Writing a Musical (is UX)

Challenge: One of Baltimore's premier theater companies, the Baltimore Rock Opera Society (BROS), commissioned me to co-write the feature-length musical Love & ROAR! It had to deliver not only a genre mashup of romantic comedy and giant monster movie, but also a thrilling rock concert and production ideas that shattered the limits of live theater.

Prewriting: Content Strategy

The core team of a creative lead, two writers, and two composers began with a philosophy of structure and simplicity. We researched genre references, developed basic character concepts, and outlined the big-picture story structure — the hierarchy of information the audience would navigate. 

Writing: User First

On this scaffolding the team placed scenes, dialogue, and songs. At every point in this process, we put ourselves in the audience's shoes. Is this character relatable? Will this plot point deepen the audience's emotional connection with the characters? Most of the time the answers boiled down to context and consistency [elaborate].   

We wanted this show to be easy to understand, so we reduced clutter in the dialogue and finessed voice and tone throughout to send a consistent message and fit the BROS brand.

Immersion: Holistic Design

As our draft took shape, we waded into the holistic design of production cues. I particularly enjoyed writing tech cues like lighting direction, sound effects, and musical stings. The team spent many nights discussing how to go beyond the written word to create immersive, memorable experiences. 

Choreography was another storytelling element we planned in our script. We used it for navigational shortcuts, composing detailed breakdowns of the mini-stories for the audience to follow during dance breaks.
 

Revision: User Testing

BROS held three public read-throughs where we heard qualitative feedback from the theater community and gauged satisfaction from fans experiencing our story and music for the first time. Theater leadership offered formal notes, and we pushed efficiency and concision in our drafts wherever we could.

Opening Night

Outcome: The creative team crafted an emotionally complex experience from a slew of simple ideas. Our final script was less of a layer cake and more like a baklava. 

Love & ROAR! received glowing reviews on release, and nearly every show sold out. I still can't believe I got to write a musical.