Bronx HS production of "Chicago"

[circusliz]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 3:31pm

I just read this article about the school in the Bronx that received permission to do one unliscnsed performance of Chicago. Please read, and pay particular attention to the paragraph describing how the drama teacher came up with a script for the show.


It seems to me that even someone who isn't the least bit knowledgeable about theater would know that you can't just make stuff up on your own and stick it in someone else's work. And this wasn't a one time deal. The principal of the school is quoted as saying the school hasn't applied for the rights to any shows since he's been there, and the drama teacher is quoted as saying he didn't know he needed permission to do the show.

I apologize for being snarky but methinks the school needs to find a new drama teacher, who actually knows how the process of putting on a show should go.....

Updated On: 5/10/06 at 03:31 PM

[ElphabaRose]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 3:33pm

We've got a pretty good discussion going in this thread.
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?thread=896538

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 3:34pm

The whole thing is ridiculous. It has been all over the news. My parents graduated from that HS, not like that means anything lol. But the school has changed a lot.

But that is pretty damn right ghetto, not getting the rights for the shows. Samuel French was absolutely right with this, and the school is lucky French is letting them put it on.

[ljay889]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 3:34pm

The whole thing is ridiculous. It has been all over the news. My parents graduated from that HS, not like that means anything lol. But the school has changed a lot.

But that is pretty damn right ghetto, not getting the rights for the shows. Samuel French was absolutely right with this, and the school is lucky French is letting them put it on.

[circusliz]

Posted: 5/10/06 at 3:57pm

Ah---I searched for it, but none of the thread titles looked right. That's becuase it was hidden under a Wicked thread!

Well, if people want we can keep this one going, or I'll just join the other one.

[Anakela]

Posted: 5/15/06 at 10:02am

Rather than continue jacking that 'Wicked' thread, I figured I'd post the new update to this story here: The NY Daily News just treated that high school to a trip to see "Chicago" on Bway, where they got to meet with (and sing for) the Bway cast too.

All y'all who have drama teachers who are doing things the 'correct' way, obtaining permission first and whatnot, are missing out. Turns out that you can just do what you want and then 'But public outrage, led by the Daily News and joined by Mayor Bloomberg, convinced the licensing agency to make a one-time exception.' so you get to do what you want even without getting rights first.
HS stars of 'Chicago' check out competition

[peggyandvelma]

Posted: 5/15/06 at 10:17am

So...how did the drama teacher get the script for the show? That's so odd.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 5/15/06 at 10:23am

So this is what Bloomberg is doing with his time. Good to know.

[Anakela]

Posted: 5/15/06 at 10:49am

So...how did the drama teacher get the script for the show?

He found some of it online. And he watched the movie. And then he threw in some stuff that he wrote himself also.

No, seriously, that's what he did:

"The case, from a legal perspective, was not complicated. The school's drama teacher, Anthony Cerrini, 24, had decided to stage "Chicago." He found some dialogue on the Internet, transcribed some of it from the 2002 movie starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renée Zellweger, and wrote some of it himself.

At the news conference, Mr. Cerrini took responsibility and said that he had never been told about the need for an application."

Link to NY Times piece

[circusliz]

Posted: 5/15/06 at 10:55am

This is a debacle. Now these kids, as well as anyone following the story, that it pays to not follow the rules; that if we whine and pout and make a big stink, we can get what we want even though we were completely in the wrong and engaging in what is technically an illegal activity.

Come on!! The drama teacher said he put together the script from the stage version, the movie version, and WROTE SOME OF IT HIMSELF!!!! Who in their right minds would think that's a proper way to put on a show?

And what's the end result? Those in the wrong are rewarded for their refusal to admit they're in the wrong.

This is a reflection of a new cultureal ideology that rejects personal responsibility and teaches us that we don't need to accept the consequences of our actions.

[peggyandvelma]

Posted: 5/15/06 at 10:58am

Ugh, this whole thing is stupid. I can't believe they let them go on, even for just one performance.

And thanks, Anakela, for clearing that up. The teacher should be fired. I understand taking some liberties with being a director, but writing the script yourself is ridiculous.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/15/06 at 11:00am

This whole thing was absurd. I would have fined them, stopped the show, and forever ban them from every show Sam French offers.

[Anakela]

Posted: 5/15/06 at 11:01am

To be fair Samuel French could have made using and sticking to the actual script a provision of being allowed to do a 'one time only' performance. So I don't know that the school is still putting on that version which included parts that the drama teacher wrote. But yeah, he watched the movie and such was apparently how the teacher obtained his 'script' in the first place.

[Jon]

Posted: 5/15/06 at 11:37am

You can buy the script from Samuel French. I guess the drama teacher was too stupid to know that.

[Buscee]

Posted: 5/15/06 at 12:04pm

I dont understand how a drama teacher does not know you cannot do a show without obtaining rights, and doesnt know you can't do a show thats currently playing on Broadway if you are in the area. God I knew all that when I was in Jr. H.S. It is also well known that you cannot change or add anything to the script. I hope Sam French got paid some royalties on this. I agree with the posting that this just teaches children a bad example.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/15/06 at 12:23pm

I'm sure they knew, they just tried to get away with it.

[Buscee]

Posted: 5/15/06 at 1:11pm

And they did get away with it illegally, and probably made alot of money with all this publicity it got. CRIME does PAY

[ElphabaRose]

Posted: 5/15/06 at 1:27pm

"But after a report appeared in The Daily News yesterday, four City Council members and Betsy Gotbaum, the city's public advocate, vowed to stage a protest in front of the Ambassador Theater, where the Broadway revival is playing."

Personally, I think that a protest should be staged at the high school's performance. They are the ones who did something wrong and, because of political pressure, were rewarded.

[peggyandvelma]

Posted: 5/15/06 at 1:42pm

They shouldn't receive any of the money charged for admission. It should all go to Samuel French. How about that?

[mejusthavingfun]

Posted: 5/15/06 at 1:51pm

I agree with Munk in that the school probably knew all about this. Teachers have to face Copyright infringement everyday when they copy stuff from textbooks/magazines. Xerox copies are really cheap alternatives to actual books. The real problem here is a financial one. There is so much corruption with distribution of state/local funds and these kids really suffer.

Many NYC schools do not have qualified people teaching in the system. This school was fortunate enough to have an Arts program, it just seems mismanaged. (Many auditoriums are used for classes in less fortunate schools). I've done a lot of work for some really "bad" schools and it is awful seeing other very wealthy schools wasting excess amounts of money on things like theatre while the bad schools can't even have a decent math program. These discrepancies do nothing but perpetuate poverty and create a great disservice to our most valuable resource.

Updated On: 5/23/06 at 01:51 PM

Posted: 5/15/06 at 2:16pm

This "Teacher" is getting fired, right?

[jacobtsf]

Posted: 5/15/06 at 2:45pm

"But after a report appeared in The Daily News yesterday, four City Council members and Betsy Gotbaum, the city's public advocate, vowed to stage a protest in front of the Ambassador Theater, where the Broadway revival is playing."

Is anyone else disgusted by this?

[Fosse76]

Posted: 5/15/06 at 3:09pm

"Teachers have to face Copyright infringement everyday when they copy stuff from textbooks/magazines. Xerox copies are really cheap alternatives to actual books."

There's an exception in the copyright law that deals with photocopies of copyrighted material for educational purposes. For the most part teachers aren't infringeing when they make photocopies. Though occassionally they do cross the line.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 5/15/06 at 3:11pm

"'But after a report appeared in The Daily News yesterday, four City Council members and Betsy Gotbaum, the city's public advocate, vowed to stage a protest in front of the Ambassador Theater, where the Broadway revival is playing.'

"Is anyone else disgusted by this?"

Extremely. I drafted a letter to the City Advocate and how it is not her job to advocate the violation of Federal law.

[Doogie]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 8:10pm

ok....

ON WHAT PLANET does a drama teacher in high school (in NYC no less!) not know that you need to pay for rights??????

Let the kids do this show, but I'd make sure that drama teacher was canned. He transcribed a script from the MOVIE? GOOD LORD.