George - we license THE FANTASTICKS. Tom and Harvey have actually approved the use of two mothers INSTEAD of two fathers, but not IN ADDITION TO the fathers. The dancers...well...that's a creative thing that we most likely wouldn't meddle with. It doesn't change the intent of the piece, so we kind of let that stuff go.
Yesterday I got a call from a teacher in Virginia who was looking for JOSEPH...DREAMCOAT. I told him that Rodgers & Hammerstein now holds the rights for the Lloyd Webber shows and he said, "oh, no. I can't do it, then." I asked why and he said something to the effect of 'some of the licensing houses (Tams-Witmark, specifically) have reputations for being mean to their customers, and he's just recently added R&H to that list. Why, you ask? Because a high school in his district had done BIG RIVER (one of R&H's properties) and the production was soooo good that it was nominated for an award and they had to present a cutting of the show at the Kennedy Center for the awards ceremony. R&H issued an immediate cease and desist, however, once they found out that the show had been non-traditionally cast based on vocal ranges: Huck was black and Jim was white. Can you imagine?
Because he felt that R&H were bullying the school out of their awards performance, the whole district is boycotting shows from the R&H catalog. Guess he won't be doing JOSEPH any time soon...