Beating Broadway: How to Create Stories for Musicals That Get Standing Ovations

by Steve Cuden

Right off the bat you want to give the audience a sense that they are in safe, sure hands, that they have done well by buying a ticket and showing up. You don’t want anyone to wonder why he has bothered coming to the theater. Plus, this is the first moment of many to come in the story, and all those that come after it must follow in the footsteps of this first one. The whole story, its mood, tone, style, etc., is set up right at the top. The good news is that once you have someone in a seat, he wants you to succeed. He will be pulling for you to give him an entertaining, enlightening, uplifting, and emotional time. The problem for the show’s creators is that if you fail the audience at the top, then it is so much harder to gain their trust until you burrow much deeper into the story. If you don’t have them at the outset, it becomes far more challenging to bring them to your side. Therefore, having a killer opening image, action, movement, moment, song, etc., is a huge advantage.