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96 - The Graduate Thesis

Why a playwriting thesis?

I enjoy creating theatre. I have always enjoyed musical theatre and over the course of the past 10 years, I have seen some great and not so great pieces of musical theatre, from the old to the brand new! It's really interesting to see what works in a show and what doesn't, and to think about ways in which the production could have improved. That's how I approached my first musical, Follow Your Dreams: What would happen if I took the best concepts found in many of my favorite musicals and apply them to my work? It worked to an extent. The audience was engaged and entertained the entire time. Would it work when the audience was not my friends and family, or if it was fully staged in a theatre? I never had that chance...yet.

Playwriting is not always easy for me, and song and lyric writing can be impossible at times. It's hard to put yourself in each and every character's shoes and go through everything that they are going through. But the process is a lot of fun, and the experience of watching your work come alive on stage is one of the greatest things in the world...even if it turns out to be a flop!

I was introduced to someone a few months ago and referred to as a playwright. It was weird at first, because I have always identified more with singer or performer or teacher. I think of myself more of a theatre maker, as I dabble in all aspects of the art form. But I had to pick one thing to dabble in for my thesis, and I wanted a challenge...

From my thesis proposal:

I struggled with what I wanted my capstone to be on my time in the Graduate Theatre Program at Villanova. I came to Villanova with every intention of pursuing a directing thesis. However, after careful consideration, I have decided to propose a thesis that encapsulates everything that I have learned throughout my two years in the graduate program and allows me to grow in a field I have recently been exploring: adapting Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray into a full-length musical. My goals in embarking on this project are:

  • To learn how to adapt previously written material for the stage.

  • To increase my songwriting skills as a solo writer, particularly in lyric writing.

  • To create a piece of theatre that encompasses the skills and knowledge gained from each class during my time at Villanova

The thesis proposal was approved on 10/26/15, which gave me a small head start, though I wouldn't have a lot of time to work on it until Christmas break (more on that later).

Many people think I am crazy for trying to do this in six months, but hey, I like to be challenged and to try new things...and boy am I learning. Thanks for taking this journey with me!

96 days to go!


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