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Fall 2025

Wicked Stagewriting: From Plays to Musicals

The Wicked Stagewriting: From Plays to Musicals Journey is designed to help develop the skills and understanding needed to work as a writer in today’s theatre industry. This Journey provides insight into the work of a playwright – a deep understanding of live storytelling and professional scripts, plays vs musicals, professional working practices, and employment strategies. We will look to popular musicals such as Wicked for inspiration in creating original pieces.

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This Journey is Closed, but You Can Apply for a Fall 2026 Journey Now!

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Learning Objectives

Recognize Playwriting Conventions

Learn how plays and musicals are commonly structured, the roles that characters typically play, and the genres seen in the industry.

Construct a Compelling Stageplay

Practice writing a script using industry-standard stageplay formatting and layout conventions.

Identify Playwriting Resources

Explore tools, communities, and strategies for revising and workshopping a play-in-progress.

Understand Play Production

Gain insight into the steps involved in bringing a play from page to stage, including casting, rehearsals, and performance.

Wicked Stagewriting: From Plays to Musicals Community Experiences

Mentees and mentors in this Journey are required to attend the monthly Journey meetings during the cycle and the Play Showcase.

Journey Meeting Dates:

  • Monday, November 10, 2025, 7 pm ET
  • Monday, December 1, 2025, 7 pm ET
  • Monday, January 12, 2026, 7 pm ET

Play Showcase:

  • Saturday, January 31, 2026, 12 pm ET

In addition, all participants must attend at least one community event each month, with strong recommendations to join Exploratory Community Studios, College & Career Chats, or Salon Experiences.

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Journey Circle: Community

Writing for the Stage: From Plays to Musicals Courses

Writing for the Stage: From Plays to Musicals
This course is designed to help develop the skills and understanding needed to work as a writer in today’s theatre industry. Writing for the Stage: From Plays to Musicals provides insight into the work of a scriptwriter – a deep understanding of live storytelling and professional scripts, short-form and full-length scripts, professional working practices, and employment strategies. Specific topics range from story structure to librettos to actually staging the play.

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Writing

Wicked Stagewriting: From Plays to Musicals Mentoring

Mentees and mentors in the Wicked Stagewriting Journey will be matched for one cycle. Pairs will meet for at least two hour-long sessions each month. Mentees will write a short play, while mentors will offer support and guidance throughout the process. This Journey is open to both mentor-mentee pairs and peer-to-peer pairs.

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Journey Teaching Artist

Carmen Rivera

(she/her/ella)

Carmen Rivera holds an MA in Playwriting and Latin American Theatre from New York University. Her play, La Gringa, was part of the OBIE Award Winning Series New Voices in 1996 and recently celebrated its 29th year anniversary in repertory at Repertorio Español. It is now the longest running Spanish-language play in Off-Broadway history. It was published in both English and Spanish by Concord Theatrical Productions (Formerly Samuel French.)  

Off-Broadway productions include: Celia: The Life and Music of Celia Cruz (Co-Written with Cándido Tirado) – (HOLA Award, Outstanding Achievement in Playwriting); La Lupe: My Life, My Destiny (ACE Award – Best Production); Julia de Burgos: Child of Water; To Catch The Lightning (Nomination ACE Award – Best Production.) 

La Caída De Rafael Trujillo (The Downfall of Rafael Trujillo) – (ATI Award for Best Production) has had 4 sold out productions at Teatro Círculo. It is now available at Theatrical Rights Worldwide (TRW) in both English and in Spanish.

Carmen has been the recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), ATT On-Stage and New York State Council of the Arts (NYSCA). For more information on Carmen, check out www.carmenrivera-writer.com.

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Wicked Stagewriting: From Plays to Musicals

What Past Participants Have to Say

“I’m excited for Nigella’s experience and future experiences with GWN. She grew in terms of confidence and made some friends along the way. Additionally, she has decided to apply for Teach for America. We worked on a variety of things outside of her Collaboratory assignment, including her resume and application.”
​​Bronwen Pelish
“Writing scripts was a new experience for my mentee, so she gained confidence in a different style of writing and expanded her skillset there.”
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Brittany Crowell Mentor
“Collaborating with other peers and my mentor was the most valuable part of the program. I joined GWN to meet more writers like myself and join a diverse community. I was glad to interact with people who had similar goals as I did. I started with the goals of writing more often, obtaining more career readiness tips and overall communication with a like-minded individual. I was able to find that and reestablish a routine around writing but also a daily routine I could adhere to for more structure in my life.”
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Nigella McConnell Mentee
“The thing that I appreciated about this journey is the fact that we had a Teaching Artist who works in the industry. She was really helpful and open to ideas and encouraging. I felt comfortable sharing my work with others as well.”
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La’Tia Owens Mentee

Journeys in the Script 360 Adventure focus on writing for film, television, and the stage. It is recommended for mentees and mentors who would like to create their own plays, screenplays, or teleplays.

Wicked Stagewriting: From Plays to Musicals is a Journey in the Script 360 Adventure.

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Everything Is a Story: Nonfiction that Reads like Fiction (Fall 2026)

In this Journey, mentees and mentors will explore the ways in which creative storytelling techniques can be applied to nonfiction writing of all kinds, from memoir and personal essay to op-ed and how-to articles. We will dive into what makes a story—from structural archetypes to writing that flows—and learn how to harness the power of story to make nonfiction compelling and transformative.

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Wild Ideas: Nature, Science & Creativity (Fall 2026)

Created in honor of Helen Ghiradella, the biologist who uncovered the hidden architecture of butterfly wings, this Journey invites you, mentor and mentee, to explore the natural world through the complementary lenses of scientific inquiry and creative expression. Through close observation, research, and reflection, you'll investigate the forms, patterns, and processes found in nature, then build an original project—writing, visual art, media, performance, music, or a form of your own choosing—that celebrates where these disciplines meet. Along the way, you'll sharpen your powers of observation, stretch your interdisciplinary thinking, and develop the ability to translate scientific understanding into meaningful art.

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Civil Discourse: Connection & Persuasion (Fall 2026)

In this Journey, you—mentor and mentee—will build essential skills in public speaking, argumentation, and critical thinking. Through hands-on activities and lively discussion, you'll learn to craft persuasive speeches, construct well-reasoned arguments, and present your ideas with confidence. You'll explore what makes communication land, sharpen your thinking under pressure, and practice responding to perspectives unlike your own in a structured setting. By the end, you'll be able to make your case clearly, engage in dialogue that goes somewhere, and carry these skills into academic, professional, and civic life.

Civil Discourse Connection & Persuasion; two girls speaking with a mic
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Dark Tales: A Horror Book Club (Fall 2026)

Step into the shadows of horror and discover what makes a story truly unsettling. Across three monthly book club meetings, you—mentor and mentee—will dig into close readings and lively discussion of selected works, examining how authors build suspense, conjure atmosphere, evoke fear, and use the genre to probe deeper social, psychological, and cultural questions. Together you'll unpack narrative technique, character development, and the many shapes the genre can take. By summer's end, you'll have a richer appreciation for horror, sharper critical instincts as readers, and a store of inspiration and craft to carry into your own writing. Required books this cycle: Dark Is When the Devil Comes by Daisy Pearce, The Body by Bethany C. Morrow, and I'll Watch Your Baby by Neena Viel.

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