So I'm in a production of Once Upon A Mattress right now...

But we've made one big change.

We've killed Winifred. It never felt right having her live so we changed it so she falls off the bed to her death.

Thoughts?

Updated On: 8/16/10 at 09:46 AM

I really think this is an amazing idea! It brings a gritty realism to the piece. When to performances begin?

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Did you change the title to Once Fell Off a Mattress?

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I saw a production of Once Upon a Mattress where they cut out the illegitimate pregnancy.

It was so confusing and unfortunately my first exposure to this wonderful show.

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The production I did of MATTRESS cut out the illegitimate pregnancy....probably cause we were between the ages of 8 and 12.

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Do they offer a script with those changes? "In a Little While" makes no sense without that and Lady Larkin needing to flee (or even her urgency for the marriage ban to be lifted) has no purpose.

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Jordan is it okay if I dress up like Carol Burnett to see the show?

BTW- There is a Once Upon a Mattress Junior edition availible not sure of any of the changes.

Are you guys five years old? Really?

Directors make changes ALL THE TIME. Anyone who is an actor on this board has been in a production were at the very least a line was changed. There is no crime in what my director is doing. So what? She made a change. The production isn't charging admission, and we got the rights from MTI.

This is no better or worse than when in a mentioned production of Annie the ending was changed to where it was all a dream, or in a production of Company when some of the couples where changed to same-sex couples. Or any alteration large or small for ANY production.

In order for a piece to be fresh, things for certain productions are added or cut. It happens all the time. It's not like we're completely destroying the piece. And none of this, "It's not what Jonathan Larson would've wanted!" bull****, because for all anyone knows, he would've changed it later on.

I stand by my director 100% by her decision, and while everyone's entitled to their own opinion on the ending change, your basis for why or why the change affects the work shouldn't be based purely upon legality. The organization I'm working with has been a generous sponsor of MTI and has launched many premiere shows from them, so we're not out to f**k over their work.

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Updated On: 8/17/10 at 04:14 PM

You can stand by your director but what she is doing is illegal, no matter how minor you think it is. EXIBIT A:

"Music Theatre International makes clear that scripts cannot be changed:

Some people think making "minor adjustments" to a show (such as changing the gender of a character or changing the name of a town to give it local significance) is inconsequential to its integrity, or believe they have the right to "experiment" with the authors' intentions as an expression of their artistic vision. This is simply not the case. When you are granted a performance license, by law the show you license must be performed "as is." You have no right to make any changes at all unless you have obtained prior written permission from us to do so (emphasis mine). Otherwise, any changes violate the authors' rights under federal copyright law. Without prior permission from MTI, your actions will subject you to liability—not only to the authors, but also to us—for breaching the terms of your license agreement, which clearly forbid you to make any changes or deletions."

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:lFhXpnnlc60J:lecatr.people.wm.edu/copy.htm+musical+theatre+international+cutting+and+changin&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

You can rationalize it whatever way you want but she is breaking her licensing agreement with the rights holder AND the law.

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i believe Sondheim has sued to stop productions of Company that change the genders of the couples.

I have friends at MTI. Should I accidentally let them know about this production of RENT?

When I was in eighth grade, the director of the show we were doing changed two word into one word because I said it in rehearsal. It was like "cocoa puffs" to "cheerios." Naturally, we were middle schoolers and didn't know that it was kinda bad. Of course, this wasn't as major a change as this production of Rent, but it was still there. Anyway...I just felt that I should get that out here because every time I read about illegal changes in script, I feel bad.
Also, what about adlibs? That same high school did a show last year where one of the actors adlibbed things pretty much every scene. Is that legal?