Walls school musical canceled

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another huge debacle at SWW…at this point are they just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic?

Ah, the DCUM Walls hater strikes again. At what point does this topic turn to "bring back the entrance exam" and/or "BASIS is so much better"?

OK, but back on topic: I really think the school could have found *something* to perform, now that they've got a cast and everything. These kids have got to be super disappointed.

I think having the kids write their own show, which a PP mentioned, is a great idea!

There are TONS of shows available for which they could easily secure the rights. This is a huge cop-out.

That said, have they tried having the kids write a letter with a heart felt plea to the rights holder and/or whatever theatre company is blocking the rights? Ultimately it's a public school not even focused on the arts; this is not competition for a professional show (if anything, in my experience, it drums up more interest in a "real" version of the show among the school community). Have they really, really pushed to see if there's anything they could do/any kind of agreement they could reach (e.g., not advertising outside of their school community, not charging for tickets, whatever the company's concern is?)? I have been in a similar situation where we reached an agreement pretty easily.

The adults in the room needed to apply a dose of realism and really communicate that getting the rights to a currently running debut is nearly impossible. I’m worried that the drama staff were delusional enough to think they’d get Hadestown, and I’m really disappointed for the kids, who can’t know better.

I agree that whoever thought it was just a paper pushing process with a guaranteed outcome was an idiot. I think they should just pivot and do another show and I’m extremely confused why they can’t; lots of Spring musicals are just casting now. There are shows where it would be just a paper pushing exercise and they could have the rights next week.

That said, having gotten into this mess and with cancelling as the apparently alternative, they absolutely should beg the rights holders/roadblock. The kids themselves. There is a chance it could be effective.

[Anonymous]

They screwed up bigtime but I want to correct some assumptions that it was ridiculous to think they could perform Hadestown while its still on broadway and touring. The rightsholders area actively licensing out a specific production called Hadestown: Teen Edition to high schools and children's theaters. And in fact, multiple schools in the broader region are producing it. I suspect TheatreLab is doing it this summer but they haven't announced the title yet. There are very specific rules that have to be followed to license a show and you absolutely arent allowed to advertise or name the show when you do not hold the rights yet, and even then some shows (this is one of them per concord theatricals) even once you have the rights there are announcement and advertising restrictions. The school messed up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They screwed up bigtime but I want to correct some assumptions that it was ridiculous to think they could perform Hadestown while its still on broadway and touring. The rightsholders area actively licensing out a specific production called Hadestown: Teen Edition to high schools and children's theaters. And in fact, multiple schools in the broader region are producing it. I suspect TheatreLab is doing it this summer but they haven't announced the title yet. There are very specific rules that have to be followed to license a show and you absolutely arent allowed to advertise or name the show when you do not hold the rights yet, and even then some shows (this is one of them per concord theatricals) even once you have the rights there are announcement and advertising restrictions. The school messed up.

Thanks for this clarification. So the school never should have advertised that auditions were for Hadestown until they had the rights?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They screwed up bigtime but I want to correct some assumptions that it was ridiculous to think they could perform Hadestown while its still on broadway and touring. The rightsholders area actively licensing out a specific production called Hadestown: Teen Edition to high schools and children's theaters. And in fact, multiple schools in the broader region are producing it. I suspect TheatreLab is doing it this summer but they haven't announced the title yet. There are very specific rules that have to be followed to license a show and you absolutely arent allowed to advertise or name the show when you do not hold the rights yet, and even then some shows (this is one of them per concord theatricals) even once you have the rights there are announcement and advertising restrictions. The school messed up.

Thanks for this clarification. So the school never should have advertised that auditions were for Hadestown until they had the rights?

NP here but yes that is correct. This was high level incompetence by the theater teachers.

[Anonymous]

My kid does HS theater and this would have been devastating. She prepares for weeks for auditions. Shows are often selected by the teacher with her current students in mind for particular roles, pending auditions of course.

That being said, it is not too late to pivot. Our spring rehearsals haven't started yet. Just buy a show and do it. For the sake of the kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid does HS theater and this would have been devastating. She prepares for weeks for auditions. Shows are often selected by the teacher with her current students in mind for particular roles, pending auditions of course.

That being said, it is not too late to pivot. Our spring rehearsals haven't started yet. Just buy a show and do it. For the sake of the kids.

Remember last year when DC was cutting the theater program?
So did Walls get the funding and mess it up?

Maybe this can be cut from the budget?

[Anonymous]

The director is new this year, isn't she? That may have been an issue getting up & running so quickly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid does HS theater and this would have been devastating. She prepares for weeks for auditions. Shows are often selected by the teacher with her current students in mind for particular roles, pending auditions of course.

That being said, it is not too late to pivot. Our spring rehearsals haven't started yet. Just buy a show and do it. For the sake of the kids.

Remember last year when DC was cutting the theater program?
So did Walls get the funding and mess it up?

Maybe this can be cut from the budget?

Yes they cut the position, lost the veteran teacher and then hired a new teacher in the early summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The school musical was announced, and there were auditions and casting. And then it got canceled. They said that the school didn't get rights to the musical. How did this happen?

Walls is an academic focused school. It does not offer competitive sports teams or a large arts program. There are other DC schools that do. Get over it people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The school musical was announced, and there were auditions and casting. And then it got canceled. They said that the school didn't get rights to the musical. How did this happen?

Walls is an academic focused school. It does not offer competitive sports teams or a large arts program. There are other DC schools that do. Get over it people.

Somehow TJ manages to do both and spends less per pupil so, not sure why Walls doesn’t and can’t offer something besides total incompetence. They can’t even make the normal excuse for DC, which is that the student body is hopeless.

[Anonymous]

This seems fishy.
There are a few companies that license shows (Concordia, musical theater international). In my (many years) experience, if you can pay, you can get licensing. Maybe not for your first choice but there will always be another show.

[Anonymous]

They definitely license a teen version of Hadestown so somethings must have gone wrong. They should be able to pivot to another show though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They definitely license a teen version of Hadestown so somethings must have gone wrong. They should be able to pivot to another show though.

Agree. My friend's son's high school is planning it for this spring (another state). I don't know if they've paid the fee but the kids expect the show.

I wonder if the school doesn't have money to pay the licensing fee. New shows are a bit expensive.

There are a zillion shows to choose from. This sounds weird.

[Anonymous]

Hope there are consequences.

Can the director.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another huge debacle at SWW…at this point are they just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic?

Ah, the DCUM Walls hater strikes again. At what point does this topic turn to "bring back the entrance exam" and/or "BASIS is so much better"?

OK, but back on topic: I really think the school could have found *something* to perform, now that they've got a cast and everything. These kids have got to be super disappointed.

I think having the kids write their own show, which a PP mentioned, is a great idea!

There are TONS of shows available for which they could easily secure the rights. This is a huge cop-out.

That said, have they tried having the kids write a letter with a heart felt plea to the rights holder and/or whatever theatre company is blocking the rights? Ultimately it's a public school not even focused on the arts; this is not competition for a professional show (if anything, in my experience, it drums up more interest in a "real" version of the show among the school community). Have they really, really pushed to see if there's anything they could do/any kind of agreement they could reach (e.g., not advertising outside of their school community, not charging for tickets, whatever the company's concern is?)? I have been in a similar situation where we reached an agreement pretty easily.

Most of the schools applying for rights are also public schools. There are rules, a process, and everybody plays by them. We are talking about intellectual property rights. If these kids what to be in theater, they are going to want their own rights protected someday too. This is a good lesson, though also a complete bummer.