MATILDA performance license approx?

Anyone know when the MATILDA license will be available now that the show has closed?

Usually how it works is that first class rights extend to tours: initially a first class "production contract" tour - but also non Union tours as well. After that, usually a show is given "priority" licensing at larger professional regional theatres (The Muny, Sacramento Music Theatre, La Mirada Theatre as a few examples) and then the show is offered to non- professional / community theatres to license.

I'd say its usually about three years after a show closes on Broadway that you start to see it begin to trickle down to locally produced amateur productions - but it really depends on the 'brand' and how the producers wish to control it. Somewhere in the mix, the educational 'school production' rights are released --- now a days you often see school licensing being granted before non professional theatre licensing -- but again that's really a call on the producers' parts.

Updated On: 1/4/17 at 10:19 AM

Who is the "everyone" that was doing Mamma Mia? I just looked at the MTI website and it looks like there are very few regional productions currently being licensed. That's probably because the show has never stopped touring

The other thing that plays into regional licensing is location. If you are a theatre in the middle of North Dakota where there are no tours planned and no major regional theatres, you may be given non professional performance rights earlier.

The licensing houses have ongoing relationships with any long standing companies that regularly produce musical theatre (both professional and non professional). When the licensing houses obtain a property, they strategize (sometimes with the authors or original producers) how they want to 'roll-out' a licensing platform. They take into account things like regional location, track record of the regional companies etc. Taking these things into consideration, reps from the licensing house will often reach out directly to certain theatres to inquire if they would be interested in producing the work.

Who is the "everyone" that was doing Mamma Mia?

Sorry I'm in Canada, and literally every regional theatre did Mamma Mia last year/this year.

QueenAlice said: "Who is the "everyone" that was doing Mamma Mia? I just looked at the MTI website and it looks like there are very few regional productions currently being licensed. That's probably because the show has never stopped touring"



I don't trust the MTI site anymore in terms of the lists of upcoming productions of each show ever since it changed it's site format and design. There's always productions that seem to be missing or not added until right when that particular production opens that I find later. Yes, everyone is doing Mamma Mia, I've found at least 10 theaters auditioning for it this year thus far. And no, the tour is not running in the US anymore, there is a UK one I believe though.

As for Matilda, come to think of it, I'm surprised the former tour didn't go non union...