Class Description

Instructor: Patrick Lazour (The Lazours) Semester: Spring 2026 Sessions: 10 Sessions/10 Weeks New Students: $600 Returning PlayPenn or DGI Students: $525 Foundry or Entrepreneur Members: $480 DGI Certificate Students: $480 Writing the book of a musical (the libretto) is one of the trickiest, most exhilarating challenges in theatre making. The libretto is where story wrestles with song, where structure has to sing, and where everything can fall apart if the book isn’t doing its job. In this class, Patrick Lazour, a Richard Rodgers and Stephen Schwartz Award–winning musical theatre writer, member of The Lazours, and co-creator of "We Live in Cairo" (New York Theatre Workshop) and "Night Side Songs" (Lincoln Center Theatre/Philadelphia Theatre Company), will guide you into the sublime world of the American musical, focusing specifically on the art of writing librettos. Designed for theatre writers ready to get their hands dirty, this class takes the libretto seriously as both a dramatic engine and emotional roadmap of any musical. Each session will be split into two parts. In the first half of each session, we’ll study exemplary musical theatre books from how they’re built, how they solve problems, and how they balance story, characters, and music. In the second half, we’ll turn our attention to each students' own works in progress and apply lessons learned in practical, rigorous, and supportive ways. The workshop is recommend for playwrights and librettists who have dabbled in musical theatre writing and are ready to grapple with one of the form’s great challenges. Week 1: The Essentials of a Libretto Week 2: The Classic Book Musical Week 3: High Theatrics in Musical Storytelling Week 4: The High-Concept Libretto Week 5: Unconventional Adaptation Week 6: The “Book-Less” Book Week 7: The Chamber Musical Week 8: Drafts, Development, and Process Week 9: Transforming Plays into Musicals Week 10: Final Sharing Patrick Lazour is an award-winning musical theater writer, working mostly with his brother Daniel. His original musicals have appeared at Philadelphia Theater Company, American Repertory Theater, New York Theater Workshop, and Lincoln Center. He has taught as part of PlayPenn, the Dramatists Guild Institute, and Lincoln Center Theater's Songwriter in the School Program.