What’s hot at Broadway Licensing Global? Check out the top trending titles of the week from Broadway Licensing, Dramatists Play Service, and Playscripts.
The Laramie Project by Moisés Kaufman and the Members of Tectonic Theater Project
In October 1998, a twenty-one-year-old student at the University of Wyoming was kidnapped, severely beaten, and left tied to a fence in the middle of the prairie outside Laramie, Wyoming. His bloody, bruised, and battered body was not discovered until the next day, and he died several days later in an area hospital. His name was Matthew Shepard, and he was the victim of this assault because he was gay. Moisés Kaufman and fellow members of the Tectonic Theater Project made six trips to Laramie over the course of a year and a half, in the aftermath of the beating and during the trial of the two young men accused of killing Shepard. They conducted more than 200 interviews with the people of the town. Some people interviewed were directly connected to the case, while others were citizens of Laramie, and the breadth of the reactions to the crime is fascinating. Kaufman and Tectonic Theater members have constructed a deeply moving theatrical experience from these interviews and their own experiences in Laramie. THE LARAMIE PROJECT is a breathtaking collage that explores the depths to which humanity can sink and the heights of compassion of which we are capable.
Game of Tiaras by Don Zolidis
When the aging king of a Magical Kingdom (England) decides to split his empire between his three daughters, Cinderella, Belle, and the Snow Queen (who in no way resembles a copyrighted character), terrible tragedy ensues. Terrible, hilarious tragedy. Combining the gut-wrenching plot twists of Game of Thrones and the soul-numbing despair of Shakespearean tragedy, this adaptation of King Lear will leave you dying with laughter as the body count mounts. When you play the Game of Tiaras, you win or you die.
Ride the Cyclone (High School Edition) Music, Book & Lyrics by Brooke Maxwell and Jacob Richmond
In this hilarious and outlandish story, the lives of six teenagers from a Canadian chamber choir are cut short in a freak accident aboard a roller coaster. When they awake in limbo, a mechanical fortune teller invites each to tell a story to win a prize like no other — the chance to return to life. This popular musical is a funny, moving look at what makes a life well-lived!
It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play (Short Version) adapted by Joe Landry
This beloved American holiday classic comes to captivating life as a live 1940s radio broadcast. With the help of an ensemble that brings a few dozen characters to the stage, the story of idealistic George Bailey unfolds as he considers ending his life one fateful Christmas Eve.
A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
The play reveals to the very depths the character of Blanche DuBois, a woman whose life has been undermined by her romantic illusions, which lead her to reject—so far as possible—the realities of life with which she is faced and which she consistently ignores. The pressure brought to bear upon her by her sister, with whom she goes to live in New Orleans, intensified by the earthy and extremely “normal” young husband of the latter, leads to a revelation of her tragic self-delusion and, in the end, to madness.
Make Believe by Bess Wohl
Four young siblings recreate their everyday lives in a game of make-believe in their attic, while the world beneath them bodes a more sinister reality. Defying all narrative expectations, MAKE BELIEVE is a gut-wrenching meditation on the imprint of childhood trauma on adults.
The Belle of Amherst by William Luce
In her Amherst, Massachusetts home, the reclusive nineteenth-century poet Emily Dickinson recollects her past through her work, her diaries and letters, and a few encounters with significant people in her life. William Luce’s classic play shows us both the pain and the joy of Dickinson’s secluded life.
Our Lady of the Tortilla by Luis Santeiro
The Cruz family is volatile even in the best of times. On this particular day, Nelson, the youngest son, enters the house in a panic to hide the more obvious religious relics from the sight of his “gringo” girlfriend, who is visiting for the weekend. Nelson’s mother, Dahlia, is obsessed with retrieving her husband from his new girlfriend; Eddie, her elder son, shows up in a van with his failed life and pregnant girlfriend. But the “real” pandemonium is caused by sweet, long-suffering Dolores, Dahlia’s old-maid sister, when she sees the face of the Holy Virgin in a tortilla. This miracle brings hordes of believers and reporters to camp out on the Cruz’s lawn to await further miracles. As the family struggles with beliefs and conflicts, old and new, the endurance of family love is revealed to be the real miracle.
A Seussified Christmas Carol by Peter Bloedel
A whimsical reinvention of Dickens’ most beloved Christmas story in wacky rhymed couplets. With zoot fruited juices and binka bird geese, from Bed-Headed Fred to Timmy Loo Hoo, this tale of glorious holiday cheer is similar to something Dr. Seuss might have come up with — if he ever had his way with the story.
I Hate Shakespeare! By Steph DeFerie
We hate Shakespeare! At least that’s what the audience thinks until they get a rip-roaring rundown of Shakespeare’s classics. With zombies, talking cows, and an appearance by Jerry Springer, I Hate Shakespeare! is a hilarious and fast-paced introduction to Shakespeare — with a modern twist. Plus, someone gets a pie in the face.
