All right, I have to admit, this question doesn't have a lot to do with community theatre. However, I am in community theatre and hope to possibly be in a management position in the future.

Anyways, here's the deal. My friend and I are writing the script for our high school musical. We're using songs from all sorts of shows ranging from new to old. (A Broadway review, if you will.) The plot centers around a group a high-schoolers packing up props an costumes to transport to a new facility, true story! We're basing the characters off of personalities that we have seen in our school theatre.

I guess what I'm asking is, are there any pointers or suggestions? Also, the script and who sings what songs needs to be flexible.

Thanks, Jared

If you're doing this as a public performance, getting the rights to the songs will be a nightmare.

If you were doing an actual revue -- just songs, with no story woven around them -- an ASCAP license would cover you.  But this would be considered a dramatic performance, and you'd have to get the rights from the individual owners of the songs.

Now, suppose you wrote new lyrics to the songs, making fun of them -- a High School Forbidden Broadway, perhaps.  You would then be covered under "parody" and wouldn't need to get the rights, so long as you are "commenting on or criticizing" the original.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!