WGGB is delighted to announce the launch of The Musical Theatre Kit – a joint publication with the Musicians’ Union that provides a map to the two unions’ latest musical theatre writing guidelines

The Kit covers creation, development and production and signposts the places where detailed information can be found about each aspect of the process.

The Musical Theatre Kit is available online as a free PDF, which you can download here.

Who can benefit from the Kit

The Kit explores how musical theatre is a collaborative art-form. It recognises that the material is created by a combination of book writers, composers and lyricists – or devised by a collective of writers and performers.

It initially focuses on helping this writing team with copyright ownership, copyright merging and small rights issues. Advice on the key steps for writers is supplied, alongside additional online sample contracts and resources.

The focus then shifts to advice on working with the source material itself, whether an original story, an adaption of existing material in the public domain – out of copyright – or an adaption of an existing work that is still in copyright.

The Kit also investigates the part of the process when the appropriate rights have been acquired, the collaboration agreement has been reached, and the writing process begins.

Finally, advice is offered to writers at the stage when turning the ideas into production kicks off in earnest, after the musical has been written.

At each stage, the budding writer and working partners are given information and sources to smooth their path. This Kit should prove a vital document in encouraging and supporting writers for musical theatre.

The Kit was launched on Monday 12 March 2018 at an event at the National Theatre, introduced by WGGB Theatre Co-Chair Jenifer Toksvig (pictured above right) and Musicians’ Union Assistant General Secretary Naomi Pohl (picture above left).

Photo: Jonathan Stewart