Making Musicals with Holly Yurth Richards
Hello and welcome to Making Musicals with me - your host - Holly Yurth Richards. I am an award-winning playwright, composer, lyricist and librettist who is passionate about crafting new stories for the musical theatre stage. I created this podcast as a way to share my story about how I got started in this fascinating field of work and to offer insight and guidance to other writers about my process, about other writers’ processes, and on the available resources out there - which are surprisingly plentiful, when you know where to look for them. Come make musicals with me!
Episodes
10 episodes
Episode 09 - Advice for the Journey (Part 1)
Holly's back! In this episode, Holly shares 6 points of advice for staying sane in the journey of writing musical theatre.1) Let go of the fact that there is no set path to success2) Listen to others' work and applaud them; keep abr...
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31:16
Episode 08 - Killing Your Darlings
Oh, no! You can't mean it! Not my favorite song! Noooooooooo.....Yes. She does mean it. Sometimes we have to be willing to "kill our darlings" in order to make our show the best it can be. Join Holly as she discusses just a few of the r...
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Season 1
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Episode 8
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19:29
Episode 07 - Tips for Writing Strong Melodies
What makes a strong melody? What is it about certain songs that people simply cannot resist singing along ("Sweet Caroline...Ba Ba BA")? In this episode, we take a look at things like melodic patterns, melodic leaps, melodic range,...
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25:22
Episode 06 - Lyric Writing #1 - You Get One Chance
This episode marks the first of many in the fascinating and satisfying realm of lyric writing. Today Holly talks about three main concepts to keep in mind while writing lyrics for your show: You Get One ChanceWrite the...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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21:04
Episode 05 - Welcome to Zion and the Mormon Conundrum
In this episode, I go more in depth into the beginnings of my show Welcome to Zion and why its premise matters. It's no secret that LGBTQ people can often feel on the outside of their faith communities, for many reasons. There is no denying tha...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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33:30
Episode 04 - Music Skills - Do I Have What It Takes to Write Musical Theatre?
In this episode, Holly talks about her music training and the wide spectrum of skill level that exists in the world of theatre writing. She also shares some resources for learning music theory without having to pay for a college degree.
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27:20
Episode 03 - Demos, Broadway is Back, and Why Theatre is Important
In this episode Holly discusses her recent time in the recording studio with Austin Comfort laying down some demo tracks for Welcome to Zion. She also gives a brief overview of her trip this week to New York City, as well as discussing why the ...
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27:13
Episode 02 - What Comes First - Music or Lyrics?
Today Holly discusses the question she gets asked the most - what comes first, the music or lyrics? Every writer gets to find what process works best for them. Learn about Holly's process and glean some tips to discover your own!
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Season 1
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Episode 2
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29:38
Episode 01 - Get to Know Holly and Welcome to Zion's Beginnings
In this episode, Holly gives you a glimpse into her upbringing and history as a writer of musicals, as well as insight into how she began writing Welcome to Zion and why.The teen suicide rate in Utah has been rising exponentially in the...
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Season 1
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Episode 1
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45:40