Dang. I hadn’t thought about rights securement. I guess I saw our small troupes performing the musicals I mentioned and figured either there was a negligible rights fee or none at all. Mea culpa.
Simon is unlikely to be available at $70 per night. Other new shows are also likely to cost more than $70 a night.
You might look at plays which are in public domain. Shaw and Wilde qualify, A.A. Milne may qualify. Moliere will be free, but translations will cost you. On the other hand, you can sometimes create a translation. I compile several scripts, create a literal translation, and then revise as needed.
If you are really ambitious, take a well-known older story and trun it into a readers’/interpretors’ theatre. The narrator is optional.
“Naughty Eve and the Cruel Landlord” was a very popular meller-drammer in the 19th Century. It involved an authoress lost in the hinterlands…
I work at Samuel French, the company that owns the rights to Neil Simon’s plays. And actually, the standard price for his shows are $75 per performance, so it’s definitely do-able. J String, you’ve had some pretty good suggestions so far, but you can also call our NY office and ask to speak to Larry (that’s not me.) He’s our editor and he’d be happy to listen to your requirements and give you any number of suggestions. Good luck!
Other Simon vehicles that have been made into films (besides the ones I listed above) include: *The Gingerbread Lady, The Prisoner of Second Avenue (twice), The Sunshine Boys, The Good Doctor (although not released commercially), California Suite, Chapter Two, The Star-Spangled Girl, Promises, Promises, Brighten Beach Memories, *and Last of the Red Hot Lovers.
Simon is a wonderful playwright and is a joy to play and for that matter see if the the show is done well and his work is well enough known that it will help fill the seats.
TV
I think it would be interesting to do Star Spangled Girl.
It’s a three person play. Set in San Francisco, two men are publishing an anti-war magazine in the '60s. They take on a border to help pay the rent. She is from the deep south and deeply patriotic. Over the course of the play the two guys fall in love with her and it all works out in the end.
Is doing ‘period’ out of the question. I love The Importance of Being Earnest but it really needs to be done period, (IMHO) and do not watch the recent film version unless you want to see what not to do.
Ah no!!! NO Star Spangled Girl!
Frankly, I hate Neil Simon’s works with the white hot passion of a thousand blazing suns. He WILL draw a crowd, but I just find his work so damn puerile.
I strongly second Arsenic & Old Lace . It’s light, inoffensive, an invariable favorite, it’s still funny, and I’m not just saying that because of my rave reviews in my recent performance as Teddy .
Other suggestions: The Odd Couple , You Can’t Take It With You, or if you have a good Elvis impersonator, IDOLS OF THE KING (which will sell out every night). Or, a murder mystery (where the audience has to help solve the crime) is always good.
Or you could be more current and topical by performing Angels in America with a theme dinner of angel food cake, ham, Mormon Pear Pudding and flaming desserts.
Also: The Boys Next Door ( http://imdb.com/title/tt0115743/ ) is a very inexpensive set. It’s a heartwarming comedy/drama about five retarded men in an assisted living facility and their social worker; all told about 8 male and 2 female roles.
I can recommend this one. I just stage managed it, and frankly, I think it’s pretty swell. You can chop up the parts and perform it with a cast of twenty, or you can do it with as little as five or so. And while it’s not the most hilarious play in the world, it’s amusing enough.
I would throw out some Durang ideas, though, although I have no idea how accessible rights are. Don’t do Beyond Therapy, though. That’s been done to death. I’d recommend Laughing Wild, myself… that only has a cast of two.
And speaking of Done To Death, by Fred Carmichael… that was another show I was in. Requires a slightly larger cast (nine, I think), but it’s VERY light, very silly… again, not the funniest thing in the world, but amusing enough. Again, however, I have no idea how accessible the rights are.
So did you decide on anything?
I’m really surprised nobody’s mentioned Shakespeare thus far. Classic, and there’ve been tons of films made from the Bard’s tales. Maybe “Much Ado About Nothing” would be good for an older dinner theater crowd.
You know I hate threads like this when the OP seeks advice and help and then never updates us to if our advice was taken or what happened.
Let us know!
No decision (as far as I know). Don’t worry, I’ll keep you posted. BTW, she likes a lot of the ideas… thanks again. --J