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 Half-Life of Marie Curie by Lauren Gunderson
In 1911, Marie Curie won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her discovery of the elements radium and polonium. By 1912, she was the object of ruthless gossip over an alleged affair with the married Frenchman Paul Langevin, all but erasing her achievements from public memory. Weakened and demoralized by the press lambasting her as a “foreign” Jewish temptress and a homewrecking traitor, Marie agrees to join her friend and colleague Hertha Ayrton, an electromechanical engineer and suffragette, at her summer home in England. The Half-Life of Marie Curie revels in the power of female friendship as it explores the relationship between these two brilliant women, both of whom are mothers, widows, and fearless champions of scientific inquiry.
Emma! A Pop Musical JV by Eric Price
Emma, a senior at Highbury Prep, is certain she knows what’s best for her classmates’ love lives, and is determined to find the perfect boyfriend for shy sophomore Harriet by the end of the school year. But will Emma’s relentless matchmaking get in the way of finding her own happiness? Based on Jane Austen’s classic novel, this sparkling new musical features the hit songs of legendary girl groups and iconic female singers from The Supremes to Katy Perry. Girl power has never sounded so good!
Ago by Mandy Conner
The time has come for headstrong Kera to be fully initiated into the tribe of healers she’s been a part of all her life. But as the day approaches, she finds herself paralyzed by doubt. Can she ever compare to her accomplished older sister? Is there any value to all the rituals and ceremonies? Striking out on a hero’s journey in search of answers, Kera is surprised to find the key to her future may lie in her dark past–and what makes her different may be her strength. A mystical, inventive coming-of-age tale.
Betty’s Summer Vacation by Christopher Durang
Betty is looking forward to her summer share at the ocean. But Trudy, whom she knows only slightly, chatters incessantly; and then there are the other housemates—sexy lout Buck, who’s pathologically on the make with women all the time, and sweet, withdrawn Keith who carries a shovel and a mysterious hatbox and just may be a serial killer. Then the emotionally anarchic landlady, Mrs. Siezmagraff, moves in too; and she invites a crazy derelict to dinner, and, well, the vacation becomes more and more of a strain for poor Betty. Not to mention there seems to be a laugh track coming from the ceiling that no one seems able to shut up. Death, destruction, mayhem—Betty finds it all in her seaside retreat.
Bad Seed by Maxwell Anderson
The scene is a small Southern town where Colonel and Christine Penmark live with their daughter, Rhoda. Little Rhoda Penmark is the evil queen of the story. On the surface she is sweet, charming, full of old-fashioned graces, loved by her parents, admired by all her elders. But Rhoda’s mother has an uneasy feeling about her. When one of Rhoda’s schoolmates is mysteriously drowned at a picnic, Mrs. Penmark is alarmed. For the boy who was drowned was the one who had won the penmanship medal that Rhoda felt she deserved.
Tuesdays with Morrie by Jeffrey Hatcher & Mitch Albom
Tuesdays with Morrie is the autobiographical story of Mitch Albom, an accomplished journalist driven solely by his career, and Morrie Schwartz, his former college professor. Sixteen years after graduation, Mitch happens to catch Morrie’s appearance on a television news program and learns that his old professor is battling Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Mitch is reunited with Morrie, and what starts as a simple visit turns into a weekly pilgrimage and a last class in the meaning of life.
Abigail/1702 by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
In this tale of New England witchery, it is ten years after the harrowing and tragic events of the Salem witch trials. Abigail Williams—the lead accuser who sent twenty people to their doom as a young girl—now lives under an assumed name on the outskirts of Boston, quietly striving to atone for her sins. When a handsome stranger arrives claiming to be a sailor in need, Abigail takes him in, and long-dormant passions awaken within her. Love starts to grow between the two—an unlikely flower cracking through salty earth. But their contentment is short-lived, for someone else is coming for Abigail, someone who has been looking for her since she danced in the weird woods of Salem. The Devil is demanding Abigail’s soul, and a debt will be paid—but first, Abigail must make peace with the woman she most wronged.
Our Lady of 121st Street by Stephen Adly Guirgis
The Ortiz Funeral Room is in big trouble: The body of beloved community activist and nun Sister Rose has been stolen from the viewing room, and waiting for her proper return are some of New York City’s most emotionally charged, life-challenged neighborhood denizens, trying to find a place to put their grief, checkered pasts, and their uncertain futures. Among the equally hilarious and tragic twelve characters, you’ll meet Rooftop, a chronically unfaithful but otherwise popular Los Angeles DJ, looking to reconcile with the love of his life; Pinky and Edwin, two brothers tragically linked forever; and the outrageously angry Norca, who doesn’t let the fact that she slept with her best friend’s husband deter her from the full expectation of being immediately forgiven of her sin by her best friend, Inez, still in pain fifteen years later. The rest of the crowd in this dark, insightful, and very funny comedy inevitably square off on each other, motivated by rage, pain, and a scary desire to come clean—perhaps for the first time.
Crafting a Killer by Brent Holland
When a shadowy intelligence organization finds a way to move a person’s consciousness from one body to another, they decide to use the technology to create the perfect undercover operative. However, the eight top candidates for the job don’t know this until the day they find themselves locked in a deadly game of constantly-switching personalities. Forced to compete not only for the job, but for the chance to survive, one of the candidates is eliminated every round. But could someone outsmart the rules of the game? Find out in this inventive, suspenseful body-switching thriller.
SUPERHEROES by Ian McWethy
For superheroes, saving the world is tough, but the time spent away from work is tougher. The Hulk has to do taxes, a crime-fighting sidekick joins a support group, and Batman goes stir-crazy without enough criminals to take down. SUPERHEROES is a funny, fast-paced series of vignettes that explores how the caped crusaders deal with life in street clothes.
