie is trying to build up some confidence, while Hunter, who started their own troupe in high school and is “reinventing improv” has a bit too much. As for Kai, they find the humor in everything and want to share that with the world.] Quinn, who’s still very much in love with improv, introduces the auditions, and the troupe hopefuls perform scenes with Madison and Felix. Results are posted immediately after—everyone’s made the cut, except for Chad and Hunter. The new troupe of eight has a practice scene, or a montage of practice scenes, and ss time passes, Riley and Skyler find that they have a lot more in common as well. Their second show goes well, with the newest members stepping up to contribute, despite Felix’s fears that it’s all on him. INTERMISSION ACT II At the beginning of Act 2, Riley and Skyler sing a bittersweet song of resignation and goodbye—to the troupe, but not each other. With the troupe back down to six, and the newest SGA member, Kerry (who’s really just trying to do their job) coming to their third show, Felix and Madison find themselves in dire straits once more. This pushes them to accept an offer of assistance from the formerly rejected Chad and Hunter for the upcoming third show. At the show, Chad and Hunter work together to sabotage the unsuspecting improv troupe, starting during the opening montage. Their behavior prompts a switch to a line game, in the hopes that they can keep them from doing more damage with a minimum amount of visible strife. This tactic fails, and Kerry delivers a final verdict—this sort of behavior doesn’t reflect well on the university, and instead of a whole school year, West Wind Drift will be expected to close down after their next show. A despondent Madison and Felix discuss the legacy left to them, and question themselves—why are they the ones left to protect it? Are they even up to the task? The day of the final show dawns, and Felix is still certain that it’s all on him to keep things going—after all, it’s his last chance—while Madison encourages the troupe to give it their all. West Wind Drift pulls off a spectacular first half of their performance, much to Madison’s delight and pride, and Felix remembers what he learned his first year—it’s about the story you tell together. At half-time, Skyler and Riley, who had been in the audience, apologize to the rest of the troupe for leaving, and ask if they can rejoin—at least for one last show. Reunited at last, West Wind Drift finishes out the show to thunderous applause. As they’re taking their bows, Kerry appears again—they were watching the show, at Quinn’s insistence—and they plan to advocate for them with the SGA. The show itself closes out with a triumphant reprise of “Legacy”, with Madison and Felix certain that they’ll be leaving the troupe in capable hands—after next semester.
......a good point. idk, I guess I just see so much stuff of people shitting on cliche stories and things that it gets to me. I want my stories to be read, not just....ignored for being 'cliche'.
hrm I mean when I first started working on my musical, I kinda...gave myself permission NOT to show it to other people? if I didn't like it enough, or if something didn't fit it's really really easy to SAY that and much harder to do, though but I feel like if you have a story you want to tell, you owe it to yourself to try? and the thing is, the world might have read DOZENS of high school stories, right? but it hasn't read yours
musicals are really cool and if i knew more about music and how to music, i might wanna do them as it is, all i know about music is which music i like and how to change the lyrics of preexisting songs to make them about fandom stuff/parody/filk/whatever
