"Zanna, Don't!" now licensable

[suzycat]

Posted: 4/11/07 at 9:18am

"While a plan for a Broadway run has yet to materialize, the cult hit 2002-03 show by composer-lyricist-librettist Tim Acito is now in the catalog of Theatrical Rights Worldwide (TRW), the publishing/licensing outfit that hopes to give life to viable plays and musicals that had promising starts but didn't reach smash status."

I can see community theatre productions of this, but would high schools really put on a show that is so accepting?
Playbill News: Zanna, Don't!, Pop Musical About High School Love, Is Now Licensable

[sondhead]

Posted: 4/11/07 at 9:35am

*gasp* all four chords of Zanna Don't can now be licensed??? Do they include the amateurish lyrics??

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/11/07 at 10:09am

The music from Zanna, Don't! is so beautiful and moving. The music and lyrics for a show don't have to be complicated for a show to be good, sondhead. Zanna is so well written. I don't know if I can see high schools doing this, but I can definitely see colleges doing it. Columbia University just put on a production of this a few weeks ago that was absolutely spectacular.

[sondhead]

Posted: 4/11/07 at 10:33am

Amateurish doesn't equal not complicated. It equals bad. There's a reason Zanna Don't isn't finding its day on Broadway.

[JasonM12480]

Posted: 4/11/07 at 10:50am

There is a theatre here in Richmond that has already licensed it, and will be producing it for next season:

http://www.rtriangle.org/season.html

Being as it is primarily a gay cabaret theatre, it will probably do very well.

[Jwaa]

Posted: 4/11/07 at 10:51am

woop this is good news, id love a high school to have the guts lol, and yeah i think its beautifully simplistic, i personally preer the vocal arrangement over the music and lyrics, but its all very powerful behind the basic playful structure.
Updated On: 4/11/07 at 10:51 AM

[sally1112]

Posted: 4/11/07 at 11:21am

I agree it is simplistic, but it is a great listen. This is a very underrated show.
It never fails to put a simile on my face when I am listening to it on my IPOD.
Plus its message and homage to musicals of the past make it worth while for me.

I would love to see it done locally. In the right hands it could be a great show.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 4/11/07 at 11:46am

I actually throughly enjoy this show. No it's not complex, not it's not the deepest thing (I've seen cupcake icing deeper than Zanna), but it's fun. It's fluff. It's original. It has heart, and a message. In the long run, doesn't that matter more?

[philcrosby]

Posted: 4/11/07 at 12:33pm

Thanks for calling out Richmond Triangle Players production of ZANNA, JasonM (and congrats on the great reviews in JOSEPH...) -- we will also be doing Fred Barton's new musical THE TWO SVENGALIS and, hopefully, taking that production to the 2008 Gay and Lesbian Theatre Festival in Columbus.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/11/07 at 1:24pm

"Amateurish doesn't equal not complicated. It equals bad. There's a reason Zanna Don't isn't finding its day on Broadway."

You have no idea what you're talking about, sondhead. The music is neither "amateurish" (which by the way is not a word) nor bad. Zanna didn't find it's way to Broadway because the story is not developed enough and doesn't have as much depth as it would need to get put on a Broadway stage. The music is wonderful. Tim Acito does an amazing job of writing the character arcs into the music. Just because it sounds bubble gum on the outside, when closely listened to it is clear that Zanna's music is full of heart and emotion. Also, the characters are more complex than you think. Figuring out how to play Zanna as more than your average gay teenager is quite the task, but certainly doable. You should listen closely to the music again sometime.
-BJH

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 4/11/07 at 1:38pm

this news is sooooo old. why are they just now reporting it? or rather, reporting it again, I know I read this months ago...

[perfectliar]

Posted: 4/11/07 at 1:42pm

Yeah, this show has been licensable since Theatrical Rights debuted about 6 months ago.

[sondhead]

Posted: 4/11/07 at 4:12pm

I've listened to it pretty closely, and it's clearly a matter of opinion, so I fail to see how I 'don't know what I'm talking about'. I think it's boring. It sounds like someone in high school that learned five chords on their guitar decided to write a musical. The lyrics are annoyingly repetitive with some very odd rhymes in them. They bother me. I'm glad that you see otherwise, but I don't after having seen the show and listened to the CD.

[DrTheatre]

Posted: 4/11/07 at 4:19pm

I heard it is very expensive to get the rights...a regional theater that I know wanted to do for their next season...and even they they have profits to do it, it just seem not so affordable after all. So they passed.

[Kringas]

Posted: 4/11/07 at 4:23pm

When did amateurish stop being a word?

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/11/07 at 4:26pm

"When did amateurish stop being a word?"

Oh I forgot, that's one of those words that was actually adopted into the English language because people didn't know to use "amateur" as an adjective as well as a noun. You've got to love the butchering of the English language that goes on here in the U.S.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 4/11/07 at 4:46pm

Amateurish is recognized by Webster's dictionary. So is amateurishly and amateurishness. One would assume they have slightly higher standards for the English language than the average peon.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/11/07 at 4:57pm

Webster's dictionary also recognizes "doh" as a word. Yes...as in the Homer Simpson "doh". Webster's dictionary recognizes most words commonly used, even if they weren't widely recognized words before. They constantly update it to include bastardizations of other words. So before going around calling people "peons" perhaps you should brush up on the subject. The word amateurish was added to the dictionary because it became a commonly used misuse of the word amateur. Don't argue with me, I'm a grammar Nazi.

[boxboynyc]

Posted: 4/11/07 at 5:07pm

What theater? Did they try to license it through Theatrical Rights Worldwide or through the agent? I'm surprised that it would be overly costly for a theater to license.

[sally1112]

Posted: 4/11/07 at 7:01pm

Someone one change the thread title to Linguistics 101, and I'll pour a saucer of milk for these kitties to work out their issues...

[Kringas]

Posted: 4/11/07 at 8:37pm

Webster's dictionary also recognizes "doh" as a word. Yes...as in the Homer Simpson "doh". Webster's dictionary recognizes most words commonly used, even if they weren't widely recognized words before. They constantly update it to include bastardizations of other words. So before going around calling people "peons" perhaps you should brush up on the subject. The word amateurish was added to the dictionary because it became a commonly used misuse of the word amateur. Don't argue with me, I'm a grammar Nazi.

Fascinating as your lessons in etymology may be, Goebbels, if Webster's estimates the origin of amateurish as 1860something, don't you think you can get that stick out of your ass over it?

You think "bastardization" was always a word?

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/11/07 at 11:47pm

Sorry...bad day. Someone please dump a bucket of cold water over my head. Didn't mean to be an ass, Kringas.

[Act4ever]

Posted: 4/12/07 at 12:00am

it's ABOUT high schoolers... not for them to perform per se

[theaterdude87]

Posted: 4/12/07 at 12:35am

I saw the book "Heather Has Two Mommies" the other day at B&N. (You only get that reference if you have seen/ heard the show and/or music).

[LoringsGuy]

Posted: 4/12/07 at 1:09am

I agree that the music is pretty repetitive. That being said, I still think it's cute and has a good lesson about acceptance. This could probably be a big hit for small theatres that play to queer audiences.