In January 2022, married couple Scott Ihrig and Shannon Morrison founded an organization called Drama Club, intended to help support the creation of new musical theater, focusing particularly on musicals by LGBTQ+, BIPOC and emerging artists. Its primary initiative is something called Drama Club Camp, which is a series of fully subsidized, weeklong writer residencies at a 65-acre lakeside lodge in Mount Vernon, Maine. The camp provides free accommodations, chef-made meals and exposure to peer artists to help nurture new musicals. Submissions for 2026 Drama Club Camp Writer’s Residencies are now being accepted through Dec. 31. Drama Club is also offering a new opportunity for commercial producers beginning in 2026. For more information visit the Drama Club website.
A dream born from a Broadway past
Drama Club, as previously mentioned, operates from a 14-bedroom lakeside bed and breakfast in Maine. The organization’s existence is deeply rooted in its founders’ theatrical history, particularly Morrison’s early experiences.
He and Ihrig stepped away from early theatrical careers to launch their successful experience studio, IMC (Ihrig Morrison Creative), an experiential marketing agency which specializes in producing bespoke events and experiences for brands. After years of corporate work, they found themselves drawn back to the stage, starting with an investment in Broadway’s “A Strange Loop.”
“It was probably four or five years after we finished paying off our student loans and we said, ‘We miss being involved in the theater. It’s time for us to get back involved,’” Morrison explained. Plus, “Michael R. Jackson [‘A Strange Loop’’s author] was a classmate of mine at NYU.”
After Morrison’s time at NYU, where he received a master’s degree in musical theater writing, he was hired as the producer Hal Luftig’s assistant during the era of “Legally Blonde: The Musical.” “That was my entrée into theater,” Morrison recalled.
But Morrison and Ihrig were inspired to go beyond traditional investing after they stumbled upon this lodge during a trip to Maine. As Morrison remembered, “Scott said, ‘What on earth could we do with that?’ And I said, ‘We would start a musical theater writer’s residency program.’”
Camp residencies
When Morrison had been trying to make it as a writer, he felt a dearth of time and space for creative development. Drama Club Camp Writer’s Residencies is the answer to that need. The retreat hosts five weeklong cohorts during the summer. The lodging, meals and communal gathering space with peer artists are all provided by Ihrig and Morrison. The duo evaluates submissions and chooses their cohorts together. The grassroots nature of the selection allows Ihrig and Morrison, as they said, to lessen prerequisites for artists compared to some conventional retreat programs.
