Making Musicals with Holly Yurth Richards

Jul 22 2023 10 ep. 26 mins 97
Making Musicals with Holly Yurth Richards Podcast artwork

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!

  Arts  Music
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Episode 09 - Advice for the Journey (Part 1)

Jul 22 2023 31 mins  
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 success 2) Listen to others' work and applaud them; keep abreast of what's happening 3) Work on your mindset - there is room for everyone to be successful 4) Make your bed and work in a different space 5) Celeb

Episode 08 - Killing Your Darlings

Jun 17 2022 19 mins  
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 reasons why we must, at times, make the ultimate sacrifice for the benefit of our art.

Episode 07 - Tips for Writing Strong Melodies

Jan 07 2022 25 mins  
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, and more.

Episode 06 - Lyric Writing #1 - You Get One Chance

Oct 29 2021 21 mins  
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 Way People SpeakFind Integrity in True Rhyme SchemesThe subject of lyric writing is so vast and nuanced that Holly looks forward to exploring more with you in subseq

Episode 05 - Welcome to Zion and the Mormon Conundrum

Oct 08 2021 33 mins  
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 that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - aka Mormon or LDS - has an especially troubling dichotomy between what is taught to be n

Episode 04 - Music Skills - Do I Have What It Takes to Write Musical Theatre?

Oct 01 2021 27 mins  
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.

Episode 03 - Demos, Broadway is Back, and Why Theatre is Important

Oct 01 2021 27 mins  
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 magic and voyeuristic component of live theatre is important.

Episode 02 - What Comes First - Music or Lyrics?

Sep 17 2021 29 mins  
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! For show notes, visit my website at www.hyrichards.com/podcast

Episode 01 - Get to Know Holly and Welcome to Zion's Beginnings

Sep 10 2021 45 mins  
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 last decade, especially among LGBTQ+ youth. This new musical follows one Mormon family who, upon learning their son is gay, must confront the beli

Episode 0 - Intro!

Sep 03 2021 3 mins  
One thing that you learn reeeeally quickly in the musical theatre writing world: there aren’t a whole lot of us out there doing this. Because of that, there isn’t a sure-fire, beaten path to follow when it comes to building your career as a playwright/composer. And that’s okay. You’re gonna do it ANYWAY. Because a life spent creating what you know you were born to create is