Prospect Musicals seeks applicants to participate in the 18th installment of its annual Musical Theater Lab program. 

Applications are accepted via GOOGLE FORM. 

Submissions were due by Monday, November 18th at 11:59pm.

*Applicants may email Dev Bondarin, dev@ProspectTheater.org, to request an application extension of up to 48 hours if you encounter challenges with your submission.

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Each year, Prospect's Lab brings together writing teams to create short musicals in response to a curated assignment.  The 6-week program culminates in a public presentation of the new works generated through the lab process.  The 2025 Lab features in-person writer meetings, rehearsals, and concert performance.

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As Prospect is in the midst of celebrating the company’s 25th year of producing new work, this year's Lab — titled JUMP CUT — will have a central theme of time, and how change occurs over time. From dawn to dusk, the Renaissance to the Roaring 20s, or 11:01 to 11:30, each writing team will randomly be assigned a length of time and asked to create a short piece which jumps through time to create narrative arc, character growth, and discovery.  We look forward to exploring all facets of this theme in our curatorial process with the selected writing teams.

 

Each selected Lab writing team will create a short (8-10 minute) musical sparked by the writing prompt, to be performed by a cast of 2-4 performers. Works generated in the Lab will be presented in a one-night-only, concert-style public performance on Thursday February 20, 2025 @ 7:30pm at Symphony Space (2537 Broadway, NYC) in the Peter J. Sharp Theater.

We invite writers to be as intimately and frequently engaged with the Lab process as possible.  Please review the timeline below to confirm the team’s availability for this project.  The Lab intentionally operates on a compact timeline and incorporates random, playful elements in order to encourage writers to make bold and in-the-moment choices in their creative process.  If you or your team members will be unavailable for much of the planned process, it is best to wait for a future cycle to apply.

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We will begin with a meet & greet with writers and the director on Mon 1/6 to discuss the general process.  If you apply, please hold open this date in the evening -- as well as Mon 1/20 in the evening -- for in-person group Lab meetings.  Teams will be notified of the application process outcome not later than Mon 12/9/24. 

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The presentation will be performed by a versatile and diverse cast of actor-singers, drawn from Prospect’s network of alumni performers and other recommendations.  For the 2025 Lab, cast size will be targeted to 2-4 performers who are dedicated to working on one primary project.  Writers are encouraged to attend rehearsals, which take place over a two week period at a location in midtown Manhattan. The rehearsals will be a combination of day and evening time slots based on availability schedules submitted by the writing teams.
 

LAB TIMELINE:
Mon Jan. 6 - First group meeting of writers in evening (please hold this evening open.)
Fri Jan. 10 – Show concept pitches due.
Wed Jan. 15 – Cast breakdown due.
Mon Jan. 20 – Second group meeting of writers in evening (please hold this evening open.)
Fri Jan. 24 – Libretto first draft due.

Sat. Jan 25 - Fri Jan. 31 – Individual writer team meetings with director to be scheduled. 
Sat Feb. 1 – Completed rehearsal drafts of script and score due.
Tues Feb. 4 – Earliest first rehearsal date.
Tues Feb. 4 - Wed Feb. 19 – Rehearsals for each piece scheduled during this period.
Thurs Feb. 20 – Afternoon tech rehearsal at Symphony Space. 7:30pm performance.

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THE FINE PRINT

• Writers receive a modest honorarium for their participation in the Lab.

• Writers retain all copyright/ownership of their work.

• Writers who have previously participated in the Lab are welcome to re-apply, but not in the session immediately following their participation. (Ie: Writers may not participate in two back to back Labs, they must take one year off before re-applying.)

 

Previous Lab projects include Museum Pieces (2008), Map Quest (2009), Snapshots (2010), Souvenir Stories (2011), Rites of Passage (2012), Portraits (2013), Street Seen (2014), By The Numbers (2015), Stage Fright (2015), Archetype (2016), World Views (2017), Monument (2018), Message In A Bottle (2019), Move Meant (2020), Rule of Three (2021), Caption This (2022), Potluck (2023).