Lucy.  Good luck finding royalty free stuff.  The way the copywrite laws have been amended means it's extremely unlikely anything else will move into the public domain.  The copywrite laws (at the risk of offending Playwright) are crap.  Thank Disney for that.  Mickey Mouse was due to move into the public domain a few years ago, but Disney threw their weight (money) around and got congress to extend the term for copyrights to last for close to one hundred years.  These were never intended to be lifetime payments and were designed originally to last for a few years and expire, thus encouraging the creators to create some more.  What else is Walt Disney likely to create?  Pretty ironic when you conside that most of Disney's biggest money makers were based upon public domain works (Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast)

Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, a few others.  I can't name a single important property that came into the public domain in the 20th century.

Spend the $35 to $50 per show and find something you like.  I know how expensive musicals are.  Is Gilbert and Sullivan all public domain?  I think they are.

I will now back slowly away from my soap box.

If Pirates was a huge success, go with Pinafore or Mikado.

Our American Cousin is in the public domain, and it's silly.  (You might want to play down the "play Lincoln was watching when he got shot" angle.)

I agree with Gaafa, though; why no royalties?

CastMe, you now owe Disney $6.95 for even mentioning Mickey Mouse.  Oops, I mentioned Mickey Mouse too!  Aaargh, I did it again!  CastMe, why did you bring up Mickey Mouse?  OH NO!  AGAIN!

I'd better sign off before I'm in hock to Disney up to my elbows. 

Originally posted by POB14 Our American Cousin is in the public domain, and it's silly.  (You might want to play down the "play Lincoln was watching when he got shot" angle.)

I saw Our American Cousin recently, and they actually emphasized the Lincoln connection (it was done around the anniversary of his death, April 15). Several times, the action on stage would freeze and a voiceover would describe what happened at that point in the play on the night of the assassination in a suitably solemn tone (e.g. "At this moment in the play on April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth entered Ford's Theater and made his way to the staircase leading up to the boxes. He had a .32 caliber revolver hidden in his coat pocket.") It was interesting, because you were on the edge of your seat waiting for "the moment." It was particularly affecting when they stopped the action at the exact moment Lincoln was shot, because during the voiceover narrative, the actors, with dramatic backlighting, slow-motion pantomimed their horrified reaction to a gunshot ringing out from the Presidential box, then they instantly shifted back to their "freeze" positions and continued the play.

The production company claimed that it was the first time Our American Cousin had been produced since Lincoln's death, but I didn't believe it.

Originally posted by castMe   Mickey Mouse was due to move into the public domain a few years ago, but Disney threw their weight (money) around and got congress to extend the term for copyrights to last for close to one hundred years.  These were never intended to be lifetime payments and were designed originally to last for a few years and expire, thus encouraging the creators to create some more.  What else is Walt Disney likely to create?  Pretty ironic when you conside that most of Disney's biggest money makers were based upon public domain works (Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast)

Since my day job involves copyright licensing perhaps I can shed a little light on what is certainly a mine field if one is not carefull.   While you may be right that Disney threw it's weight around to have copyright protection extended (although I'm certainly not privy to that one way or the other) it benefits more than just Disney.   Current works are now protected for the life of the author plus 70 years.  This acctually benefits the creators of new works ensuring that they will be paid for the fruits of thier creations and thus enabling them the ecconomic freedom to continue to create new works.

Previous copyright protections were far shorter. Without going into long drawn out details anything published prior to 1923 is in the public domain.   After that it depends on when it was publsihed and if copyright was renewed and which revision of the copyright law might apply to it.   It's possible that some works from the 1930's and maybe the 40's could be in the public domain.   Here's a link to a table that will give you an idea if a US work has passed into the public domain:

http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/public-d.htm

 

 

Originally posted by POB14 Originally posted by Slovak68 Originally posted by POB14 Our American Cousin is in the public domain, and it's silly.  (You might want to play down the "play Lincoln was watching when he got shot" angle.) I saw Our American Cousin recently, and they actually emphasized the Lincoln connection (it was done around the anniversary of his death, April 15). Several times, the action on stage would freeze and a voiceover would describe what happened at that point in the play on the night of the assassination in a suitably solemn tone  Sounds like this version.

Close, but no cigar. No night watchman, no bowing to the president. Just freezes with the voiceover. I bet if they had known this version existed, they would have used it, though. Good find...