DR Jason - I have an MTI rant, I hope you don't mind... BUT
The theatre company that I'm quite involved with put an application into MTI in March for "Urinetown" - we were told that it was a new property and we needed to wait to see if any of the regional/pro theatres in the area wanted the show first. Turned out, in May, we finally got approved, which was exciting. As far as we knew, we were the first people in the area to grab the show.
Turns out, a local community college theatre, who draws from the same audience and talent pool as us, ALSO got the show and announced their season after we did. Their show is end of Feb/March, AND then we found out that a company about 20 minutes south of us open the show 2 weeks after we close... same talent pool there, too.
Let's not mention that a CHILDREN'S theatre in the same city as we are got the show for this summer (Palo Alto Children's Theatre)
I know MTI can't micro-manage their clients, but it just doesn't seem right is all.
Thanks for listening!
DR Matthew: I explain this to my customers all the time, many of whom are confused and angry by our amateur licensing policies. The fact is, there is no statute of limitations in regard to the number or location of amateur productions of any title in any given city or state. In other words, Community Theatre A and Community Theatre B could perform URINETOWN on the same night in the same building with the same curtain time without violating any contractual agreements. The only groups who are granted exclusivity on any titles are the large, professional regional theatres and in a few rare cases, very large community theatres that pay their actors a certain level of salary.
Since announcing URINETOWN as an available title, we have received hundreds of applications for that show. Some of them were approved - others were not because a professional group declined their request. Once an offer is approved, a contract is sent out listing the fees and terms. Whether a group chooses to sign and return that contract once they've received it is up to them. We don't know who will choose to proceed with the show, so we can't say, "We can't send you a contract until Community Theatre C tells us if they're going to do the show."
Like I said, I had a woman apply for 10 titles yesterday - obviously she isn't going to do all of them, but I have to send her contracts if she asks for them. If she signs a contract for TOMMY and returns it with some money, the show is hers. If the high school down the street decides they want to do TOMMY, too, it's between those two schools to hash out who gets to do the show or just go ahead and do it at both venues.
For your community's sake, I'm sorry to hear that there are so many productions of the same show booked for what sounds like a small region, but MTI, as representatives of the authors, is here to make money for those authors and get their shows produced as much as we can. With over 60,000 customers in the amateur department alone, it would be quite impossible for us to micro-manage to such an extent that we could avoid double-bookings of a title in any given community. It is ultimately the responsibility of the theatres in any community to communicate with one another and discuss their proposed seasons before signing any contracts or making any announcements, which we assume that they do.
