Matt Vinson & Matte O’Brien on the Joys and Challenges of Bringing a Musical to the Stage

Writing a musical is a long process, and once the writers are have finished that last page…that’s really only the beginning of their journey. By the time an actor comes along to audition for it, there’s usually been years of drafts, workshops, and revisions.  Listeners of this podcast know that this summer has been a welcome return to the stage for me in a new theatrical adaptation of Anne of Green Gables, my first musical since the covid shutdown and it all started with a self-tape audition back in February of this year that then culminated in several callbacks with the creative team a few weeks later. Well today, I’m joined by two of the people who were in that audition room: composer Matt Vinson and writer Matte O'Brien. While there have been individual writers and composers on previous episodes, this is the first time welcoming a musical writing team to the show. Matt and Matte have done several musicals together, but for this conversation we focus on the many years it has taken for Anne of Green Gables to get to Goodspeed Musicals in Connecticut, and how they are preparing for its potential future. Matt and Matte share three stories of its humble beginnings, learning to take (and not take) feedback from others, and how actors influence the rewriting and editing process.  Click here for a transcription of this episode. SUBSCRIBE TO WINMI Get access to Audition Stories, the Final Five questions, and other bonus content by becoming a monthly or yearly subscriber to Why I’ll Never Make It. Producing this podcast is rewarding in its own way, but I’m essentially a one-man operation. So it is both costly and time-intensive to put together each episode. By subscribing you’ll be supporting these podcasting efforts, and have access to extended conversations and other bonus content. Your financial support of this podcast is greatly appreciated! Subscribe to get access to bonus episodes and extra content   Make a one-time Donation to support transcripts and podcast production If you’d like to support WINMI but have limited funds to do so, then contact me directly for reduced-price or even free access to the bonus content. Follow WINMI: Website | Instagram | YouTube ———- Why I’ll Never Make It is an award-winning, Top Theater Podcast hosted by actor and singer Patrick Oliver Jones and is a production of WINMI Media. Background music is by John Bartmann and Blue Dot Sessions is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices