I have a question about rights for a show....the way I always understood it to be was that you apply and pay for the royalties to a show, and if you are granted them, that means no other organization can produce the same show at the same time within a small radius. 

 

Well...our theater company is a growing organization that just produces summer shows for kids.  We have had our royalties set for this year's show...and recently found out that another organization exactly like ours has come into our town, producing the same show, in the theater a block away from ours, at the same time! I called Rogers and Hammerstein and spoke to someone who reaaaalllly did not want to be speaking to me.  She said that if they are amateur productions it doesnt matter. 

 

at this point I am very frustrated!!  What do you suppose I do??  Theater is really a new thing for our city...and it's taken a lot of hard work for our company to grow.  now this "out of town"  organization comes in and will most likely cut our pool of actors and audience by at least half! (which isn't a lot to begin with) 

 

now, I'm just assuming they hold the rights to the show as well.  Rogers and Hammerstein won't give me that info, will they? 

 

thanks for your help!

 

Is this some touring company that's coming into your town to produce the same show?  Are they being sponsored by a local organization, like the arts council or something?  Regardless I would strive to make sure you do the best show you can, so that everyone says, you did it better than the out of town yahoos.