Buying the Rights?

Question

I'd like to know how much does it cost to buy the rights to a Broadway Musical. I'm in the performing arts center at my school, and I'd like to know for future refrence when we choose plays for next year (I'll be a 10th grader!), the plays I am considering are

Grease
Hairspray
The King and I
Cats
and that's all I can think of.

If you have anymore great musicals and how much the rights cost to that particular one, please tell me.

Answer 1

The first two answers were good, but they left out some crucial information.

The licensing fee is based on several factors: the producing entity [i.e. professional, amateur, or school], number of performances, number of seats, ticket prices that will be charged, and whether the performance is some sort of fundraising benefit. When you request the rights to produce a show, the application form asks for all this information, and the licensing house then issues the proposed fee. Oh, and the fee is also based on which show is being requested.

Of your list, "Hairspray" is probably not yet available, since it's still selling very well on Broadway [and tours] and the film version just came out.

Answer 2

You'll want to look into licensing a musical. Musical Theatre International (MTI) has a large catalog of musicals that you can produce.

Check out this guide to licensing a show:
http://www.mtishows.com/faq_licensing_steps.asp

Also browse through the shows they offer:
http://www.mtishows.com/browse.asp

Note that many shows are not available for just any theatre company to perform. The rights to produce them are controlled and limited. I believe Hairspray would be unavailable because of the movie being released so soon. And many of the shows still on Broadway would not allow you to produce them yet (Wicked, etc.)

As to the cost of licensing a show, the writers of a show and MTI get to decide how much to charge. Newer/popular shows will cost more to produce. The number of performances you have will also affect the cost.

Just take a look around the MTI website and speak with other professionals who have produced a show before.

Answer 3

write to Music Theatre International. They handle amateur rights for lots of musicals, King and I is Rogers and Hammerstein, do a web search for Muscial Theatre production rights.