Insanities: An original musical

Abstract

In an effort to create a work of musical theater, this playwright/composer sought to present a gritty, unembellished look at how we live today. In doing so, attention was paid not to treat music and song as a tool to raise the subject material above what it naturally is, but as simply another means by which the characters express themselves. The following study offers a synthesis of the methodology behind achieving such a work, through examination of the structure, the script, the songs, and the language of Insanities, and a postmortem discussion of the production, successes and failures thereof.