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[George]

Three volumes of Lost in Boston, one volume of Unsung Musicals and the Prime Time Musicals CD are all mentioned.

Very cool!

[George]

Oh, look!  It's Page Six!!

[John G.]

I used my time wisely. I read all of "To Broadway, to Life! The Musical Theater of Bock and Harnick."

I drove my friend Shelly to an appointment just south of Tacoma, and I started reading BK's new book while waiting.  It's very good!

Ain’t that the truth.

[John G.]

The mosquitoes outside are making me more miserable than the heat.

[Freddie]

I know nothing about licensing novels, movies etc. for stage musicals. So rights lapsing is a new concept to me. I mean, we have that in music tech all the time, where the license for musical works is for a few years. But to create a musical and do all that creative work based on a time limit for the rights? I wouldn’t have thought of that.

I don't know the specifics in the case of this show, of course. 

But musical theater people (maybe producers, maybe writers, maybe anyone) might, for example, be purchasing the exclusive stage rights for a certain option period, depending on how interested the property owner is in having a musical made of his or her property by these particular theater people.  Maybe as an example $5,000 for the first 18 months, then another $5,000 for an additional 18 months, then maybe another $5,000 for an additional 12 months, and on as extensions to the contract are executed. 

At SOME point, to describe the "merger" concept simply - usually based on reaching a specified number of certain types of performances, the rights would "merge" so that the musical may from then on be "exploited" forever, and usually the original rights holder gets a percentage of the royalties from the writing.  (A normal split might be 25% music, 25% lyrics, 25% book, and 25% original underlying rights holder). 

If the rights don't "merge" before the end of the option period, as extended, the rights would "lapse."

[George]

Schmidt and Jones wrote a lovely score for Grover’s Corners, a musical version of Our Town. Kander and Ebb musicalized The Skin of Our Teeth. Both based on Wilder plays. Both had the rights yanked from them.

How rude!

[MichaelG]

Is there often a threshold to keep them indefinitely, like a Broadway run of xxx performances? I can see a rights holder yanking from someone in hopes of a more successful adaptation. But might the Sondheim estate have to worry about Buńuel’s estate yanking rights for Here We Are, which is only Off-Broadway so far?

[MichaelG]

Thanks DR Freddie. That makes sense and answers my questions. Learn something new every day at HHW!

[Freddie]

Is there often a threshold to keep them indefinitely, like a Broadway run of xxx performances? I can see a rights holder yanking from someone in hopes of a more successful adaptation.

Depends on what's agreed on at the time the rights contract is executed. 

But once "merger" has happened, the rights can't be yanked any more.

[John G.]

The Thin Man and The Ex-Mrs. Bradford both end in a dinner party in which the murderer is revealed. Black Bag uses the same device, and it still works.

[John G.]

I hate Cate Blanchett’s hair in this movie, but, dang, can she ever deliver a line. When she says, “Don’t ever f—- with my marriage again,” you believe it.

[John G.]

5:15 comes early.

[John G.]

Must get to bed.

[John G.]

Good night, all.

[Jrand74]

I haven't had my rights yanked in many a year.

[bk]

Meat was ground beef.

[bk]

Had some cantaloupe and biscotti for evening snack and pill three has been taken.

[bk]

Watched a bottom half of the bill movie.

[George]

I haven't had my rights yanked in many a year.

Ditto...nor my lefts.

[George]

I've read 40% of BK's book.

[George]

I plan to read the rest of the book soonly.

[George]

Tomorrow, I'm going to my mom's to help with some things to get get her house ready for my cousin John and his wife Angel's visit on Thursday.

[George]

Hopefully, they actually show up.

[George]

There have been a few times (enough to be hesitant with any deep cleaning) when they said they'd visit and then call the day that they were supposed to leave saying that they weren't coming.

[George]

They're otherwise great people.

[George]

They live in Coquille, Oregon, and it's about a seven hour drive, but at least they don't have to fly and lose any of that money.

[bk]

Glad George will finish the book soonly and I do hope he'll do a review soonly, too, as that would be most helpfully helpful.

[bk]

Stuck on page six again.

[bk]

Not very sporting.

[bk]

Ridic.