My Fair Lady amateur rights problem

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 4/1/15 at 11:28pm

Hey everyone

While I still act professionally, my day job for the past two years has been as a high school drama teacher. I just applied to get the rights to MY FAIR LADY for next year's spring musical, and received a letter from Tam-Witmark stating that rights to all amateur productions are currently being withheld.

Does anyone know what the deal is? Is the new film version still in the works? A Broadway revival? A major tour? Why would they pull all the amatuer rights until further notice??? Any ideas/info greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,

DB

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 4/1/15 at 11:41pm

Oh, gosh. That stinks! That happened with me and ROCKY HORROR back last winter. Wanted to do it this year, and we were told that they were witheld. Best of luck! :)

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 4/7/15 at 10:59pm

Bump. So I called Tams-Witmark again, and was told that the amateur rights for My Fair Lady have been withheld FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS. Is this really true? And does anyone know why, and how to contact the Lerner and Loewe estate for an appeal?

Any help/info greatly appreciated.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 4/7/15 at 11:32pm

I'd be curious to hear why it's just the amateur rights, as they have definitely not been withholding professional rights. 

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 12:06am

There was a very good regional production (granted it was pro--or at least the leads were pro,) here two Summers back.  I live in Canada, but as far as I know Tams-Witmark covers all of North America.  I'd be curious too.

[jnb9872]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 1:13am

Lyric Stage in Boston, I believe, is doing MY FAIR LADY this coming fall, so the professional rights are definitely still licensed.

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 1:26am

I definitely saw a college production two years ago. Also I don't see why they would suspend amateur rights but not professional rights. It seems to make more sense to do it the other way around.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 1:08pm

I too find it strange and hard to believe. Are they tired of amateur Americans trying to do the accents? lol. I'm sure they are making exceptions though (there are always exceptions), so if anyone can PM me with any info on how to get in touch with the Lerner and Loewe estate that would be great. Thanks!

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 2:03pm

There are hundreds of different reasons these temporary holds/restrictions happen. It's typically the other way around in that the professional (or "first class") rights are restricted, but it's an extremely fluid thing. It just depends.

Baritone -- don't you have an assigned licensing rep/account manager at Tams? If so, you should reach out to him or her directly and ask for the reasoning. They'll usually provide some kind of explanation.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 2:08pm

Can we talk? What did your school do to piss off Tams-Widmark? Their website allows you to look at upcoming productions. Under MFL, Type in New York, NY and 100 radius and you'll see two productions.

Link Updated On: 4/8/15 at 02:08 PM

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 4/8/15 at 3:29pm

Those two productions you speak of are professional productions, not amateur.

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 2/6/16 at 9:29pm

BUMP 

I was wondering if there is still a problem with the rights.  I'm planning a production next year and before I contact Tams, I figured I'd ask here.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 2/6/16 at 10:44pm

They randomly changed their minds and gave us the rights. Weird, but a happy ending. In rehearsals now :)

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 2/6/16 at 10:57pm

Thanks and break a leg with your show!