We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lalit Sritara a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Lalit, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?
As a kid, I was that child – the one pulling pranks and coming up with weird theatrical schemes that probably gave my parents a headache. But somewhere between high school anxiety and undergrad perfectionism, that delightfully chaotic side of myself went very, very low-key.
But last year I took Kirsten Childs’ “Embracing Absurdity” class at NYU, and something wonderful happened – I reconnected with that playful part of myself I’d been missing. It felt like coming home after years of being pretty tense. Now I’m intentionally weaving absurdity into my work because, well, why should creativity be all buttoned-up and proper?
The magic happens when I surround myself with people who light up when I pitch completely unhinged ideas. I love bouncing ridiculous concepts back and forth until we hit that magical “aha!” moment where something clicks.
But I also need my hermit moments. When I’m not in a rush, I start my mornings grinding coffee beans by hand and writing Morning Pages – a ritual stolen from “The Artist’s Way.” These thoughts sometimes connect dots I didn’t even know existed. Sometimes the best ideas come from the beautiful mess of an unfiltered mind!
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I write theatre-pop songs and musicals. For me, theatre-pop means songs that sound like musical theatre but they’re about real-life mess. These songs get our emotional baggage!
I graduated from NYU Tisch’s Musical Theatre Writing Program in May, and lately I’ve been obsessed with theatre-pop. I love exploring the world of interpersonal relationships, attachment styles and all that juicy psychological stuff that makes us human. But instead of making it heavy, I turn it into something that gets stuck in your head in the best way. There’s so much missing from the musical landscape, and I want to fill those gaps! And, let’s be real – we’re all craving more connection these days. I want to make people feel seen, heard and maybe a little less alone while they’re bopping along.
Speaking of which, I’m releasing my very first TikTok-style music video “Feral” on YouTube Shorts on August 8th! The song will come out on Spotify, Apple Music, etc. on August 15th. I wrote it with my friend, Taylor Wendell Lozano. It’s a cheeky theatre-pop adventure about taming the untamable, inspired by real-life “I can fix him” moments, and questionable attachment styles. Is it about a feral man-child or an actual feral animal? Honestly, that’s half the fun – you get to decide!
I’m also challenging myself to posting short snippets from the song on TikTok and Instagram from 6th August, which is terrifying because showing my absurd side on social media is new territory for me. But hey, if you’re not a little scared, you’re probably not growing, right?
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
1. I reach out to people who know more than I do.
I used to be terrified of cold-emailing people to invite them for coffee, especially composers, who seemed so intimidating a few years ago. But a mentor challenged me to just try it. And you know what? Most people are genuinely kind, and even when they can’t help, they usually say no graciously. Now I feel comfortable reaching out to pretty much anyone. I think asking is just asking: people have every right to say no, and that’s totally fine.
2. I’m constantly asking “why doesn’t this exist?”
I get excited when I realize something should exist but doesn’t – whether it’s a song that captures a specific feeling or experience I haven’t heard before, or a musical that explores themes no one’s tackled yet. When it’s something that really speaks to me, I can’t help but start writing it myself. For anyone starting out: train your eye to spot the gaps in what’s already out there. What experiences haven’t been captured in songs? What stories aren’t being told? That’s where you begin.
3. I believe in taking meaningful risks.
I think sometimes we need just enough audacity to ignore the voice saying “that’s impossible” and enough optimism to believe it might just work out. Life’s inherently risky anyway, isn’t it? So maybe the biggest risk is missing out on what makes us feel most alive!
If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?
I’d go all in on everything I love most: writing theatre-pop and musicals, but also finally becoming amazing at singing, piano and music production (no more “I’ll get to that eventually”). I’d probably come up with some weird social experiments and turn them into songs because, why not? I’d leave behind songs so awkward and true – ones that make lonely hearts sigh, “Finally, someone said it!”
I’d spend ridiculous amounts of time with my favourite people, getting lost in fond memories and having those beautifully absurd conversations about what we’ll do in the afterlife and our next lives. I’d become a full-time hugger and make sure everyone knows exactly how much they mean to me.
Oh, and I’d definitely pre-plan my funeral playlist. If my own songs aren’t getting a performance there, did I even live?
Contact Info:
- Website: https://museonline.org/profile/lalit-sritara/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pielalit
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lalit.sritara
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@lalitsritara148
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