"The Magic Show" Rights

I'm planning out my next few years theatrically, and I think I should direct "The Magic Show" two years from now because it'll be perfect for my crop of seniors, but I can't seem to find where to get the rights. Is it a specialized thing where you have to get them directly from Mr. Schwartz, or are they not available, because I can't find them at MTI or Tams. Help appreciated.

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Shnap, I'm always unlucky at getting through to the Powers-That-Be. I know musicaltheatrefan3 is like Schwartz's lackey: where is he when I need him??? Thank you, husk =)

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Jon's probably right. The show was highly dependent upon Henning, and if he doesn't own the exact rights, he probably hasn't revealed how to do said tricks.

Honestly, I don't see the appeal to taht show at all.

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For rights to The Magic Show, contact MichaelCole@stephenschwartz.com

I'm doing it as a student production. We'll get our money from grants, winning parades and tenacious fundraising. I'm looking into it because we have a bunch of singers with the same feel as donna and dina, a perfect cal, and a lead actor who can't carry a tune. It fits our cast, the music is fun and catchy, and with the edited lyrics for Charmin's Lament it's kid friendly, which makes us alot more money =).

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The kids can't do a better show, I'm afraid. This is right up their alley. All of the kids with Sondheim-like talent are leaving this year, and all of the dancers are leaving the following year. I'm planning this for my class: average dancing talent , average vocal talent (strong voices, but not quite at Sondheim level yet) and average acting chops. I'm not too worried about the magic tricks: they were pretty generic. If I don't have a legal obligation to do it their way, I'll just have our Doug learn a few basic tricks, which is no big deal. It might be a bit harder if the show requires the same tricks, but it's not an impossible dilemna.

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I would recommend you perhaps ask the board for suggestions of shows that would be a good fit with your talent pool. Aside from the fact that MAGIC SHOW performance rights have not been released, you really need to have very specific performers and staff to pull the show off.

From your post, I assume this is for a Senior production? Or at least you are casting based on your senior pool? How many students are you looking to have in a cast? Number of girls or boys?

Updated On: 8/19/08 at 04:07 PM

Hmm... If the book is lousy, I wouldn't know, because I haven't seen the DVD. I think I understated my cast when I said they were average. They have great voices, and they can dance and act competently. They just aren't the most special group, being that this year's crop has beautiful Sondheim-ic voices and are headed for vocal performance and theatre degrees, and next year's crop has been dancing at the local dance studio since they were born. We always have above average talent: picture the highlight of an average high school show. We have about ten people with that amount of talent. Every person fits well into a character of The Magic Show, and that's why I'm looking into it. If the magic really is the show (i'll watch the DVD) then this is a big noooooooo. Otherwise, I think it would be good to bring light to a forgotten musical with a memorable score that fits the cast well and has marketability.

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The DVD bears little resemblence to the stage show. Totally different book and several numbers changed. Not good.