Ethical Dilemma Regarding MTI- Page 2

[popculture37]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 10:30pm

Has this show been cast already? If so, I would wait until after the show is over, then inform MTI that this teacher has been repeatedly breaking the law, so that they can prevent her from doing so ever again. If a kid's already been cast in their dream role, it would be cruel to take it away from them because of someone else's misbehavior that they might be totally unaware of. It is unfair that this happens, and it is done frequently-every time a voice teacher organizes a concert for their students that includes copyrighted songs it is illegal unless they buy the rights, which almost never happens. Just remember that this is a school production-they're not going to make a huge profit from it, and many directors at the school and local level aren't aware of how important it is to purchase rights. It's still wrong, and it should be stopped, but the world won't end if you don't inform MTI right away.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 10:38pm

WHO CARES IF IT HAS BEEN CAST.

YOU PEOPLE ARE RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CALL MTI TOMORROW MORNING. PLEASE. GIVE ME A F*CKING BREAK.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 10:44pm

preach it sister munk!

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 10:49pm

I hate when people want to turn a blind eye if it affects the kids. The kids need to be shown that these actions shouldn't be tolerated. If they're old enough to be acting in a show, they're more than old enough to understand the difference between legal and illegal. It sucks that they can't do the show, but maybe 50 kids pissed about losing their parts in the school play and even more pissed off parents will make the teacher/school/administration think twice about trying sh*t like this in the future.

[erikaamato]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 10:50pm

I'm with munk. Call MTI.

[morosco]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 10:53pm

Someone needs to do what's right and report them to MTI:

Music Theatre International
421 West 54th Street
New York, NY 10019
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]

Updated On: 10/18/06 at 10:53 PM

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 10:59pm

Make sure you have some proof, and then go for it.

I completely argee with everyone who has said to go for it.

[popculture37]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 10:59pm

I don't think you should turn a blind eye. I think you should call MTI and I hope that this teacher gets fired-or at least forbidden to direct shows with the school anymore. I just think that it would cause far less harm if you waited a couple months to make this phone call-it would still have the desired effect of letting MTI know that their stuff is being stolen and stopping this teacher/school from doing this in the future. And it would avoid the highly undesirable effect of dozens of angry and disappointed students and parents. If you can punish the guilty without hurting the innocent, then that's the approach you should take. You can argue that the show being stopped would teach kids about the theater business and not doing what's illegal-but we all know that none of them would actually think that way. Kids deprived of their roles in a play will just get angry and bitter, they won't take it constructively, if they're anything like the kids I performed with while in high school.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 11:04pm

letting them perform the play is letting them steal.. if you report it after or never. these things should be reported before they are performed. In fact, if we are talking legality, then knowly letting the show be performed without notifying the rights holders amounts to being an accessory to a crime. You knew about the crime beforehand and let it be committed

[blaxx]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 11:13pm

How much can the rights be for a school anyway? See, the story might be slightly different if they were doing, let's say "Hairspray", where the rights are not even available.
But this is a production that is available for performances, nothing that a few bake sales or so wouldn't fix (plus tickets sales). If they report the production, don't feel too bad about the kids here, they can still raise the money to do it legally.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 11:15pm

i seem to recall royalities for 3 perfomances of Guys and Dolls in a 1000 seat house at my school at $10/ticket to be about $1600........ this was in 2000/2001

[CapnHook]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 11:18pm

I don't know what I find more repulsive...not paying royalties or drastically altering the show?

[popculture37]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 11:19pm

Yeah, royalties can easily get way over $1000, and some schools (I have no idea if this is true of your situation) have a policy of not charging admission for student shows. At any rate, that was the case at my high school, which is why we were forced to stick to straight theater-musicals were too expensive for us. Maybe that's why this school has my sympathy, but whatever. I still think that to cause so much trouble for the sake of strict legality-when it can be avoided merely by waiting a bit-is an extremely black and white mentality. Try seeing the world in gray every now and then.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 11:21pm

with musicals, royaltaries are based on number of perfomances, number of seats, and ticket prices... so, for free admission, the fee should be significantly lower I believe

[popculture37]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 11:24pm

not necessarily-there was a performance of the fantasticks at my university last year, 4 shows, no ticket prices, done in a dorm parlor...and I believe it cost $1200 for royalties

[erikaamato]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 11:26pm

Try seeing the world in gray every now and then.

I, for one, am actually of the opinion that it's that very mentality that has contributed to the decline of modern society, but, meh, that's just me.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 11:31pm

Report it immediately.

For one thing, the sooner you report it, the sooner they will have chance to deal with it so that the show can go on. And if the show does end up being cancelled, it's better that it should happen as soon as possible.

They are charging admission, right? I'm only asking because one poster seemed to think they weren't, but I didn't notice fiyero saying that.

As for ITW, I think that Sondheim and Lapine have probably accepted that productions, especially school producitons, are going to add characters. In fact, the excerpts from ITW Jr. performed at Wall-to-Wall Sondheim had an awful lot of kids onstage.

And I think that all the licensing agencies understand that small theatres are going to have to make some changes sometimes. Whether action is taken against a theatre depends on the specific changes.

But I think they're not so forgiving about not receiving payment.

[immortalbroadwayLA]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 11:36pm

for the sake of your own integrity, esp. if you have a relationship with this woman I say go to her first. If you sneak around doing it. You have to live with doing it behind her back. Two wrongs definitely don't make a right. You should be honest with her and then take action you feel is necessary.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 11:41pm

popculture, you have to do it before the show, not after. Not only is it much harder for MTI to do something about it if it's after the fact, but what happens if the only punishment were for the school to have to pay the royalties? It's better to report them now and hope that the production can be fixed and legalized than to wait until AFTER they've done an illegal show.

[popculture37]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 11:50pm

I didn't think of that, orangeskittles...if there's a reasonable chance that mti is just going to demand payment, or that the school will eventually be able to buy the rights so that they can still do the show, I would be all for calling mti immediately. I'm just afraid that MTI would have a harsher reaction and maybe stop the school's drama club from functioning for a while, and I think it would be more harmful to the students to not be able to perform at all than it would be for mti to be in ignorance of this for a little longer than necessary.

And in response to an above poster, I would guess that they're probably charging for tickets; my point was just that high school theaters generally either don't charge or charge very little, so ticket prices wouldn't necessarily be able to cover the rights.

[erinrebecca]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 11:50pm

Do it now. Email Brian O'Sullivan at [e-mail]
I guarantee you that he will be appreciative and they will definitely pursue it. You do not need any "evidence" as someone else claimed. Do it.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 12:09am

It's a tough call as to whether you should tell her first. On one hand, it might be awkward if you don't and she someday suspects that it was you and confronts you about it.

On the other hand, I can imagine a situation where you tell her and she assures you that she'll take care of it and then doesn't, leaving you in a quandary as to whether you should call MTI as the last minute. And then everyone will know it was you who caused the show to be cancelled at the last minute.

[harris007]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 12:23am

once again i agree with munk

to those who say, dont turn them in picture this " picture you and good friend spent 4-6 years of your life writing a show that finally made it, spent months fine tuneing, rewriting, going thought previews, critic reviews long runs, tours, then you find out after all that you find SOME YAHOO "TEACHER " in bumblef&*(k nowhwere probley some stalled actress or writer thats feels the need to rewrite your hard work with out your approval, and your not getting a dime , you dont think you'd
be pissed off. please TURN THEM IN TOMMROW DO IT DO IT DO IT

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 12:31am

erinrebecca: I never said you HAD to have evidence. However, when it comes to re-writes, they DO appreciate hard proof. Otherwise it is very hard to prove.

The main problem here is that the production is illegal - it is not paid for. The re-writes and character addictions are secondary at this point. If a school pays for rights and decides to tinker with a few things to make the production work for them, well, I think there are instances where that is okay. But the show isn't even PAID for.

And doing it behind her back? What, is this person entitled to be confronted before she is reported? In no way, shape, or form would it be wrong of the poster to contact MTI without a word to the director. Please.

You people.

Get a GRIP. REPORT THIS.

I SAID THIS BEFORE:

IF YOU DO NOT FEEL COMFORABLE DOING THIS YOURSELF, PASS THE REQUIRED INFORMATION ON TO ME, AND THIS MATTER WILL BE SETTLED MOMENTS LATER

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 12:34am

And I know for a fact that MTI has people working for them that peruse the internet to find things out. I know that they check craigslist, theatremania, ATC, and probably this board for tips. They do not take it lightly.

They also have people throughout the country that go see some of their productions to keep an eye on them.

I wouldn't be surprised if MTI is aware of this thread and aware of the supposed "ethical dilemma."