World AIDS Day & RENT

Today is World AIDS Day.  December 1, 2011. The 23rd anniversary of World AIDS Day.

Jonathan Larson started working on RENT (the musical) in earnest in 1991.  The show was first seen at New York Theatre Workshop in 1994 and opened off-Broadway in January 1996, transferring to Broadway in April 1996.  The show was written 20 years ago, premiered on Broadway 15 years ago.

We open RENT tomorrow. It's a small cast (20 people) and staff (8) with a 6 person band.  34 people total.  Within this group there are 5 people who have close friends or family members who have either passed away from HIV/Aids or are living with the disease.

According to statistics provided by the Wisconsin AIDS/HIV Program:

Worldwide, over 33 million persons are living with HIV and over 7,100 individuals are infected daily. An estimated 1.2 million Americans are living with HIV and one out of five don’t yet know it. Since 1983, more than 8,700 people in Wisconsin have been reported with HIV infection. Today, more than 6,400 persons are estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS in Wisconsin.

A few resources:

One Tough Pirate, a blog written by Bob Bowers, who has lived with AIDS for 27 years, share stories of those living with the disease.

The AIDS Network has offices in Madison, Beloit, and Janesville. Learn more, volunteer, get tested.

"Taming of the Shrew" and the WI Union Theater

The Union Theater opening in October 1939 with a production of "Taming of the Shrew" which starred Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne.  Our current production, "My Fair Lady," is the last theatrical production in the space before it closes for renovations for two year (starting in June 2012).  It's pretty amazing that both tell the same story and to think that our principals, Sarah O'Hara and Doug Swenson, are in the very same dressing rooms that Lunt and Fontanne used for that production.

This morning I found a link to an archive on that 1939 production which includes the program and photos from the show. It also includes a wonderful section on why the theater was built - who it would serve and how the university hoped it would benefit the community. 

FST has produced ten shows at the Wisconsin Union Theater. We feel so lucky to be a part of this incredible history and are looking forward to returning when the theater reopens.  (Although, truth be told, we will miss the dressing rooms and historic photos and posters which are currently backstage.)

The "new" Porgy and Bess

I've been following the "new" production of Porgy and Bess since I first read about it in June 2010.  Subsequent stories have raised several issues as the director has added scenes, changed dialogue, and even chnaged the ending. The new cast stars two dynamic and well-respected musical theatre performers: Audra McDonald and Norm Lewis with performances starting next week at the American Repertory Theater.

Read, "It ain't necessarily Porgy" from the August 7, 2011 issue of the New York Times.  This article provides good background for the project and its attempts to turn the 1935 work into something which appeals to modern musical theatre audiences. 

While the production has support from the estates of George Gerswhin (composer), Ira Gershwin (lyricist), and Dubose Heyward (author of the 1925 novel "Porgy" which served as source material and co-lyricist), not everyone has agreed that this "reconception" of the work is a great idea.  Among those who have spoken out against the changes is composer Stephen Sondheim whose comments are featured in the August 10 New York Times article, "Sondheim takes issue with revamped Porgy and Bess."

Both articles raise interesting issues and questions. Is Porgy and Bess being treated differently because it's considered an opera rather than a musical?  Does changing the story make it more relevant to modern audiences?  Does "revamping the work" somehow lessen the impact of the original? 

What do you think?

Rights, permission and licensing

Last season we received a review which included mention of a "too long" overture.  I've also read reviews where the writer has commented on how a character was written, in a manner which suggests that the producer should have changed the play.  These comments and others have made me realize that a lot of people may not understand how theatrical rights work for plays, musicals, and operas. 

Some works, like many operas written before copyright was a normal, official thing for composers to do, are considered public domain.  When you produce an opera like "Carmen," you have access to a few different printed versions of the score and libretto and have the flexibilty to combine them, choose one, cut anything you feel like cutting etc.  This why organizations like Opera for the Young can create their own one hour versions of operas which would normally be three hours long.  This is also why you'll probably never see the same exact version of script for a play by Shakespeare, either. 

Most works written in the past century are full copyrighted. With this license, you agree that you will not make changes to the script or score and will present the work as it was originally intended.  Also, recording (vidoe or audio) for commerical purposes is strictly prohibited.  (You can't record the show and then sell copies of the DVD, for example). 

Another major difference is payment for the right to perform.  While companies who produce works in the public domain have to rent or buy music and scripts, they usually do not have to pay performance rights or royalties.  For most works written in the last century, you must pay for rights with the amount due  based on the total number of seats available for each performance and the number of times you are presenting it, in combination with your ticket prices.  For FST the rights for most of our shows range from $5,000 to $6,000 plus any music and script rental costs. For straight plays you may pay a flat fee based on seating and number of shows and you may also have to pay additional royalties if you sell beyond an intial estimate.

Hopefully this helps clear up some of the confusion.

1912

MY FAIR LADY is set in the year 1912. 

Women's fashions have moved from being tightly corsetted with huge skirts and heavy fabrics to the more "natural" silhouette of the Gibson Girl - less fabric in the skirts, more relaxed bodices, hemlines that may have exposed an ankle.

The previous decade brought a wave of technological advancements that became more readily available to wider numbers of people from the phonograph to electric light bulbs. The Brownie camera was invented by the Eastman Kodak company.  Henry Ford introduces the world to the Model T and assembly line production.

An age of wonder - the Wright Brothers first flight and the construction of the Panama Canal.  1906 and the invention of radio broadcasting.   The world's first feature film is released in 1906.  Imagine, if you will, the reaction to Picasso's 1907 painting "Les Desmoiselles" - from John Singer Sargent's striking beauties and the soft lines of many Impressionist paintings to women with faces that look like tribal masks and features.

Tin Pan Alley grows in popularity - marked by record breaking sales of "Alexander's Ragtime Band," sheet music by Irving Berlin, in 1911.

All of this brings us to 1912 - the year when "My Fair Lady" is set.  What happened in 1912?

On January 12, 30,000 workers walk out of textile mills in Lawrence, Massachusetts, beginning one of the most successful strikes in American labor history.

On March 7, Roald Amundsen embarks toward the South Pole.

On April 10, the British oceanliner RMS Titanic leaves England.   It strikes as iceberg at 11:30 pm on April 14 and sinks at 2:20 am on April 15.

On April 20, Fenway Park opens in Boston.

On May 4 over 10,000 women suffragettes march in New York City.

On October 18 Italy and the Ottoman Empire sign a treaty which ends the Italo-Turkish War.