Writing Musical Theatre

I've been thinking a lot recently about the difference between being a songwriter and being a musical theatre composer. There was a time when I thought the two things were the same, but the more I look at how my process has changed as I've shifted from one to the other, I can see that it is a different way of looking at music. It's been on my mind recently as it seems to be in vogue for big-budget new musicals in Scotland to bring in song-writers who have never written musicals before, and I think that at times it can be clear why certain songs may work on albums but don't work on stage - and vice versa.

This got me thinking back to my own journey. I have always written musicals, and I have always written songs for rock bands, and until fairly recently the two things were the same for me. It wasn't until I started working with professional directors and dramaturgs that the differences between the two became clear.

Towards the Moon

A singer-songwriter song can be all about feeling. My girl left me. I miss you. I'm sad. etc. etc. But if that song finds its way into a musical - a reflective song that tells us what we already know - then it's the kiss of boredom. A MT song has to be moving the story forward. Ideally, as it is doing that, it should be deepening the characters, exploring relationships, and also - vitally - exploring a musical language that is then expanded upon as the piece develops. The lyrics in MT also require an extra sharpness, the rhymes can't be there just to rhyme. The words that the characters sing have to be words that that particular character would speak, they shouldn't suddenly find a verbosity just because they are belting out a tune.

Naughty Cat & The Cheesy Moon

When I look back at my first musical that was produced, Towards the Moon, I see a lot of catchy pop tunes - but most are reflecting on what has just happened in the scene rather than pushing the show onwards. It was pretty much scene where stuff happens, song about what just happened. No matter how strong the melodies are, that sort of structure is going to get predictable and bore an audience.

Seven years, and many musicals later, my latest show, Spuds, is totally different. And I think that that is because this idea of MT being about a complete piece of music, rather than a collection of songs, has really grabbed my interest. Spuds is sung-through, something that (to my surprise) was never mentioned in any of the cracking reviews we got. There are about 6 spoken lines in it, the rest is sung. I tried really hard to make the recitative (the music that is closest to speech) as catchy and singable as possible, so hopefully when a 'song" started it wasn't a relief to get away from all that weird talky-singy stuff.

Spuds

The part that I am proudest of in Spuds is an argument section between the three main characters. Toni, the chip fryer, wants to stop cooking Spuds (a hallucinogenic drug) as they have just been deemed illegal. David wants to keep going - he's already killed to maintain his position and isn't about to back down - whereas his daughter Daisy knows nothing about the dark dealings that have occurred and wants to split the profits and go their own way.

In this scene Toni reveals to Daisy that her dad is a killer, and David cuts both Toni and Daisy out of the business before surrounding himself with a gang of thugs.

Spuds

What I enjoy about the scene is that it is not going to win any awards for tunefulness or musical complexity, it is a simple two chord pattern that the actors and MD then play around with. But it's the way that it is all about story and, within the simple chord structure, there are colours that reflect the different characters.

There are hints of cod-opera when Toni sings, things feel darker when David speaks, Daisy tries to change the tune but fails. This is no accident and is the result of a small team collaborating to make sure the lyric, story and music all fit together. The scene furthers the story and - most importantly - the actors have room to act in the spaces (the music and physicality of the actors is also closely matched).

It is obviously a really heightened, comic show, but we treated everything to do with it with the utmost seriousness and thought. As the scene develops the music also shifts, sometimes it returns to where it started, sometimes it goes into a new key, at other times it moves somewhere else entirely before returning to the main theme. The section where they shout Spuds is an echo of a previous song, and that sort of joined up thinking is what I really enjoy writing and also hearing in musicals.

This is what interests me and, I think, is what makes it different from being a song-writer who can bang out hits. It's not music for music's sake - oh the play is a bit dull so let's throw in some tunes - but it's words, music and storytelling all combining to create an effect that is truly musical theatre. It's immensely rewarding to do, very fun to watch and hopefully you'll enjoy giving it a swatch below, it features the brilliant Richard Conlon as David, Darren Brownlie as Toni, Dawn Sievewright as Daisy and Gavin Whitworth as MD: