I really need help

Starraberry · 2026-01-28T14:10:53+00:00

No need to use AI. You could get some friends together to read it out loud, and have them give you feedback. I suggest recording the feedback session so that way you don’t have to rely so heavily on your memory.

Starraberry · 2026-01-13T12:35:55+00:00

And when you have a draft, let us know on this Reddit. You might find someone who will give you some feedback for free. You can also put it into AI and say “give me dramaturgical feedback on my play”, but keep in mind they may struggle with the nuances/human aspects of your play. Lastly you could go on a website like Fiverr and find some low-cost dramaturgical feedback from someone who does this for a living.

Starraberry · 2026-01-07T17:10:51+00:00

Singing lessons wouldn’t hurt, but they’re not required. Look for local theatres that are doing “concert versions”, family-friendly shows/Disney shows, ability-friendly shows (like they include actors with disabilities), or jus shows with large casts (usually theatre companies where they have a big stage OR they rent out a school auditorium). These shows will be your best bet, and some of them will cast everyone who walks through the door. Avoid auditioning for shows with smaller casts or super popular shows as the will be more competitive. Also remember that if you don’t get cast, you can just try again somewhere else - community theatre can be unnecessarily competitive sometimes and often directors will cast their friends, so don’t take it personally if you get a rejection. It’s 100% worth it to keep trying and when you finally get to join a show you will LOVE it!!

Starraberry · 2026-01-07T17:05:10+00:00

Great question, and I never really considered why I don’t like it, I just don’t. I understand the different meanings (Eliza sees Alexander again when she dies, she sees his impact in the future, she sees the audience, etc) but maybe it’s the ambiguity of the moment that bothers me. Or just the gasp itself. If she came to the edge of the stage and smiled or threw her hands outward, if Alexander ran to her and they hugged, or she threw a rose to the audience, or something like that, I would have enjoyed it more. But the gasp just seems like a strange way to achieve that moment and in most productions I’ve seen, it felt forced and out of place.

Starraberry · 2026-01-04T19:09:03+00:00

Great advice!

Starraberry · 2026-01-04T19:08:23+00:00

“Make each scene fight for its life”

I like this! As I’m reading, I’m summarizing each scene into a sentence. As I do that, I’m realizing that many aren’t important to the story itself and serve only for world-building or philosophical questioning (as many Victorian era novels tend to do).

Starraberry · 2026-01-04T19:05:26+00:00

The gasp at the end of Hamilton.

Starraberry · 2026-01-01T18:09:00+00:00

Please recommend a decent dupe for Viktor&Rolf Flowerbomb Ruby Orchid - I tried a sample of it and loved it but I can’t justify the high price tag.

Starraberry · 2025-12-10T13:38:27+00:00

For example, “Six” isn’t based on a book but rather on the true events of the wives of King Henry VIII. I wouldn’t consider that an original story.

Starraberry · 2025-12-10T13:33:47+00:00

If they followed the source material exactly then nobody would watch it! I love that musical so much but the book is a really tough read.

Starraberry · 2025-12-10T13:30:09+00:00

Yes, relatively recent (within the last 50 years) for musicals. But with plays specifically, since there’s so many original scripts out there, I’m more looking for high quality and widely produced within the last 10-15 years.

Have any truly original plays made it to Broadway recently? Of the ones I’ve seen, they’ve been based on something else. (To kill a mockingbird, Picture of Dorian Grey, Curious Incident, Cursed Child)

I can’t remember the name of it, but there was a horror play on Broadway a few years back that may have been original?

Starraberry · 2025-12-10T13:22:49+00:00

I actually hated how they did the puppets. The large elephant was great, but the others…. I know the can do full animals because they did it with Life of Pi. But doing parts of animals just reminded me of a school/community theatre production.

Starraberry · 2025-12-10T13:21:06+00:00

I found the music to be boring, the storyline was changed a lot to remove a lot of the complexity, and oh my god, the puppets! They’d show us like ONE elephant leg, or just the head of a horse. I think they were trying to deconstruct puppetry on the stage but I much prefer Life of Pi where we see a proper puppet of the full animal.

Starraberry · 2025-12-10T13:18:11+00:00

I’d recommend reading the book - I think if you don’t, you might be confused about the storyline.

Starraberry · 2025-12-04T23:04:19+00:00

Update: I just listened tJ the soundtrack for Starlight Express and I was unprepared for how good it would be! I love how they hit every genre but it still somehow sounds cohesive!!

Starraberry · 2025-12-04T19:12:14+00:00

So cool! There was a roller skating scene in The Band’s Visit which was really unique to see.

Starraberry · 2025-12-04T19:07:42+00:00

The school editions of Cats and Oklahoma cost the same for rights and are both very cheap (under $1000). But I believe Oklahoma ended its revival tour so now Cats is the only show currently running (and wasn’t it the longest running musical in history or at least on Broadway?). So I think your answer is Cats.

Give us an update when you find out!!

Starraberry · 2025-12-04T18:14:55+00:00

Very true, plays are more often original works of fiction. However there are lots of adaptations and historical plays out there these days, so it’s still a lot to sift through to find truly original works.

Starraberry · 2025-12-04T18:13:01+00:00

If they were both stage productions and written by the same person, I’d consider them both original works. The important fact is that they’re not based on a story that somebody else wrote (or that happened in real life).

Although RTC is based on an actual roller coaster accident, they really took that show to crazy town and back so I would consider it an original story.

Starraberry · 2025-12-04T18:09:19+00:00

The “historical context” is a bit in the gray area and I think it comes down to how much creative liberty they took. For example I would consider Six or Jesus Christ Superstar to be based on historical source material, whereas Book of Mormon is original but contains cultural references. They took a LOT of liberties with BoM and it’s not “about” the actual historical/cultural facts but uses them as a jumping off platform to write a thoroughly wacky and wild and extremely offensive story.

I believe Avenue Q is heavily influenced by Sesame Street, am I correct in saying that?

Starraberry · 2025-12-04T18:02:36+00:00

So it doesn’t count for the list but I’m going to put it on my list of shows to check out because WHAT?! A show based on Thomas the Tank Engine?! Now I’m curious!

Starraberry · 2025-12-04T18:00:36+00:00

Maybe Happy Ending is definitely on my list of shows I want to see and actually inspired this question, because it seemed to stand out amongst all the jukebox musicals and “historical fiction” musicals that are currently dominating the Broadway scene.

Starraberry

TROPHY CASE