Tyler Manning Premieres Original Musical "Drafts" at The Laurie Beechman Theatre

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The original musical debuts on 9/26

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Tyler Manning is debuting his original show, Drafts: The Musical , which he wrote the book, music, and lyrics for at the Laurie Beechman Theatre on September 26 at 9:30 PM. The coming-of-age story follows music majors who have to write a song using a one-word prompt over the course of 24 hours and delves into how music can help us express ourselves when words fall short. Manning is a junior at Western Connecticut State University majoring in Music Education.

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Read an interview with Tyler Manning about Drafts: The Musical below.

This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

How did you get started in the world of theatre?

I did theatre growing up—it was the first real afterschool activity I fell in love with. My first show was when I was seven years old playing a Duloc performer in Shrek Jr.

Later, in high school, I decided that I didn’t necessarily want to major in musical theatre because I fell in love with the music directing and directing side of it. I am also a choir and band kid, so I’m actually currently majoring in music education with a plan to get my masters in theatre education.

What can audiences expect at Drafts: The Musical ?

Drafts: The Musical is something I started writing when I was thirteen years old. I’ve been writing songs since middle school, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do with them until I came up with the idea of writing a musical about writing music and discovering how much it can help us express the words we can’t say.

The music in Drafts is unlike any musical score I’ve heard in recent times. It has a very singer-songwriter feel and is less like contemporary musical theatre. It definitely crosses that line with some of the songs, but I guess I would describe it as a more modern version of Once: The Musical .

You said you’ve been working on this musical since you were thirteen. Can you tell me a little more about what it’s been like writing the book, music, and lyrics for Drafts: The Musical ?

This whole project started because I stumbled across an album by Alexander Sage Oyen with a bunch of Broadway people on it, and I thought it was really cool. I’d never heard of this album before, and I actually wrote the first version of the story using those songs. Over time, as I started to get more comfortable with my own songwriting, I decided to turn it into a full, original musical.

I had a Zoom reading during COVID back in 2021 or 2022, but a lot of people didn’t necessarily like it who came to see it, so I put the project away for a year and a half. I came back to it as a junior in high school because I’m the kind of person who wants to finish something once I’ve started it even if I don’t do anything with it. I did a ton of rewrites and incorporated my own songs into the show, so it sort of blossomed into my own original thing.

Actually, the reason why I wanted to just get it out there somehow once I had fully solidified and finished the script and story was that I fell in love with Rent: The Musical and Jonathan Larson . He was a young composer and playwright who wanted to send a message to the world through theatre, and I think Drafts is—to me—very similar to what Rent and Tick, Tick… Boom! were for him. That was a huge inspiration of mine to push forward and actually get my name and this story out there.

What has been the most rewarding part of the project for you so far?

When I got to the first rehearsal just last week and heard other people singing songs I spent the last eight years writing instead of just a recorded version of myself. It’s really cool when you get in a room and you’re hearing your work sung live for the first time by other people and they actually like it this time!

There’s one specific song towards the end of the show that is one of the more recent additions, but it’s one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written. It’s sort of become the show’s anthem, I guess. It’s become the “Seasons of Love” of Drafts.

What do you hope audiences will take away from seeing Drafts: The Musical ?

I hope that audiences get to witness an original story and original music that is all written from the heart and very personal. Music can be this life-affirming tool of expressing words that we may not necessarily be able to say verbally, but then when we put it into a song we express everything we need to in that moment. That’s something that’s very personal to me because I didn’t speak until I was four years old. I really started to sing and make musical noises before I started to actually use my words, so it’s a very personal first musical. I hope that audiences can relate to one or multiple of the characters and experience the power of music.

Do you have anything else you would like to add?

This show would not be possible without the cast of people that I put together. My co-producer Ben—who is also my best friend—is a lot more organized than I am about the show logistics. My music director, David, is great. The whole cast—Ethan, Sarah, Eliot, Javen, a nd Joe— I can’t imagine the first-ever live performance of this show with anyone else.

Follow Tyler on Instagram here .

Get tickets for Drafts: The Musical at the Laurie Beechman Theatre on Saturday, 9/26 at 9:30 PM here .

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Episode

_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/cabaret/article/Interview-Tyler-Manning-Debuts-DRAFTS-THE-MUSICAL-at-The-Laurie-Beechman-Theatre-20260917)._