A couple of small local theaters were mounting productions of “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
The Curtain Call Theatre (70 seats) in Braintree and the Mugford Street Players (87 seats) in Marblehead were well on their way toward another opening, another show with Christopher Sergel’s 1970 stage adaptation of Harper Lee’s renowned novel.
That is, until they received “cease and desist” letters:
…threatening a major lawsuit on behalf of a powerful Broadway producer staging the play in New York.
The letter [to Curtain Call], received last week, cites a 50-year-old contract that places limits on amateur stage adaptations of the Harper Lee classic when there is an approved large Broadway or touring production — in this case Scott Rudin’s new Broadway version, written by Aaron Sorkin. (Source: The Boston Globe)
They weren’t the only ones. All over the country, community theaters go the same ding.
But a big Broadway production – written by a big old brand name writer like Aaron Sorkin – going after a bunch of little guys. I believe the only response is FFS.
Here’s the reason behind Broadway saber-rattling at Main Street.
All these little community theaters legitimately licensed the rights to put on “Mockingbird” through an outfit called Dramatic Publishing, which is an official licenser of Sergel’s adaptation.
But Dramatic Publishing had apparently agreed in the way back to limits on amateur hour if there was a Broadway or touring company production of any adaptation of Lee’s novel. These limits would kick in if one of those amateur hour performances was scheduled to take place:
…within a distance of [25] miles of the city limits of any city which had a 1960 census population in excess of 150,000 during the run.
Maybe it seemed like a good idea at the time. Maybe Christopher Sergel, author of the adaptation, had visions of a Broadway production of his work, and wouldn’t want anything to detract from it.
But, well, yikes.
We’re not talking about major local theater groups putting on a possibly competitive performance. We’re not talking ART of anything here. We’re talking community theater.
By the way, 150,000 seems to be something of a magic number, as the cease and desist letters mentioned $150K as potential damages if the little local theater companies brazenly decided to cease and desist.
Anyway, both Marblehead (16 miles) and Braintree (13 miles) are within 25 miles of Boston, which had a population of more than 150,000 in 1960. So they were in the bullseye.
Mugford managed to find a theater in Gloucester (blessedly 39 miles from Boston and nowhere near a city that had a 1960 population of 150K). But for Curtain Call, it was curtains, disappointing their actors and patrons, and leaving them (still) scrambling to find another play.
I’m all for the protection of intellectual property rights, etc. But this seems like ridiculous overreach, bullying, even.
Is there one person on the face of the earth saying to him or herself, “Hmmm, I was going to head to NYC for the weekend and pay $200 for a ticket to the Broadway production of ‘Mockingbird.’ That is, until I saw that Curtain Call was going to mount their own production in Braintree for $20 a ticket.”
I mean, who’d want to see Jeff Daniels play Atticus Finch when they could see Charlie the CVS pharmacist take on that role?
It reminds me of Chick-Fil-A going after a tiny organic farmer in Vermont who was using the slogan “Eat More Kale,” which – as you can imagine – consumers would completely confuse with Chick-Fil-A’s “Eat More Chickin’” campaign. Especially when you consider the overlap between Vermont organic kale eaters and Chick-Fil-A fans.(Other than when I find it in Bertucci’s sausage soup, I can’t stand kale. But I did buy an “Eat More Kale” tee-shirt in support. And for the record, the one and only time I ever had Chick-Fil-A, which was last May in Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, I found it scrumptious.)
This also put me in mind of when Disney went after a family that had the audacity to engrave the image of Winnie-the-Pooh (Disney version) on their child’s gravestone. Talk about FFS.
Anyway, a mega Broadway production going after pokey little mom-and-pop theaters is ridiculous. Imagine what Atticus Finch would say.
No business like show business, I guess.
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THIS JUST IN: Over the weekend (and after I’d written this piece), I read that the meanies on Broadway (obviously anticipating the furor and outcry that would arise from my blog post) had relented and was going to let the little local theater troupes put on the Sorkin (not Stergel) version of “Mockingbird.” Thanks but no thanks for those who’d already rehearsed the original script, but for others, welcome news.
As Andy Hardy/Mickey Rooney said to Polly Benedict/Judy Garland and pals, “Hey, kids, let’s put on a show.
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