Royalties hit drama classes hard

Before they break a leg, high school drama programs must prepare to break the bank.

The curtains on most school shows don’t rise for several months, but budgeting for the expensive spring shows is in full swing. And a driving force behind whether it’s “Les Miserables” or “Guys &Dolls” are the thousands of dollars in fees to perform such copyright-protected shows.

Michael V. Martina / The Herald Students at Kamiak High School (from left), sophomore Kent Hamilton, junior Jessica Gasper and junior Mick Nelson, rehearse “The Hardy Boys and the Mystery of Where Babies Come From” by Christopher Durang for a Drama Fest performance.

“Royalties, the bane of my existence,” said Kamiak High School drama teacher Laurie Levine with a laugh. “I understand why you have royalties and copyright laws. I don’t disagree with that. I just wish they would look and say, ‘Kamiak High School. Oh, they are a high school.’”

Many plays are free for the taking under public domain – meaning Shakespeare will always be the author of “Hamlet” but no longer is its owner.

Most theatrical works performed by schools, however, fall under copyright laws that last well beyond an author’s death.

Even elementary schools face the fees.

Generally, the newer the show, the bigger the bill.

Two years ago, Kamiak performed a specially authorized, abridged version of “Les Miserables” when it was hot off the presses. Royalty and related rental fees added up to about $4,500 – half the school’s total production cost. By comparison, costumes for the cast of 50 cost about $3,000.

“I just cringe when I have to hit ‘Total,’” Levine said.

Musicals are the most expensive to perform, with licensing companies shaving off a percentage of ticket sales to give authors or their estates. Most plays come with a simpler – and usually cheaper – flat rate.

Sultan High School, for example, spent $1,500 in royalty and other fees last spring for its four performances of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s popular “Oklahoma!”, which drew about 1,000 people at $5 a seat.

By contrast, the royalty on a play like Thornton Wilder’s classic “Our Town” costs any school $155 for four shows.

Drama students at Kamiak this week are getting their own taste of the red-curtain economics.

Each fall, the drama department produces a series of student-directed, one-act plays. Each director is given a $100 budget.

Between royalties and script rentals, Amanda Korman-Yeoman, 17, a senior, will spend $80 on “Check, Please,” leaving her $20 for props, costumes and any other expenses.

“There goes like half my budget,” said junior Melissa Oliver, 16, who is directing “A Cold Day In Hell.” “I don’t really like it but I understand it.”

So do others.

“We are doing justice to the playwrights,” said Jessica Boehm, 16, a junior director. “We need to acknowledge them.”

New York-based Music Theatre International is one of the largest theatrical licensing companies, overseeing such high-school staples as “Godspell” and “Into the Woods.”

Authors can “invest years and years of sweat and tears” to only produce one hit, said Michael McDonough, a licensing director. “Our job is to … collect for the authors their due – their paycheck, if you will.”

Still, it’s not just the royalty bill. It’s the contracts themselves.

When students create posters to advertise musicals, there can be specifications they must follow down to type size.

“It’s a fact of life,” said Scott Moberly, a drama teacher at Arlington High School after seven years at Lakewood.

Moberly said he hasn’t run into a situation where the royalties have stopped him from putting on a show. “Where there is a will, there is a way.”

Sultan High School music teacher Jill Sumpter said “Les Miserables” wouldn’t fly at her 640-student school.

But the school last spring had a successful run at “Oklahoma!” and expects to take on the ball gown-festooned “My Fair Lady” this year, also considered one of the more expensive musicals.

“I have some amazing parents who are good at costumes and scenery. So we do it fairly cheap. But it takes a lot of work,” Sumpter said.

As royalty fees creep up, teachers say ticket prices soon will have to follow suit.

Drama students at Kamiak said they don’t mind scrimping on costumes at Value Village or other thrift stores if it means finding the right play.

Junior Jekova Phillips, 16, doesn’t have to worry about royalties. She and two friends wrote “One With The Freaks,” the one-act play she is directing.

Phillips said she supports the concept of royalties. Perhaps, she said with a laugh, someone will be paying her rights to produce their play some day.

“That would be good,” she said. “I don’t have a job right now.”

Reporter Melissa Slager: 425-339-3465 or mslager@heraldnet.com.