Broadway's Greatest

Original Broadway songs performed and written by Lindsay Perr

Inspired by Broadway's most iconic composers/lyricists

Focus and Overview

The focus of my capstone was to research four Broadway composers/lyricists and create three songs, each emulating a different composer and their style of Broadway song writing. I created and ultimately chose this style of project because of my passion for theater. I am lucky enough to have the support of my friends and family as I begin my adult career in the performing arts. However, my main goal for my capstone was to develop a better understanding of one the many pieces needed to create a musical: writing the music. I have always had a great appreciation for the behind the scenes work that is involved in musical theater, but I've never had the chance to be apart of it. I saw the capstone program as an opportunity to expand my knowledge and get out of my comfort zone by developing the mindset of a musical writer, not a musical performer. Although I am the one who is performing the songs, my main focus was on the writing

Research and Results

For the research portion of the project, I used a number of sources that helped me understand each of the composers. My favorite part of the research aspect was reading my Broadway books Musicals: A Definitive Illustrated Story and Broadway Musicals: The 101 Greatest Shows of All Time. Both of these books go into depth about the history of musical theater and dive deep into the greatest musicals of all time!

My Personal Experience

When I started my capstone, everything seemed easy enough. After all, all I had to do was write some songs, record them, and do a performance, right? Not so much. Even before COVID-19, getting over that first hurdle of deciding what to write about was very difficult. Around halfway through the songwriting process, the school was shut down and students and faculty were told to go into quarantine. As it turns out, sometimes having nothing to do can hurt a person's creative process. I really had to push myself to get words down on the paper. Even if they weren't great at first, I knew that if I had something written down, I'd be able to revise it. Eventually my creativity shined and I finally wrote and finished each of the three songs lyrics. Another obstacle I faced was the lack of in-person communication. My plans to meet with my advisor every week soon came to a halt as schedules changed. However, I was able to overcome the social barrier through a number of zoom calls with my wonderful advisor, Mr. Weber. Despite the challenges I faced both creatively and socially, the capstone program was an amazing experience that I will never forget!

Future Endeavors and Advice to Prospective Students

I truly learned more than I could ever imagine through the hard work and time put into my capstone. Creating this project was important to me because I find that the world is changing right before our eyes. New artists continue to be inspired by old artists, new authors continue to be inspired by old authors. I am at a point in my life where I can see the influence of one musician in another musician! So I took to this project to analyze and understand the influences of each composer and their musical stylings. Summing up my analysis: Modern Broadway is not "changing", it is evolving. Things may be different now, but at its core it is still the art of storytelling. When emotions are too intense to talk about, the only way is to sing about them. I intend to use the creative process as well as the information I learned for the rest of my life. I plan on majoring in a BFA Musical Theater program in college as well as pursuing a career in the performing arts after receiving my education!

My advice to students interested in taking up a capstone project: Choose something you are passionate about! This entire process, though rewarding, involved a lot of independent work and extra time. I will admit, between my college auditions and my capstone project, there were times where I grew tired of listening to so much music. However, these times were few and far between. Ultimately, my capstone project did not feel like work to me because of how much interested I was in the things I was learning about. Even if it's not something you plan on making a career out of it is still worthwhile to relish in something you love. It is not about who is going to see the project, it is about putting in the effort to do a job well done and feeling satisfied with your project.

Composers and Their Impact On My Project

Lin Manuel Miranda

Lin Manuel Miranda's modern take on musical theater has shifted the genre as a whole. Inspired by my personal experience throughout the whirlwind of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ordinary Days serves as a seemingly mundane introduction to the seemingly mundane life of our musical protagonist. I tapped into Miranda's use of fourth wall narration to shape this song as the protagonist speaking to the audience.

Stephen Sondheim

Stephen Sondheim's musical complexity is something I knew would be hard to get just right. I decided to take the more melodic route, inspired by songs such as Not a Day Goes By, Being Alive, and No One is Alone. These powerful ballads of love and loss truly capture the emotional essence of theater, which is what I attempted to do in my song Believe in Me and You.

Andrew Lloyd Webber

Andrew Lloyd Webber is a strange man. An amazing composer, but a very strange man. This is attested to some his most iconic musicals such as Phantom of the Opera, Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar, and my personal favorite; Cats. In my song, Win Again, I aim to channel the obscurity of his musical creations in this not-so-normal high school feud.

My Original Songs

Believe in Me and You

Inspired by Stephen Sondheim

Plot: A cynical, workaholic woman meets a small town Christmas shop owner and he begins to melt her tough exterior. She finally allows herself to fall in love with him and she begins to appreciate her feelings. If Hallmark made a musical, this song would definitely be in it.

Lyrics

I don’t believe in fairytale endings

I don’t believe in zodiac signs

I don’t believe that people are good at their core

There’s a lot of things that I don’t believe in anymore

I don’t always believe in forgiveness

Cause people never really seem to change

But I believe that some things are too good to be true

So i would not believe in me and you

I’d put up walls

and keep my guard

Cause I believe that the worst thing a person could be left with

Is a terribly broken heart

Then one day someone came into my life

And truly believed in me

They broke down the walls and finally pushed through

And they said “i believe in me and you”

Now I don’t dread fairytale endings

I’ll look into zodiac signs

Cause maybe, just maybe they’re possible too

And maybe you’re not just too good to be true

And maybe its worth it

That I believe in me and you

Ordinary Days

Inspired by Lin Manuel Miranda

Plot: An "Average Joe" student describes her life as a typical student at a typical high school in a typical town. Just when she begins to understand the game of life, a global pandemic turns the nation upside down and life as she knows it is completely changed!

Lyrics

Wake up, make up

Get on the bus and check my twitter

Its not even 7am but it looks like the world is ending again

Then finally I’m walking to my 8am class and its not

Even close to funny how boring it is

But its what I gotta do, i guess it is what it is.

Then in the blink of an eye its 3:15pm

So I'm back on bus and I'm headed to my family to say

Its just an ordinary day

Just when i think I’m in the homestretch

I've finally got it

My senior year is ruined by a global pandemic

Which is something that i can’t even begin to describe

So now I’m stuck in the house

And life’s turned upside down

But I’m moving along and accepting that this is okay!?

My new ordinary day!

Win Again

Inspired by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Plot: Two best friends (Stacy and Susan) are in competition for valedictorian of their class. Although Stacy has always been ahead, they've never let their rivalry get in the way of their friendship. That is until the day before the final exam (which will determine who is the valedictorian), Susan has had enough. She locks Stacy in her basement so that she will miss the test and receive a 0%, ultimately securing Susan's spot as valedictorian.

Lyrics

The wait is over and sun begins to rise

Now I’ll be 1st in the class and take what’s rightfully mine

I have spent my whole life preparing for this day

The last thing I will do is let you get in my way

All is fair in love and war

You may have the upper hand, but i’ll even the score

Be careful who you believe and who you trust

It’s not evil, its doing what I must

I’m so sorry this is how it had to end

But the losers will be losers and the winners will just win again!

Click on the photo above to learn more about the shutdown!

COVID-19 Broadway Shutdown

With the threat of COVID-19 lurking in the near future, on March 9th, 2020, the Broadway League made the decision to shut down the Theatre District in order to preemptively combat the virus and keep citizens and theater workers safe. What was only supposed to be 32 days has turned into 302 days as of January 4th, 2021. A number of shows have closed permanently and many performers and techies are out of a job indefinitely. Thankfully, groups such as BCEFA and the producers of SVU are doing everything they can to support Broadway workers. With high hopes, I look forward to seeing Broadway reopen on May 31st, 2021. The show must go on!

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Moorestown Friends School, Mrs. Godley, Ms. Day, and Mrs. Thomson for orchestrating the capstone program and helping us adapt to our new virtual presentation platform. This could not be done without you!

And a big round of applause for my advisor, Mr. Weber, who accepted me as his first ever capstone student! Mr. Weber has not only been a big help during my project, but has been a mentor and friend to me for the last three years. His hard work, compassion, and great ideas have completely elevated the MFS performing arts program. He has helped me grow as a singer, an actor, a student, and as a person. I cannot express enough how grateful I am to have him as a teacher! Thank you Mr. Weber!

Citations

Internet and Web Articles

Kisiday, Joseph. “Broadway Musical Trends By The Decade: Which Is Your Favorite?” Theatre Nerds, 5 July 2017, https://theatrenerds.com/broadway-musical-trends-decade/
Gioia, Michael. “PLAYBILL PICKS: The Contemporary Musical Theatre Songwriters You Should Know, Part Two.” Playbill, 16 Oct. 2012, www.playbill.com/article/playbill-picks-the-contemporary-musical-theatre-songwriters-you-should-know-part-two-com-198308
Montagne, Renee. “Andrew Lloyd Webber's Genius Is 'Unmasked' In New Memoir.” WBGO, www.wbgo.org/post/andrew-lloyd-webbers-genius-unmasked-new-memoir
“Andrew Lloyd Webber at 70: How a Ruthless Perfectionist Became Mr Musical.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 21 Mar. 2018, www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/mar/21/andrew-lloyd-webber-at-70-british-musical-theatre-cats-phantom
Gonzalez, Sandra, and Abigail Brooks. “Lin-Manuel Miranda Explains His Tasty Creative Process.” CNN, Cable News Network, 20 Feb. 2017, www.cnn.com/2017/02/13/entertainment/lin-manuel-miranda-creators/index.html
Sippie, Josh, and Tim Waggoner. “Lin-Manuel Miranda: Use Your Space.” The Writer, 2 Dec. 2015, www.writermag.com/improve-your-writing/scriptwriting/lin-manuel-miranda/

Print

Webber, Andrew Lloyd. Unmasked: A Memoir. Harper, 2019.
Page, Elaine. Musicals: The Definitive Illustrated Story. DK Publishing, 2015.
Bloom, Ken, et al. Broadway Musicals: The 101 Greatest Shows of All Time. Black Dog & Leventhal, 2010.
Miranda, Lin-manuel/ Mccarter Jeremy. Hamilton: The Revolution. Grand Central Pub, 2016.

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