How Do I Even Start Writing A Musical ?! - a workshop with Yve Blake (Sydney)

Want to write a musical? no idea where or how to start?

No problemo bestie. I've been there & I gotchu 😎

In this two hour workshop, I'll share all the tricks, tools, and traps that I've collected - so that you can unearth your weirdest ideas and make them sing.

🦦 This workshop is not *just* suited for people who want to write a musical, but for anyone who wants to write a story that has songs in it. 🦦

You'll learn:

👉 How to generate STACKS of ideas for shows, and how to make a premise EVEN juicier! 

👉 Tools I use to generate ideas for plot, characters, songs, scenes, and even lyrics.

👉 How to start writing a song even if you can't play a musical instrument, and - how to structure it too.

👉 How to get clear on your POV and your voice as a writer.

👉 Tricks and traps (good traps) for getting to the end of a first draft, how to get un-stuck when you hit a wall.

😎 This workshop requires ZERO musical 'talent' & ZERO writing experience. All are welcome! 😎

FAQS:

🤔 Do I need to bring anything? only something to write with! I reccomend paper and pen.

🤔 Do I need to come with an idea for a show? absolutely NOT! we are going to dream up STACKS of ideas for shows.

🤔 Will there be a Q&A at the end? 100% there will!

🤔 Do I have to be a specific age to attend? no bestie! All ages welcome!

🤔 What's the deal with the $9 tickets? If you identify as Trans, Disabled, or First Nations then these tix are for youuuuuu.

My Bio / about me but suddenly we're talking in 3rd person?

Yve Blake is a multi-award-winning playwright, screenwriter, and songwriter, born and raised on Gadigal land.

She's best known for writing the Book, Music and Lyrics for the musical FANGIRLS, which premiered at Belvoir and Queensland Theatre in 2019, before embarking on a national tour in 2021, returning by demand in 2022 at the Sydney Opera House, and premiering in Lonodn in 2024 - produced by Sonia Friedman Productions.

For FANGIRLS, Yve has been awarded the AWGIE award for Music Theatre, a Green Room award for New Australian Writing for Musical Theatre, an ARIA nomination for Best Original Soundtrack or Musical Theatre Cast Album, and the Stage UK x Netflix Debut award for best Composer, Lyricist or Bookwriter. FANGIRLS is now on high school curriculums in three Australian states.

Yve is an alumni of the Royal Court Writers’ Programme, was a 2024 Women in Music Australia Soho House Fellow, and has been a visiting artist at Princeton University. She's also developed and presented her own work in London at Soho Theatre, Southbank Centre, Old Vic New Voices, the National Theatre Studio and The Barbican. Her 2019 TEDxSydney talk about Fangirls has been promoted to an official TED talk on TED.com, where it has been viewed more than 1.4 million times.

In 2026, her play Mackenzie will premiere in Sydney and Melbourne, produced by Bell Shakespeare. She is currently developing a screen adaptation of FANGIRLS with Fremantle, a family musical for Mark Gordon Pictures, a new spooky musical for Sydney Theatre Company, and various other projects.