Putting on Chicago

[martinkings]

I'd like to put on the musical Chicago at the school where I work but I can't seem to find any details on licencing arrangements.

 

Is Chicago available to be licenced - if not, do I have any options that would allow me to put this on ?

 

Hope that someone out there can help.

[thebigcheese]

Chicago is EDIT: NOT licensed by the Really Useful group. As far as my extremely limited knowledge goes (I am also at school) it would be unlikely to put on a production that is in the west end.

 

The best thing you could do is to e-mail the RUG and see what they say. At worst they will say no but depending on where you are in the country they might agree.

 

EDIT: I have been researching this and it seems like you can apply to put on a show here http://www.reallyuseful.com/rug/put/enquiry.htm BUT on the drop down list there is no option for Chicago so either someone else holds the license of you cannot put it on.

[paulears]

It won't help very much, but the UK amateur rights holder for Chicago is Samuel French Ltd. It isn't however, available at the moment - too damn popular with the professionals. RUG won't be much help as they don't deal with amateur rights, and these are simpy frozen for the moment - best bet is to contact Frenchs and enquire if they have a date on the horizon.

[Jivemaster]

The more popular a show, the less likely the rights will be available, even at a price. They dont want some amateur group wrecking the future earning potential of their product.

 

Better ring French's and find something they can release for your group and budget. Assume that if a show is on in metropolitan theatreland (London w/e, NY, Birmingham, etc) then the rights holders will want to maintain the production standards for as long as possible to preserve its value.

 

Also Read the T&Cs before you sign the contract! eg Grease The Musical has differences from the film, and you MUST produce the show for which you have the licence.

[martinkings]

Is there any way around the licencing problem?

[Nick S]

I've just come off an amateur production of Chicago in Boston, and I can tell you it was near impossible to get the rights - it's not normally handed out in the North East US for the reasons above (the professional versions still being very popular), and I believe the production staff actually directly approached the Broadway producers rather than going through Samuel French when making preliminary investigations (although obviously the agreement was with Samuel French).

 

The rights were also, if I recall, very expensive when compared to nearly all other musicals out there.

[Brian]

Is there any way around the licencing problem?

In a word 'No'. Putting on a show without a licence could get your venue into very deep legal water. There is pretty much no defense in a court for it and the costs and damages could be huge.

[Dazzler]

The show is going out on a national tour agin in the autumn, so if you want to produce it after then you will struggle to get the rights.

 

Dazzler

[robloxley]

Is there any way around the licencing problem?

Not to put on the show, but you can perform the songs under a PRS licence (usually as part of a 'songs from the shows' type revue)

[Bobbsy]

...though even for revues there are specific regulations about how many songs, what duration, not using the songs in the context of the original show, etc etc.

 

Bob

[paulears]

and the rules prevent costume and sometimes even lighting if the original had particular ways of doing things. So posh frocks and revue lighting may work - but forget the Chicago well known scenes - I doubt you'd even get away with that.

 

Many schools and colleges don't ever get permission - I've come accross ones who complained that it took such a long time to write out the script from the movie! Ignorance is bliss in many cases. That said, I'm not aware of any school or college having any action taken against them, but public performance by anybody worth suing would be fair game, I'd say. So for amateur organisations, the committee members would be liable for infringements - scary stuff.

[Cruiser]

That said, I'm not aware of any school or college having any action taken against them, but public performance by anybody worth suing would be fair game, I'd say. So for amateur organisations, the committee members would be liable for infringements - scary stuff.

 

I remember hearing a few schools near me in chingford being done pretty hard for putting on various different productions of 'Bugsy Malone' before the millenium. Cant remember the ins and outs of it, but suffice to say the 'ignorant' approach by the schools and amateur groups isnt looked upon favourably by the licence holders. I'm sure generally, if its low key, groups do get away with a lot of stuff like this, but to say they've never been caught is incorrect.

 

If you cant get a licence its just not worth the risk I dont think.

[Bobbsy]

Not a school, but a youth drama group near me was "done" last year for advertising an unlicenced performance of Bugsy Malone. Their defence was that they were a non profit organisation which donated any money left after a performance to charity (true) didn't wash and they were effectively put out of business.

 

More worrying for those employed by theatres, the venue they had booked for the show was also threatened with a lawsuit and (as far as I can tell) only escaped paying a big settlement because the production was closed down before it actually got into the venue.

 

So yeah, it's not worth trying to pull a "sneaky". The copyright holders really do enforce things.

 

Bob

[Cruiser]

Seems old Bugsy Malone is one they come down pretty hard on!

[w/robe]

Last night on the local London news on the BBC at 10pm there was, as an aside to an item,

 

'here is the schools production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'

 

Oops, hope no one who owns the rights was watching.