are rights for wicked out?

Posted: 5/8/06 at 5:24pm

i've heard so many things from people saying that their high school is doing wicked next year!

i've looked all over the internet and on MTI, and i can't find anything.

[Lavinia]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 5:25pm

No, they're not out. Anyone who is peforming the show at their high school is doing an illegal production.

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 5:47pm

PLEASE . . . the way Wicked is taking over the world, I'd be surprised if the rights are out for your CHILDREN to do it!

LOL

[ThePinballWizard]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 5:52pm

Can you imagine? Wicked Jr? Or even Wicked - The High School Edition? What is this world coming to? Instead of Annie it'll be Elphaba...

[JustABroadwaybaby2]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 5:54pm

I know... It wasn't the best score/play ever written,ever!

[JudasIscariot]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 5:56pm

JustABroadwaybaby2, go wash out your mouth with soap.

[JustABroadwaybaby2]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 6:03pm

tee-hee.

Updated On: 5/8/06 at 06:03 PM

[MusicAndPassion]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 6:12pm

There is a way to perform that I don't wish to share at this moment. I do know of a legal way to perform selections from Wicked with permission.

Full, legal free-of-penatly rights for the show are probably 10 years down the road.
Updated On: 5/8/06 at 06:12 PM

[maybethistime]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 6:15pm

MTI has aquired the rights for performance by amatuer and professional regional theatre companies, but I doubt they'll be available any time soon, meaning, not for years.

[hahaha7]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 6:36pm

do you have a link to this maybethistime. I havent found anything on the internet about MTI HAVING the rights for Wicked.

[jv92]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 7:29pm

You won't and if you do Stephen Schwartz will hunt you down. Wait at least 8 years kid.

[Kringas]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 7:30pm

Performing selections from a show and doing the actual show are two different things.

[greenifyed]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 7:45pm

Normally when you perform selections from a show there's a disclaimer somewhere on the sheet music saying something about sets or costuming similar to the production are illegal. At least, I've seen them anyway.

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 8:13pm

MTI has the rights for all of Schwartz's other shows, so, I would assume they will get them (if they haven't already). Mind you, MTI had the Les Mis rights since the early 90's...

[BroadwayBaby6]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 8:25pm

I happen to know of one school that did an illegal production.

[Fabrizio2]

Posted: 5/8/06 at 8:31pm

That's crazy...uneducated theatre teachers are telling their kids to do Wicked songs for competitions and stuff...it's driving me nuts. I swear I have seen ten renditions of What is This Feeling, Popular, The Wizard and I, and notoriously, Defying Gravity.

[Anakela]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 9:58am

(slight threadjack)- so this is an illegal school production of Chicago, not Wicked, that was shut down, but this quote from the principal is cracking me up:

The letter was faxed to Principal Robert Leder after someone tipped off Samuel French.

"I'm partly guilty in that I never, ever thought of asking for permission - never ever," said Leder, adding that he's been principal for 27 years and put on a show annually.

So it's not just theatre teachers- the school principal doesn't know that he has to get the rights to a production in order to stage a production??


Chicago ordered shut down

[mejusthavingfun]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 10:08am

I actually saw sumer camp production of Wicked last year. It was illegal, but they had the book and all the songs. It was actually pretty amazing for such a small scale. The show is pretty simple to produce. I wont mention the name of the camp, but they are doing The Little Mermaid this summer.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 10:16am

Legally, I think you're allowed to do up to six songs from the score to WICKED, but technically aren't supposed to do any of the book scenes.

[Sparklesss]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 10:28am

I bet they'd cost a fortune when they do come out..

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 10:43am

This is total schadenfreude, but that article had me giggling.

Posted: 5/9/06 at 12:21pm

Gosh I certainly hope that Principal is fired.

[Jon]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 12:43pm

Sparkless - when the rights DO come out, they will cost no more than any other show. Royalty costs are based on the size of the venue and the price if the tickets. The royalties for newly available shows are the same as the royalties for shows written 50 years ago.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 12:45pm

I would have reported that high school in a heartbeat.

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 2:05pm

I've worked for a few high school theater departments... usually a high school principle has nothing to do with the theater department... least of all anything to do with performance rights... high school principles usually have a lot more on their plate then performance rights to the school musical.

"I would have reported that high school in a heartbeat. "

I don't understand this way of thinking. Totally a school has to follow the proper procedure to put on a show... authors should be paid and all that. But to go out of your way to rain on somebody's parade... I don't get that. Because the person that made the decision to put on the show is not really going to be affected... the 50 plus kids in the cast are... so... I guess I don't understand why you would ruin 50 kids school year unless you had some financial stake in the whole thing.

kmc