LOL!!  A pretty good defense if Mr. Simon should decide to sue for taking out the "bad" words.   "But Mr. Simon Said I could.  It says so in his book....right here."  Whereupon Mr. Simon might counter that he limited it to only the "F" word in schools doing Rumors.

No, there is no difference in the non-professional licensing procedure for most publishers and plays.   I doubt that Neil Simon was giving blanket permission to change the profanity in any of his plays.  The bottom line is before changing any dialog for any reason, no matter how benign, get the authorization in writing.   Some plays may state in the script that it's ok to adjust the dialog for profanity and some even offer alternative dialog in place of it.  But unless you see one of these "waivers" in the script, don't change it or if you need to change it obtain the permission to change it.  Otherwise don't do the show.

And believe me Neil Simon cares if you change dialog, just ask anyone that's gotten caught.  And weather or not Neil Simon or any playwright cares or it's just the lawyers and the publishing companies making a stink about it is really not the point of this dissussion.   As I've said before the bottom line is that you don't own the intellectual property and your performance license only gives you permission to perform it as written.

My community theatre does 3 shows a year that are called "Studio Shows" they take place in between the Children's Academy shows and are usually shows with more lanuage and stuff... Past Shows (Season: 05-06) The Diviners, Wonder of the World, Dimly Percieved Threats to the System...

My philosophy has always been, if the language is gratuitous, drop it.  If it is intrinsic to the character or situation, keep it in.  I mean, can you imagine the characters in any of the Mamet plays saying "gosh darn" or "heck"?

At auditions, I always point out that there is some "adult" language in the play and that certain characters will be expected to use it.  If that kind of language is offensive to anyone auditioning, I encourage those people to audition for a different part in the show. This helps to prevent those actors from letting you know half-way through rehearsals that they won't say "off color" words.

God bless her....my Mother Miriam Ruth in "Agnes of God" is an EXTREMELY religious and Christian lady, and was very uncomfortable with uttering "Then she's a G.D. liar" about Agnes, but she realized that it was absolutely essential for her character to say it at that particular point in the play.  She also realized that it was the CHARACTER using that language, not her.  And she handled it beautifully!

Thanks eveharington, you are absolutely correct!!!

......and spoken more graciously than I would have.