Kingstech Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Hi all, Does anyone know where we could find Licenses for the blood brothers musical from? Ive seen on the web that there is licensing issues with it. not being allowed in the UK but I have found stuff on Samuel French. Does anyone know where we could buy the license for it to perform in a school? And why there are some restrictions on the license. Cheers Callum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoLiEn Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Its on tour, which would suggest why the restrictions on the license. "Please note this is the non-musical play version and only this version is released for amateur performance. The musical version is still being presented professionally and no release of amateur rights has been authorized. Therefore, it is not legally permissable for amateurs to present any version other than the non-musical version. A single song (“Marilyn Monroe”) is featured in the non-musical play and sheet music is available on hire from Samuel French Ltd. No other songs or music from the score of the musical Blood Brothers may be used in any production of the play." Samuel French will license the play version. NOT the musical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingstech Posted February 18, 2011 Author Share Posted February 18, 2011 I found this... which suggests its the musical due to the bandhttp://www.samuelfrench.com/store/product_info.php/products_id/2667 and this onehttps://www.samuelfrench-london.co.uk/books/blood-brothers-musical-not-released-for-amateur-performance-in-the-british-isles apart from the places where they are.. whats the difference? and is it just because its on tour its not allowed to be licensed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the kid Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 It most likely is. There are many storys of places getting rights for a show, only to be told a few weeks before that they cant perform it any more because the rights now have gone to a pro company. Sometimes they will still allow it but with limited marketing because a bigger show is close by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Licences will be differently available in the USA and the UK. The second link clearly states not amateur rights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Callum - it's a contractual thing with the professional rights. They pay a lot of money for the rights for pro shows, and always put clauses into the contracts that preserve the 'uniqueness'. The theatres who host the touring shows also usually have a distance/time clause that prevents one town having the show before they do. If your venue book the show for May, but another books it in a month before, and they're only 30 miles away, it hurts the box office. Although amateur shows rarely get mistaken for the pro show, they could confuse things, so the pro show don't want locals doing it anywhere - hence why the amateur rights get removed. These things are always territory controlled, so if there is no professional tour, they release amateur rights, but when the pro version goes into pre-production, amateur rights get removed again. This isn't new - and has been run like this for years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingstech Posted February 18, 2011 Author Share Posted February 18, 2011 Oh that makes more sense... it seems a shame tho, it is one of the best musicals I have seen, and thought it would be good to do as a production at our school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 There are many shows that would be good to do - but if you want a fun one - how about Boogie Nights - good music, many comic parts and parents love it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ynot Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 Oh that makes more sense... it seems a shame tho, it is one of the best musicals I have seen, and thought it would be good to do as a production at our school.Blood Brothers is perhaps one of the longest touring shows I know of. It's also the show that without a doubt I have paid to go and watch more than ANY other since I were a lad.And is the next pro show I'll be going to see in a few weeks at the Belgrade in Coventry. Mainly because I think it's a cracking musical with a pretty decent storyline too, but also because a friend of mine is again in the role of the narrator. He's a local lad, I've him since he was a nipper, (and know his parents, step parents, brother and sister!) He took the role at the Birmingham Hippo last year with the X-Factor runner up Nikki (who I'd say did a very good job of it) then he and she went down to the west End for a short run there with it. It's always one that I've said for years that would be ideal for a quality amateur production and would dearly love to do at our space - even have the cast and director lined up should it ever appear on the lists - but sadly I doubt it will for many a year, if at all. Whilst it's still making money on tour for Mr Kenwright it will stay on tour I guess... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stutwo Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 The musical rights to Blood Brothers have never been available to amateurs, we've made regular enquiries to the agents over the years always with the same response - "No, and not anytime soon." One school near us was lucky enough to have a staff member who just happened to be a family friend of Willy Russell, and were given the performing rights by the author himself. I tried that avenue but it was fairly clear that it was a one-off. The play is available but only contains one song I think. I have heard of a school who put the rest of the songs into the play because they "thought they could do that", but the penalties for trying something so daft would be fairly severe if caught. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Bit of a bummer that; I've seen one amateur production of the musical here in NZ, and was looking forward to a second, but recent geographic events may have screwed that pooch... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingstech Posted February 22, 2011 Author Share Posted February 22, 2011 what is to stop us buying it from the american site and using it in the UK? I know previously we have got shows from the american one and used them in the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy_s Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 what is to stop us buying it from the american site and using it in the UK? I know previously we have got shows from the american one and used them in the UK.um, the fact that it is illegal? you aren't allowed to put on the play without the permission of the rights holder, regardless of where you source the material from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ynot Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 what is to stop us buying it from the american site and using it in the UK? I know previously we have got shows from the american one and used them in the UK.Look, this is the problem that a LOT of schools/dance schools/youth theatres etc etc seem to have - that of selective visibility. Too many of them seem to ignore what is right and legal just because they can say "Oh, but we're just a school and didn't know we had to".....WRONG!! ANY commercial script MUST by law be licenced for production (*), be it an am-dram or pro version. The same goes for musical scores, many (not all) of which are bundled with the script/libretto. This licence would be issued (on this example) by Samuel French IF they can see that criteria that has been set by the rights holder and others are satisfied. in the case of Blood Brothers, as has been said, this is unlikely to happen in the near to medium future simply because it's still so bl00dy successful on tour and Mr Kenwright wants to keep it that way! (*) Exceptions to this MAY be work that is out of copyright due to it's age - eg the original G & S operettas can be performed without licence as they went out of © many years ago. However, use of the music is still likely to incur significant costs from source - ie you hire the orchestral scores etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossmck Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 I know a local school who got permission to perform several songs and excerpts from it (in costume and with set, not just performed as a concert would be) forming about a third of a 2 hours "Musical Showcase" type show - even this was difficult I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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