How to Succeed in Musical Theatre Without Really Dying: The Actor's Guide to Booking Work and Building a Career That Lasts

When it comes to a career in musical theatre, forget the myth of an "it factor"--your success is in your hands. The path to excellence requires daily determination and savvy strategy to help you stand out from the rest. Acclaimed master teachers Lindsay Mendez and Ryan Scott Oliver are here to show you the way.

Many musical theatre actors confuse competence with excellence. We mistake arriving in NYC with a well-trained voice, a pricy headshot, and general show biz acumen for being ready to work where Broadway happens. Then, when too many auditions end up no-gos, we assume it's not meant to be and book a one-way ticket back home. If only a fairy godmother had told them the truth: Show business has more to do with business than show. Building a lucrative and lifelong career in musical theatre is far more in an actor's control than not.

Since 2012, award-winning musical theatre professionals Lindsay Mendez and Ryan Scott Oliver have not only built their own successful careers, but also helped thousands of performers forge their unique paths in the industry through their NYC-based Actor Therapy training program.

How to Succeed in Musical Theatre Without Really Dying is their comprehensive guide, featuring time-tested tools, knowledge bombs, wake-up calls, and timely wisdom for any professional actor who wants to:

• Stand out in their field by being not what they think casting directors want, but by being the most of who they are
• Build asolid book of audition repertoire to sell their key product: themselves.
• Identify their personal brand for both prospective employers and colleagues
• Navigate relationships with collaborators, both those they work for and those who work for them
• Thrive long-term by focusing on personal strategies relatedto finance, mental health, and long-term planning

Ready to master your craft and shine like you've always known you could? Let How to Succeed in Musical Theatre Without Really Dying take the mystery out of this wonderful, maddening industry and help you navigate your path forward, guided by two experts cheering you on every step of the way.

Author: Lindsay Mendez,Ryan Scott Oliver
Publisher: Benbella Books
Published: 03/03/2026
Pages: 432
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.10lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 1.30d
ISBN: 9781637747995


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 02/01/2026 pg. 60

About the Author
Lindsay Mendez is a 2024 Tony Award nominee for her portrayal of Mary Flynn in the Broadway production of Merrily We Roll Along. For the Off-Broadway run at New York Theater Workshop, she earned the Outer Critics Circle Award as well as Drama Desk & Lortel nominations. Mendez won the Tony, Drama Desk, and OCC awards for Carousel. Other Broadway: Significant Other, Wicked, Godspell, Everyday Rapture, Grease. Off-Broadway/regional: The Golden Apple, Dogfight (Drama Desk, Drama League, OCC

nominations), The Rose Tattoo, 35mm: A Musical Exhibition, The Winter's Tale. On television, Miss Mendez most recently starred in FX's American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez from executive producer Ryan Murphy, and previously starred in All Rise (CBS/OWN). Other TV & film credits include: These Little Ones Perish, Station 19, Elementary, Modern Family, Murphy Brown, Smash, The Grotto. Debut album: This Time.

Ryan Scott Oliver is a Kleban Prize, Rodgers, and Larson Award-winning composer and lyricist. He was called "the future of Broadway . . . a major new voice in musical theatre" (Entertainment Weekly) and is "shaking up musical theater with his dark, twisted and genius work . . . [Oliver] could very well be musical theater's answer to an auteur filmmaker or a gothic novelist" (Huffington Post). He wrote the music and lyrics for Jasper in Deadland; 35mm: A Musical Exhibition; Tomorrow, the Island Dies; Darling; Mrs. Sharp; We Foxes; and more. He is also the winner of New Musicals Awards from Weston Playhouse, Pace University, the recipient of numerous fellowships, residencies, and ASCAP awards, and commissions from Disney Theatricals, Universal Theatricals, Broadway Across America, and more. Find writings, videos, tweets, and more of his morbidly optimistic musings @RyanScottOliver on all platforms.