MusicalWriters Academy Member Jennie Fahn is a storyteller at heart. Not to mention a writer, performer, mom, and activist.
Creator of the award-winning solo show Under The Jello Mold, Jennie has performed on stage and screen; you may recognize her from some of her many TV roles (but most famously, she won on Wheel of Fortune!) Whether onstage or off, her passion is to entertain, inspire, and keep things from getting too sticky.
MusicalWriters sat down with Fahn to talk about living room musicals, the power of feedback, and more for this month’s Member Spotlight.
How did you get started writing musicals?
Jennie Fahn: As a kid, my best friend and I put on many musical shows in our living room for our parents, including the famous Happy Birthday, Mommy Show. And I used to use my tape recorder to record musical shows starring my stuffed animals and sell tickets to my parents. (The tickets were very affordable. I seem to remember five cents was the top ticket price.) My first solo shows each featured a single musical number, and people seemed to enjoy the lyrics.
Do you have any regular collaborators?
JF: I’m working on a second musical with my sister-in-law, Mary Ann McSweeney… so I guess we’re ‘regulars’ now! We seem to work well together and have a lot of fun in the process!
What are you working on right now?
JF: Mary Ann and I are re-tweaking some things on Bris Amiss! The Musical (I feel like we’re constantly doing that), and getting the score ready for a concert presentation that is going to be done in the spring as part of Jewish Theatre of Oklahoma’s season. We’re super-excited about that! And we’ve started working on a new musical for children about lice called Lousy: A Musical Infestation.
What’s a lesson you’ve learned from your writing journey that you’d like to share?
JF: Take the feedback. If someone gives you criticism, they’re honestly pushing you to make the thing better.
Writing a musical isn’t easy. What’s your “why” in being a musical writer?
JF: Musicals bring joy in a way that other things don’t, and I can’t help but want to be part of it. And it’s fun!
Why did you join MusicalWriters Academy?
JF: Obviously, there’s a lot to learn. I didn’t realize how much I didn’t know until I started fishing around and realizing how much there was to learn. So I thought, I better join a community where I can learn something. I was lucky to find MusicalWriters and it kind of stuck!
What was your most memorable moment from the 2024 Musical Writers Festival?
JF: Hearing a roomful of people laugh at the songs during the presentation of Bris Amiss! (Particularly, the baby…)
Listen to a song from Bris Amiss below!
What’s your proudest accomplishment as a musical writer?
JF: Having someone on my “A” list of actresses sing one of my songs!
What do you love about MusicalWriters.com?
JF: It’s a supportive community and there are great resources. I have learned so much from the various classes – and it’s always convenient to be able to watch the replays when my schedule doesn’t work with the original class time.
Is there a specific MusicalWriters resource that has been particularly helpful for you?
JF: The Social Media Bootcamp was a great kickstarter, and most recently the class in AI was incredibly helpful for musical writing and beyond. I also access the submissions calendar all the time, and regularly check in with office hours.
What is your favorite musical writing (tech) tool?
JF: I’m the wordsmith-end, so I use Final Draft. But Mary Ann sends me music and I use MusicScanner to play the pdf back to me, so I can sing along to it.
Click here for a Musical Writers masterclass all about Final Draft
What’s the best way to get better as a musical writer?
JF: Ask for feedback and take the feedback!
Do you have a website? What tool or service did you use to create it?
JF: www.jenniefahn.com – I need to update it (I used Wix). Under the Jello Mold has its own website: www.underthejellomold.com (I used GoDaddy.)
Check out some highlights from Under the Jello Mold below.
You mentioned the Social Media Bootcamp – which platforms do you post on most?
JF: I use instagram mostly for my shows and personal – @jenniefahn ; Bris Amiss has its own instagram – @bris_amiss_the_musical
Just for fun: What’s your favorite “guilty pleasure” album to listen to on repeat?
JF: Ain’t Misbehavin
Lightning Round with Jennie Fahn
Coffee or tea? Coffee
Cats or dogs? Dogs
Digital or analog? Analog
Fly solo or team up? Solo
Pizza or Hamburgers? Pizza
City, Country, or Suburbs? City
Flip Flops or Crocs? Crocs (but really not either of these! Cloth shoes, please!)
Apple or Android? Apple
Most recently used emojis? Poop, Wacky face, shrimp
Last thing you texted? Thumbs up, yup
Three things within arms reach right now? Coffee, Sunday funnies (I leave paper out all week), flowers from my hubby (it’s my anniversary!)
What is one question you wish we would have asked?
What is the thing that holds you back? My ten million great ideas and inability to focus on one good one. It took way too long to answer this question.
Thanks so much to Jennie Fahn for sharing her time and her talents with Musical Writers!
Connect with – and learn more about – Jennie at www.jenniefahn.com
