What’s hot at Broadway Licensing Group? Check out the top trending titles of the week from Broadway Licensing, Dramatists Play Service, and Playscripts.
Like You Like It by Daniel S. Acquisto and Sammy Buck
The Story: All the world’s a mall in this awesome musical mashup of Shakespeare and John Hughes. It’s 1985, and the brand-new Arden Mall is hosting a high school dance. Bookworm babe Rosalind wants to go with varsity wrestler Orlando, but she’s never had the guts to talk to him. Rosalind disguises herself as a frat dude named Corey and discovers Orlando’s true feelings for her. But things get tricky when “Corey” complicates the lives of three other couples at Arden. Rosalind will do anything to get Orlando, even if it means showing up at the dance as both herself and Corey. Filled with memorable’ 80s-inspired tunes, a hip sense of humor, and heart, it all works out like you like it if you take the biggest risk of all: being yourself.
Love Letters by A.R. Gurney
The Story: Andrew Makepeace Ladd III and Melissa Gardner, born to wealth and position, are childhood friends whose lifelong correspondence begins with birthday party thank-you notes and summer camp postcards. Romantically attached, they exchange letters through the boarding school and college years—where Andy goes on to excel at Yale and law school, while Melissa flunks out of a series of “good schools.” While Andy is off at war, Melissa marries, but her attachment to Andy remains strong. She keeps in touch as he marries, becomes a successful attorney, gets involved in politics, and, eventually, is elected to the U.S. Senate. Meanwhile, her marriage is in tatters, Melissa dabbles in art and gigolos, drinks more than she should, and becomes estranged from her children. Eventually, she and Andy become involved in a brief affair, but it is too late for both. However, Andy’s last letter, written to her mother after Melissa’s untimely death, makes it clear how much they meant and gave to each other over the years—physically apart, perhaps, but spiritually as close as only true lovers can be.
Baltimore by Kristen Greenridge
The Story: When a racially charged incident divides her first-year students, reluctant resident advisor Shelby finds herself in a conversation she does not want to have. As pressure to address the controversy mounts from residents, the new dean and even her best friend, Shelby, must decide whether to enter the fray or watch her community come apart at the seams. Sharp, funny, and searing, Baltimore is a timely drama about racism on college campuses.
Harvey by Mary Chase
The Story: Elwood P. Dowd insists on including his friend Harvey in all of his sister Veta’s social gatherings. The trouble is, Harvey is an imaginary six-and-a-half-foot-tall rabbit. To avoid future embarrassment for her family—and especially for her daughter, Myrtle Mae—Veta decides to have Elwood committed to a sanitarium. At the clinic, a frantic Veta explains to the staff that her years of living with Elwood’s hallucinations have also caused her to see Harvey. So, the doctors mistakenly commit her instead of her mild-mannered brother. The truth comes out, however; Veta is freed, and the search is on for Elwood, who eventually arrives at the sanitarium of his own volition, looking for Harvey. But it seems that Elwood and his invisible companion have had a strange influence on one of the doctors. Only at the end does Veta realize that maybe Harvey isn’t so bad after all.
JQA by Aaron Posner
The Story: Complicated, passionate, and complex, John Quincy Adams was a brilliant diplomat, ineffectual one-term president, and congressman known for his eloquence, arrogance, and integrity. This unique, highly theatrical play imagines critical confrontations between JQA and some of America’s most dynamic figures: George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, his father, John Adams, and more. At once provocative, haunting, and hilarious, this power play challenges how we think of our country, government, and ourselves.
Having Our Say, The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years, adapted by Emily Mann.
The Story: Having Our Say opens as 103-year-old Sadie Delany and 101-year-old Bessie Delany welcome us into their Mount Vernon, New York, home. As they prepare a celebratory dinner in remembrance of their father’s birthday, they take us on a remarkable journey through the last hundred years of our nation’s history, recounting a fascinating series of events and anecdotes drawn from their rich family history and careers as pioneering African American professionals. Their story is not simply African American history or women’s history. It is our history, told through the eyes of two unforgettable women as they look not only into the past but also ahead into the twenty-first century.
Fifth of July by Lanford Wilson
The Story: The scene is a sprawling farmhouse in rural Missouri, home to Ken, a legless Vietnam veteran, and his lover, Jed, a horticulturist. They are visited by Ken’s sister, June, and her teenage daughter, and by Gwen and John—the former a hard-drinking, pill-popping heiress who aspires to be a rock star, the latter her wary-eyed husband and manager. All are old friends from college days and former activists who agitated for what they hoped would be a better world. The action centers on Gwen’s offer to buy the farm, which she plans to convert into a recording center, and on Ken’s Aunt Sally, who has come to the family homestead to scatter her late husband’s ashes. Their talk, as the play progresses, is sharp and funny and, in the final essence, deeply reveals lost hopes and dreams and the bitterness that must be fought back if one is to perceive the good that life can offer.
Winter Wonderettes by Roger Bean
The Story: The Wonderettes are back! This seasonal celebration finds the girls entertaining at the annual Harper’s Hardware Holiday Party. When Santa turns up missing, the girls use their talent and creative ingenuity to save the holiday party! Featuring great ’60s versions of holiday classics such as “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” “Run, Rudolph, Run,” and “Winter Wonderland,” the result is, of course, marvelous! This energetic and glittering holiday package is guaranteed to delight audiences of all ages.
Vintage Hitchcock: A Live Radio Play by Joe Landry
The Story: Spies, murder, love, and other trademarks of Alfred Hitchcock come to life in the style of a 1940s radio broadcast of the master of suspense’s earlier films. With The Lodger, Sabotage, and The 39 Steps, Vintage Hitchcock: A Live Radio Play is a triple feature, complete with vintage commercials, that recreates a daring train chase, a serial killer’s ominous presence, and a devastating explosion through the magic of live sound effects. This spooky, exciting piece is perfect for any space, large or small. (A one-act component of this play, The 39 Steps: A Live Radio Play, is also available.)
The Wind in the Willows by Zoey Zimmerman
The Story: Badger, Ratty, Mole, and the rest of their animal cohorts are on a mission to save their beloved riverbank home, now gravely ill from the effects of global warming. They plan to enter the Wide World and teach it to rethink its fundamental notions of design, but first, they must overcome a group of criminal weasels and a very stubborn Toad. Influenced by William McDonough and Michael Braungart’s environmental text Cradle to Cradle, this version of The Wind in the Willows is a modern, comedic adaptation of Kenneth Graham’s classic novel.
