Composition: Musical Theater

For musical theater lovers looking to understand what it takes to create and pull off a time-stopping musical theater moment. In this Minor, students are invited to unpack how memorable moments in musical theater are constructed under the guidance of an accomplished musical theater composer — Usdan’s own Ben Boecker. Ben is a Usdan alum and faculty member who has written two original musicals for Usdan Camp U! The Musical and Better Than A Bully: The Musical, which made their debuts at Usdan in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

Over the course of four weeks in an open-air music studio, Composition: Musical Theater students develop deeper understandings of musical theater’s vocabulary by experimenting with the mechanics of song, including how to enter a tuneful moment and return to a scene’s dialogue without missing a beat.

At the end of the class, all students share their work and receive a recording of their composition.

Pre-requisites: No application or prior composition experience required. Classes are grouped according to age division and grade.