Method Composing: April Alsup’s Approach to Writing Musicals

“Method Composing” is how April Alsup develops new musical theatre works, by stepping inside the world of the show before writing a single note. Inspired by Method Acting and its roots at the Actors’ Studio, the idea is simple: don’t compose about a world, compose from within it. The goal isn’t just authenticity in sound, but truth in experience. Music should feel like it belongs to the characters, the place, and the moment like it could exist even without the stage.

Eigg music ensemble with ceilidh band in Scotland

For Eigg the Musical, that meant building the score around the traditions of a ceilidh. The accordion became central, not as a stylistic choice, but as a cultural one. Writing in that style required learning how the music actually functions in a room full of dancers, how rhythm leads, how repetition invites participation, how community shapes sound. The result is a score that doesn’t imitate a ceilidh, it feels like one.

Organized Confusions performing for the New Horizons music festival

For BANNED, “Method Composing” meant stepping into the high-stakes, high-energy world of live pop performance. Learning to play in a pop band and competing in a music festival environment revealed a different musical language, one driven by immediacy, crowd response, and the pressure to win over an audience in real time. Arrangements had to hit fast, hooks had to land instantly, and performance carried as much weight as composition. That experience informed a score built on momentum, contrast, and the electric push-and-pull between performer and crowd.

April playing piano for the Women's Homelessness Initiative

With Absurd Hero, the process moved into lived community experience. Time spent working alongside the Women's Homelessness Initiative, playing piano in the evenings, taking requests, and listening, offered a different kind of musical insight. The songs in those spaces are raw, familiar, and deeply human. That shaped a score built on responsiveness and emotional truth rather than theatrical polish.

April Alsup in a fifer uniform in Denver Colorado

And for Broadside, “Method Composing” meant full immersion in the sound of the Revolution. By joining a fife and drum corps, learning and performing on piccolo, and marching in public events, the music became physical. Breath control, finger work, and endurance all informed the writing. Tempo came from footsteps, phrasing from movement, and melody from the sharp, carrying voice of the fife. It’s not just researched, it’s lived.

Across each project, the process stays the same: immerse, listen, participate. “Method Composing” isn’t the fastest way to write a musical, but it’s how April Alsup builds scores that don’t just support the story. They come from it.

Before the Feed, There Was Ink… Now There’s a QR Code

There’s something fitting about using modern tools to support one of the oldest art forms. Musical theatre has long relied on paper, scripts, sheet music, schedules, but today much of that process can live digitally without losing any of the magic. Our workflow has shifted to shared scripts, digital music files, and real-time rehearsal coordination. Updates happen instantly, performers always have the latest materials, and we avoid printing stacks that quickly become outdated. It’s not just more sustainable, it’s smoother, clearer, and better suited to the pace of a live production.

Broadside Playbill QR Code

That same thinking extends to the audience. Instead of printed programs, we use QR codes that open a dynamic, up-to-date playbill. With a quick scan, audiences can explore cast bios, creative teams, and behind-the-scenes context, all without a single sheet of paper. Less waste, more connection. It’s a small shift, but one that keeps theatre both timeless and forward-thinking.

Meet the cast of Broadside the Musical

Meet the cast of Broadside the Musical

Vintage Theatre Performance Dates:

July 3,4,5,17,18,19, TBD
Tickets at VintageTheatre.org
Box Office (303) 856-7830

ADAM JOHNSON - Joseph Warren
ANTIGONE BIDDLE - Mercy Otis Warren
COOPER KAMINSKY - General Thomas Gage
GUNNAR BETTIS - Paul Revere
HEATHER WESTENSKOW - Abigail Adams
JACOB FRYE - Robert Paine
KELLY MCALLISTER - John Adams
LIBBY SHULL - Sarah Revere
MADELYNN GUERRA - Sarah Bradlee Fulton
OLIVIA KISICKI - Margaret Gage
PATRICK BROWNSON - Governor Thomas Hutchinson
SONSHARAE TULL - Philiss Wheatley
TANNER KELLY - Sam Adams

Canvas Rebel Interview - Risk, Triumph and Failure

Here's a link to an interview that features me in Canvas Rebel. The online agency reached out with a link to a bunch of questions and ask me to answer them over the course of several weeks. There was some back and forth communications on the content and I'm grateful they had questions related to my new show Broadside. The timing seemed pretty good too since we have identified the cast now and are starting to put the show together for the 2026 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

FEATURE ARTICLE: Risk and Stories of Triumph and Failure

This article reflects on: risk, triumph, failures and offers some of my thoughts for people in the musical theatre community. The interview actually took place earlier this year, when we were working with Vintage Theatre on hosting the show to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Broadside Musical to debut at 2026 Edinburgh Fringe

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 14th, 2026 Contact: April Alsup Broadside the Musical info@broadsidemusical.com	Click HERE for PDF

DENVER, COLORADO – In the years leading up to the Revolutionary War, Boston was a city on edge; crowded meetings, boycotts, soldiers in the streets, and anger rising with every new decree. Broadsides put that conflict in public view, posted on walls and passed hand to hand.

“With Broadside, we’re bringing to life the original social media network,” said April Alsup, the musical's composer. “These broadsides were short, sharp, and meant to spread. They remind us that democracy has always depended on people daring to speak, print, and sing.”

Broadside the Musical steps into that world of ink and intrigue. Scenes move from a crowded print shop to a crowded tavern, from back rooms where informants trade whispers to packed townhall meetings. A loose spy network of shopkeepers, tradesmen, riders, and sailors carry coded messages through the city, blurring the line between news, rumor, and rebellion.

As the United States approaches the 250^th anniversary of independence, Broadside invites audiences to see America not as a finished story, but as a draft still being revised. The show celebrates the noisy, necessary tradition of free expression, reminding us that a nation grounded in liberty, equality, and freedom of speech is, by design, always up for debate.

Broadside will celebrate America's 250^th Anniversary at Vintage Theatre July 4^th weekend, with additional performances planned later in July. The Denver-based team then travels to Scotland to perform with other theatre troupes from around the world. The show will debut at Greenside at Riddles Court on August 7^th and runs through August 15^th, 2026.

"Undoubtedly one of the most charming venues at the Fringe" - The Guardian

Some famous faces have graced the halls at Riddles Court; including King James VI, who attended a state banquet there in 1598 and it was the residence of philosopher David Hume at the time of the show. It should come as no surprise that the building will become the venue for our new Musical’s debut. Tickets will be available on the Edinburgh festival fringe website.

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Please see these websites for more information:
alsup.org | broadsidemusical.com | greensidevenue.co.uk | edfringe.com

Absurd Hero nominated for multiple Broadway World Awards

Our Summer performance of Absurd Hero received a bunch of Broadway World Award nominations recently. The media outlet asks Denver theater goers to nominate their favorite shows for the year so you might say it's a "People's Choice" award; in any case, it's nice to be selected by your peers and we would appreciate your support. Here are the categories we've been nominated in: 

Musical: Absurd Hero 

Director: Kelly McAllister 

Choreography: Heather Westenskow 

Music Direction: Tanner Kelly 

Performer: Gunnar Bettis 

Supporting Performer: Antigone Biddle 

Ensemble: Absurd Hero 

 Here's the link if you'd like to vote: 

https://www.broadwayworld.com/denver/awards

Absurd Hero Prologue

When It’s Just You and the Ghost Light

Jeremy Bullmore once said brands are built the way birds build nests, little twigs and scraps gathered over time. That rings true. Branding isn’t one big move. It’s lots of tiny choices that quietly add up to something that feels inevitable. When I began shaping the identity for Broadside, it felt exactly like that. I didn’t start with colors or layouts, I started by trying to feel the world of the show. It was like stepping into a print shop after midnight: ink still tacky on metal plates, lantern light catching the edges, the hum of something dangerous and hopeful in the air. There was smoke, and whispers, and the sense that anyone who walked through the door might change history, or disappear.

Read Broadside's Creative Identity Manifesto

That feeling, that pulse, becomes the guide and the designs will follow. This show is not about historical wallpaper; it's about urgency and humanity and the grit it takes to tell the truth when the world would rather you didn’t. That’s really all a manifesto is. It’s not a dramatic proclamation. It’s just saying, here’s who we are and what we believe. It happens before the world starts chiming in with opinions, algorithms, and mood boards. Once you find that center, the rest isn’t easier… but it is clearer. And if you do it right, people start picking up those little scraps, the way Bullmore described, and suddenly there’s a nest, a home for the idea you’ve been building all along.

Here's a link to the Broadside Identity Manifesto

Introducing Broadside: A New Musical in the Making

A few years ago I started working on a new musical called "Broadside." It started with a simple idea, a fascination with how words and music once shaped a revolution and the spark to celebrate the 250th birthday of the country I love. Over time that spark grew into something much larger, and the project has quietly been gaining momentum ever since. In the past few months, I’ve had the joy of sitting down with the rhythm section to play through the songs for the first time, connected with key collaborators and even reviewed the libretto with historians and content experts to help keep the story grounded in the real events and people of the Revolutionary era. This process, these insights have been invaluable in shaping both the accuracy and emotional texture of the show.

Awaken the Revolution Within

Now that the songs are breathing, the script is finding its rhythm, and the spectacle of the show is truly emerging, it feels like the perfect time to begin sharing more. Over the last month, we've started exploring performance opportunities in Colorado and New England and have already been confirmed at the 2026 Edinburgh Fringe (Aug 5th through 15th.) It's going to be an exciting Summer. Want to get involved? This website blog is a good place to keep in tune with our progress and any upcoming audition dates.

Here's a link to the website: https://www.broadsidemusical.com

Voyage Denver Interview Life, Values & Legacy

Here's a link to a short interview that features me in Voyage Denver. The online agency sends a bunch of questions and asks you to answer them over the course of a few weeks, There's usually some back and forth communications on the content and I'm grateful they used the Camus references in this one. The timing seemed pretty good too since we've just come home from a successful run of Absurd Hero at the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe Festival 

FEATURE ARTICLE: Life, Values & Legacy

This article reflects on: life, values and legacy and offers some of my thoughts for people in the musical theatre community. The interview actually took place in late July right after our previews of Absurd Hero at Vintage Theatre.

We pushed the Website up the hill (and hit Refresh)

We’ve updated our Absurd Hero website!

🎥 Full-length video of the show (in 4K) 
🎶 Stream our Fringe cast album — the absurd sounds as good as it looks.
📖 Flip through our Summer Scrapbook packed with behind-the-scenes memories.
⭐️ Read the glowing reviews that made us laugh, cry, and blush.

Absurd Hero has always been about more than just theatre—it’s comedy, chaos, and Camus rolled into one. Now you can experience (or re-experience) it all from wherever you are.

Absurd Hero Website

👉 Visit the site, relive the madness, and let us know your favorite absurd moment.