REQ: Studio.com Modern Musical Theatre Songwriting : Telling a Story From Start to Finish
Learn everything you need to write musical theatre songs for today. In this class, songwriter Zack Zadek takes you into his studio and teaches you his entire step-by-step process for writing musical theatre songs — songs that infuse pop and indie sensibilities into compelling character moments. Follow along as Zack develops the first song from a musical from scratch, and then coaches Broadway star Will Roland (Dear Evan Hansen, Billions) on crafting a fully produced demo performance, explaining everything he’s doing along the way.
Taught by
Profile picture for Zack Zadek
Zack Zadek
Acclaimed musical theatre & pop songwriter with songs performed by stars of stage and screen, certified Gold with over 150 million streams, and musicals headed to Broadway.
What you’ll learn
Zack Zadek's unique, start-to-finish process for writing modern musical theatre songs
How to choose which moments in your musical to musicalize - and in what order.
How to craft melodies that use pop melodic math to make infectious hooks.
Breaking story and exploring specific characters.
Working with an actor on shaping their performance of a new song.
Fully recording, producing, mixing, and mastering a professional demo.
Breaking open the process of turning a single song into a full musical theatre score.
Class Overview
Write musical theatre songs that speak to today
Zack Zadek’s songs have been performed by some of the biggest artists in music, Hollywood, and Broadway, from Ariana DeBose, Alex Brightman, and Meghann Fahy to Tate McRae, Kathryn Gallagher, and many more. He’s been commissioned to write musicals by the producers of HAMILTON, BEAUTIFUL, and THE BOOK OF MORMON, and his shows have been developed and produced at theatres all over the world.
In this class, Zack will teach you his entire process of modern musical theatre songwriting - how to tell tuneful and impactful stories.
He’ll bring you into his studio and share with you his entire creative process from start to finish. Follow along as Zack writes and demos the first song for a brand new musical completely from scratch - starting from finding his initial idea, all the way through to working with Broadway star Will Roland as records a full demo.
Along the way, Zack will explain everything that he’s doing. His thought process, narrative choices - every idea, decision, tool, and technique.
You’ll learn how to come up with an idea for your musical, how to break story and craft compelling characters, how to identify the first moments in your show to musicalize and hone in on a unique song concept that can stand on its own, how to use pop construction to make your song as hooky as possible, while keeping track of dramatic arcs to tell your story. Zack will walk you through melody, chord progressions, and lyric craft, how to work with an actor on honing a performance and then fully producing a professional quality demo.
By the end of the class, you’ll know everything you need to write modern musical theatre songs of your very own.