Brett “that’s the MTea” Boles joins Zoe and Brian in discussing writing for musical theater, social media and music education.

Brett is an award-winning musical theatre composer, lyricist, and librettist. He wrote his first musical in high school and never stopped. His show Foreverman premiered at the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) where it received an award for Outstanding Orchestrations and the New World Stages Development award. A reading of his latest creation, Time Stops, was headlined by Norbert Leo Butz in New York City. Brett is also a member of the Tony-Award-Winning BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop in NYC.

Brett is the glasses behind the viral Instagram and TikTok series the MTea. His videos spilling the tea on how songs work have been commented on and shared by the likes of Lin Manuel Miranda and Bobby Lopez. In July 2023, Brett launched the MTea Songwriting Studio to help songwriters around the world learn more about their craft, which – spoiler alert – is when Brian and Zoe signed up and got to know each other.

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Knocked, the show Zoe co-created with the Brussels Musical Creatives is running on 23-25 October in Brussels, Belgium. Get your tickets here.

Meet your hosts Brian Strohmetz and Zoe de York. Their new podcast Making a Musical takes you from the blank page to Broadway... maybe. They’re still working on that last part. Brian and Zoe both are musical theatre creators who each had their first original show produced in 2024 in New Jersey and Brussels – where they live.

Brian is a music teacher by day and a composer by night. A Holiday Homecoming debuted in December 2024 in New Jersey. He shares his experience collaborating with the show’s book writer and lyricist, as well as the orchestrations he's released recently. The music for A Holiday Homecoming is available all streamers.

Zoe is a podcast and content producer by day and a songwriter by night. Knocked, the show she co-created with the Brussels Musical Creatives premiered in November 2024 and is running again on 23-25 October in Brussels, Belgium. Get your tickets now!

If you enjoyed our show, please rate and review it and subscribe to receive our next episodes.

Find us on Instagram @MakingaMusicalPod and @BrianStrohmetzMusic.