Hi--

I am a member at small community theatre in Texas.  The theatre is only 7 years old and slowly growing.  Currently only straight plays are produced, but there have been requests for musicals.  We can seat 100, and have an average of 60 in attendance - and each show runs 7 performances.  Our VP of Production refuses to even look into requesting a quote for a musical, saying that they're too expensive, and the theatre can't afford it...  I think we would have larger audiences come in for musicals, and obviously larger audition turn outs as well.  Are musicals that expensive?  Aren't there cheaper quotes for non-profit smaller houses?  Our VP of Production has never been in a musical - and some of us are beginning to think that is why she won't look into royalties for a musical.  Would a house our size support a musical production?  Thanks...

I am on the board of directors for a small community theater in Maine. We seat 125. We have about 80% attendance for straight shows and 90 -100% attendance for musicals. If your question is will you sell more seats? The answer is almost always yes. Musicals are expensive to produce. Not only are the rights more expensive, but there is the music director, the pit, the rental of the music etc. It just is so much more complicated. As to cheaper for non-profit smaller houses. They will charge you according to the size of your house and your ticket price. I have no idea what they use for a formula. We usually budget between $8,000 - $10,000 for a musical. We charge more for a ticket to see a musical then a straight show, that helps with the cost. We get a sponsor to underwrite part of the royalties. Then we ask area businesses if they would like to underwrite other expenses ie. the orchestra, costumes, just about anything we can think of. They really love seeing in the program "The orchestra is underwritten by Joe Schmoe's Sandwich Shop", or the rental of the grand piano is being underwritten by "Keep it Clean Car Wash." Without exception, in the last 15 years we have made money on every musical. They other really good part . .  most musicals involve  more people. We have found some of our best volunteers and participants and members when we did musicals.

Good luck.

Thank all of you immensely for your replies and information. It is a real help.  Thank you again --

Lynda

Another thing to remeber about musical royalties, some rights houses will actually refund you some of the royalty payment if you don't fill your houses. For example if you pay royalties for a 150 seat house, and can show documentation that you only filled a 100 of those seats for each performance, you may get some money back. Also, if you cancel a performance also check for a refund.

On the otherside of the coin, watch out for the extra charges that can come from returning rented scripts and scores late. You have a certain amount of time after your production to return these, if you don't make the deadline it will cost you. Also if you loose, damage, or forget to erase notes in a script/score, you may also be fined for this.

Dan