Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: Please Help!!! COMEDY SUGGESTION

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Legacy Theater
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Topic: Please Help!!! COMEDY SUGGESTION
Posted: 6/30/11 at 2:32am

Hello Community Theater Family! I need your help.

I am racking my brain trying to decide our second show. For our first we did an original comedy that ended up selling out our final performances and the buzz in the community about our new theater company is deafening. I don't have the time or man-power to keep up with the demand. While this is a GREAT "problem"

I am losing sleep over what to do next (hence, the 2:27AM post). Here's what I have so far (can't afford a full musical at this time), keeping in mind I expect a decent turnout for auditions:

1. A Musical Revue (taking snippets of Grease, ByeBye Birdie, All Shook Up and Smokey Joe's) BUT some folks say I need to pay for the rights, others say I don't. Any ideas.

2. RUMORS. I love this play and it may be good for a second show but I don't know.

3. YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN. Since our production will be Halloween weekend, i thought about adapting the movie script for Young Frankenstein and bringing it to the stage (not the Mel Brooks Musical). I've adapted screenplays before and find this fairly easy to do, but don't know if it will bring an audience.

Can someone please help? I need to go to sleep and until I have a solid answer, that won't happen LOL!

Any other ideas are appreciated!
Thanks,
Erika

Erika Hose
President Legacy Theater Company

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donzolidis
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Posted: 6/30/11 at 11:54am

1. There are people who know more about this than I do, certainly, but you can't just do a "revue" without paying for the rights. Someone wrote those songs, someone deserves to be compensated. I imagine the thing to do would be to contact each publisher (or whoever holds the rights) for each musical, and ask what the fee would be to publicly perform one song. Results will vary. I think this would be a gigantic pain in the butt, to be honest. There are several pre-packaged revues, (Side by Side by Sondheim comes to mind), that would be simpler in terms of securing performance rights.

(In my humble opinion, a revue is neither fish nor fowl. Not a real musical, not a play, not a concert. I find them unsatisfying. But that's me.)

2. Rumors is a great show. You're sure to get a good audience. Heck, any Neil Simon will most likely work. I'm a big fan of Brighton Beach Memoirs and Biloxi Blues.

3. As a writer, I have to comment here. Legally and ethically, you can't do this. Someone owns the copyright to that show (it might be Mel Brooks, it might not) or any screenplay, and someone got paid to write it. If you take their professional work, adapt it yourself, and then produce it, without paying the person who wrote it in the first place, that's stealing. Regardless of whether you charge admission or not. And if you do charge admission, and make a profit, how can you not see that as illegal? (And Young Frankenstein is a particularly bad choice, since it's running on Broadway right now, and you're likely to confuse your audience.) DO NOT DO THIS.

Sorry. Had to be said.

Now - other shows I'd recommend as comedies for Halloween weekend?

Fuddy Meers, by David Lindsay-Abaire (depending on how conservative your audience is)

The Nerd, by Larry Shue, (classic, hillarious play)

The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged) - about the funniest thing ever. (only 3 actors, though.)

Noises Off, by Michael Frayn (if you can build a big set)

The Craving, by me - (I couldn't really think of a good halloween-funny show, except this one I wrote about a screenwriter whose heartfelt screenplay is transformed into a zombie slasher flick) - you can read it online here:

http://www.playscripts.com/play.php3?playid=1425

Click on read free sample to read it online.

www.donzolidis.com

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edh915
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Posted: 6/30/11 at 12:50pm

Ditto Don Zolidis on the subject of "Young Frankenstein". Theft is theft. Don't do it.

If you want to write your own comic version of the Frankenstein story (since the original is public domain) you're welcome to do that; but if you do, don't advertise it in any way that would refer to the Mel Brooks version.

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Majicwrench
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Posted: 6/30/11 at 1:35pm

Good advice from the above.

ONe of my fav show is "The Importance of Being Ernest" and there is no royalties.

"Rumors" is a riot.

AND congrats on the new theatre!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Rorgg
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Posted: 6/30/11 at 3:04pm

I'll hit them point by point, but from the top -- don't mess with copyright. If you do a song, or a show, or a "derivative work" of a song or a show, you need permission from the copyright holder, assuming the work is still in copyright.

Here's the good news -- licensing a straight play is cheap. We're talking about $75 per show being a common price for an amateur community theatre. My girlfriend and I decided to invent a company to do a show a few months ago, and just put out a basket for donations on the way out. We covered our license fees and scripts and had a week of dinners out easily. If this low entry cost is a deal-breaker, there's always works old enough to have fallen into the public domain -- Shakespeare, Dickens, Oscar Wilde. Hell, just look at the list of Disney movies based on source material, *then go to the source*. They never pay anyone. They take public domain stuff, add their own elements, then sue people who take their version. :)

Okay, to the point:
1. Yes, you need a license to perform even a musical revue. It will cost less than a full musical, but it's going to be more (especially upfront) than a straight play. Plus, frankly, most shows don't translate all that well. Sweeney Todd is about the only show I'd pay to go see in a "concert version," and I consider Sweeney probably the greatest musical ever written. So.

2. Simon is popular with a lot of audiences -- only you'll know (or try to guess) if that includes yours. Of his plays, though, Rumors isn't at the top of my list. I adore Brighton Beach Memoirs, the Odd Couple (either version) tends to play well, and I did Barefoot in the Park a couple years ago -- it's still strong.

3. Again, don't. It's not yet available for amateur licensing. If you want Mel Brooks and the audience is up for that sort of show, just do The Producers.

I'll also add that this place being what it is, you're going to get a lot of suggestions from people who have their own scripts. A lot of times those are shots in the dark (or even ignore the original poster) but considering that you said your first show was an original comedy... that could be an option to build the brand. And so I'll plug that I have a completed and worshopped original full-length straight comedy for a mixed cast of 8-9 available royalty-free, IM me if you want to know more.

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Legacy Theater
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Posted: 6/30/11 at 11:54pm

This is the best site EVER!!! Thank you all so very much for your suggestions. Please don't misunderstand me, I am NOT in the process of stealing others work AT ALL! I am just new to this and don't really know the rules. I am a songwriter and a playwrite and I absolutely don't want to steel from anyone AT ALL! So thanks for clarifying the rules to me. I just wanted to be sure.

We think we will do RUMORS, but we are also looking at the ODD COUPLE and BILOXI. Great suggestions!

Thank you all so much.

We are a new company and doing really well and I don't want to accidentally do something that will ruin our reputation. The problem, if you can say it's a problem, is that I have a fairly large following that wants musicals, but we can't afford the royalties right now. So I am trying to see how to work that in.

Thank you all again and keep the suggestions coming. I know musicals like the back of my hand, but don't know plays that well.

MANY THANKS!!!
Erika

Erika Hose
President Legacy Theater Company

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Legacy Theater
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Posted: 7/01/11 at 12:00am

Also keep in mind, I don't have the ability to do set changes so a show like RUMORS would be great ;)

Erika Hose
President Legacy Theater Company

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GoldCanyonLady
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Posted: 7/01/11 at 11:16am

We only do comedies. Our most fun was Busybody by Popplewell.
http://www.samuelfrench.com/store/product_info.php/products_id/1441

The set was simple and it was well received by the audience.

Faith County was also very, very popular and oh so easy set wise.
http://www.samuelfrench.com/store/product_info.php/products_id/1537

This is not a well known play but your new play worked so why not try
A Bad Year for Tomatoes.
http://www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/single.asp?key=1447

I hope this helps. I can send you pictures of the sets if that would help.

Barb Hofmeister,
MountainBrook Village Players, Gold Canyon, Arizona.

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Ogreking4
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Posted: 7/05/11 at 3:13pm

Check out comedies at Heuer, too! www.hitplays.com

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Legacy Theater
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Posted: 7/05/11 at 5:16pm

Thank you all so much for your ideas and websites. I am in the process of checking them all out.

We are looking into TAMING OF THE SHREW and MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. What do you guys think? Do audiences get offended at the female subject manner of SHREW? Does Shakespeare bring good audiences? Any thoughts on those two plays?

Erika Hose
President Legacy Theater Company

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Play Suggestions
Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board :Producing Theater :Play Suggestions

Author	Message
Legacy Theater Lead Joined: 4/26/11 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 37	Topic: Please Help!!! COMEDY SUGGESTION Posted: 6/30/11 at 2:32am
	Hello Community Theater Family! I need your help. I am racking my brain trying to decide our second show. For our first we did an original comedy that ended up selling out our final performances and the buzz in the community about our new theater company is deafening. I don't have the time or man-power to keep up with the demand. While this is a GREAT "problem" I am losing sleep over what to do next (hence, the 2:27AM post). Here's what I have so far (can't afford a full musical at this time), keeping in mind I expect a decent turnout for auditions: 1. A Musical Revue (taking snippets of Grease, ByeBye Birdie, All Shook Up and Smokey Joe's) BUT some folks say I need to pay for the rights, others say I don't. Any ideas. 2. RUMORS. I love this play and it may be good for a second show but I don't know. 3. YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN. Since our production will be Halloween weekend, i thought about adapting the movie script for Young Frankenstein and bringing it to the stage (not the Mel Brooks Musical). I've adapted screenplays before and find this fairly easy to do, but don't know if it will bring an audience. Can someone please help? I need to go to sleep and until I have a solid answer, that won't happen LOL! Any other ideas are appreciated! Thanks, Erika
	Erika Hose President Legacy Theater Company

	IP Logged

donzolidis Celebrity Joined: 5/15/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 156	Posted: 6/30/11 at 11:54am
	1. There are people who know more about this than I do, certainly, but you can't just do a "revue" without paying for the rights. Someone wrote those songs, someone deserves to be compensated. I imagine the thing to do would be to contact each publisher (or whoever holds the rights) for each musical, and ask what the fee would be to publicly perform one song. Results will vary. I think this would be a gigantic pain in the butt, to be honest. There are several pre-packaged revues, (Side by Side by Sondheim comes to mind), that would be simpler in terms of securing performance rights. (In my humble opinion, a revue is neither fish nor fowl. Not a real musical, not a play, not a concert. I find them unsatisfying. But that's me.) 2. Rumors is a great show. You're sure to get a good audience. Heck, any Neil Simon will most likely work. I'm a big fan of Brighton Beach Memoirs and Biloxi Blues. 3. As a writer, I have to comment here. Legally and ethically, you can't do this. Someone owns the copyright to that show (it might be Mel Brooks, it might not) or any screenplay, and someone got paid to write it. If you take their professional work, adapt it yourself, and then produce it, without paying the person who wrote it in the first place, that's stealing. Regardless of whether you charge admission or not. And if you do charge admission, and make a profit, how can you not see that as illegal? (And Young Frankenstein is a particularly bad choice, since it's running on Broadway right now, and you're likely to confuse your audience.) DO NOT DO THIS. Sorry. Had to be said. Now - other shows I'd recommend as comedies for Halloween weekend? Fuddy Meers, by David Lindsay-Abaire (depending on how conservative your audience is) The Nerd, by Larry Shue, (classic, hillarious play) The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged) - about the funniest thing ever. (only 3 actors, though.) Noises Off, by Michael Frayn (if you can build a big set) The Craving, by me - (I couldn't really think of a good halloween-funny show, except this one I wrote about a screenwriter whose heartfelt screenplay is transformed into a zombie slasher flick) - you can read it online here: http://www.playscripts.com/play.php3?playid=1425 Click on read free sample to read it online.
	www.donzolidis.com
	IP Logged

edh915 Celebrity Joined: 11/19/09 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 325	Posted: 6/30/11 at 12:50pm
	Ditto Don Zolidis on the subject of "Young Frankenstein". Theft is theft. Don't do it. If you want to write your own comic version of the Frankenstein story (since the original is public domain) you're welcome to do that; but if you do, don't advertise it in any way that would refer to the Mel Brooks version.
	IP Logged

Majicwrench Celebrity Joined: 2/07/07 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 178	Posted: 6/30/11 at 1:35pm
	Good advice from the above. ONe of my fav show is "The Importance of Being Ernest" and there is no royalties. "Rumors" is a riot. AND congrats on the new theatre!!!!!!!!!!!!!
	IP Logged

Rorgg Celebrity Joined: 2/10/09 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 151	Posted: 6/30/11 at 3:04pm
	I'll hit them point by point, but from the top -- don't mess with copyright. If you do a song, or a show, or a "derivative work" of a song or a show, you need permission from the copyright holder, assuming the work is still in copyright. Here's the good news -- licensing a straight play is cheap. We're talking about $75 per show being a common price for an amateur community theatre. My girlfriend and I decided to invent a company to do a show a few months ago, and just put out a basket for donations on the way out. We covered our license fees and scripts and had a week of dinners out easily. If this low entry cost is a deal-breaker, there's always works old enough to have fallen into the public domain -- Shakespeare, Dickens, Oscar Wilde. Hell, just look at the list of Disney movies based on source material, then go to the source. They never pay anyone. They take public domain stuff, add their own elements, then sue people who take their version. :) Okay, to the point: 1. Yes, you need a license to perform even a musical revue. It will cost less than a full musical, but it's going to be more (especially upfront) than a straight play. Plus, frankly, most shows don't translate all that well. Sweeney Todd is about the only show I'd pay to go see in a "concert version," and I consider Sweeney probably the greatest musical ever written. So. 2. Simon is popular with a lot of audiences -- only you'll know (or try to guess) if that includes yours. Of his plays, though, Rumors isn't at the top of my list. I adore Brighton Beach Memoirs, the Odd Couple (either version) tends to play well, and I did Barefoot in the Park a couple years ago -- it's still strong. 3. Again, don't. It's not yet available for amateur licensing. If you want Mel Brooks and the audience is up for that sort of show, just do The Producers. I'll also add that this place being what it is, you're going to get a lot of suggestions from people who have their own scripts. A lot of times those are shots in the dark (or even ignore the original poster) but considering that you said your first show was an original comedy... that could be an option to build the brand. And so I'll plug that I have a completed and worshopped original full-length straight comedy for a mixed cast of 8-9 available royalty-free, IM me if you want to know more.
	IP Logged

Legacy Theater Lead Joined: 4/26/11 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 37	Posted: 6/30/11 at 11:54pm
	This is the best site EVER!!! Thank you all so very much for your suggestions. Please don't misunderstand me, I am NOT in the process of stealing others work AT ALL! I am just new to this and don't really know the rules. I am a songwriter and a playwrite and I absolutely don't want to steel from anyone AT ALL! So thanks for clarifying the rules to me. I just wanted to be sure. We think we will do RUMORS, but we are also looking at the ODD COUPLE and BILOXI. Great suggestions! Thank you all so much. We are a new company and doing really well and I don't want to accidentally do something that will ruin our reputation. The problem, if you can say it's a problem, is that I have a fairly large following that wants musicals, but we can't afford the royalties right now. So I am trying to see how to work that in. Thank you all again and keep the suggestions coming. I know musicals like the back of my hand, but don't know plays that well. MANY THANKS!!! Erika
	Erika Hose President Legacy Theater Company
	IP Logged

Legacy Theater Lead Joined: 4/26/11 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 37	Posted: 7/01/11 at 12:00am
	Also keep in mind, I don't have the ability to do set changes so a show like RUMORS would be great ;)
	Erika Hose President Legacy Theater Company
	IP Logged

GoldCanyonLady Celebrity Joined: 2/05/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 172	Posted: 7/01/11 at 11:16am
	We only do comedies. Our most fun was Busybody by Popplewell. http://www.samuelfrench.com/store/product_info.php/products_id/1441 The set was simple and it was well received by the audience. Faith County was also very, very popular and oh so easy set wise. http://www.samuelfrench.com/store/product_info.php/products_id/1537 This is not a well known play but your new play worked so why not try A Bad Year for Tomatoes. http://www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/single.asp?key=1447 I hope this helps. I can send you pictures of the sets if that would help.
	Barb Hofmeister, MountainBrook Village Players, Gold Canyon, Arizona.
	IP Logged

Ogreking4 Player Joined: 2/25/08 Online Status: Offline Posts: 22	Posted: 7/05/11 at 3:13pm
	Check out comedies at Heuer, too! www.hitplays.com
	IP Logged

Legacy Theater Lead Joined: 4/26/11 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 37	Posted: 7/05/11 at 5:16pm
	Thank you all so much for your ideas and websites. I am in the process of checking them all out. We are looking into TAMING OF THE SHREW and MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. What do you guys think? Do audiences get offended at the female subject manner of SHREW? Does Shakespeare bring good audiences? Any thoughts on those two plays?
	Erika Hose President Legacy Theater Company
	IP Logged