What’s hot at Broadway Licensing Global? Check out the top trending titles of the week from Broadway Licensing, Dramatists Play Service, and Playscripts.
Bad Auditions by Bad Actors by Ian McWethy
Newbie director Carol has one day to find the leads for a community theater production of Romeo and Juliet. But what seems like a simple task proves impossible when the pool of auditioners includes extreme method actors, performers who just don’t know how to channel their rage, and one woman who may or may not think she’s a cat. This hilarious comedy will bring you to the last place you’d ever want to be…behind the doors of a casting session.
The Dinosaur Musical by Robert & Willie Reale
It is the end of the Cretaceous period. A giant meteor collides with the earth and wreaks havoc with the ecosystem. In order to avoid extinction, the Dinosaurs sign a peace pact called the Treaty of Meat. For a time there is peace between the Carnivores and the Herbivores. But when the wise King of the Tyrannosauruses suddenly dies and his none-too-clever thirteen-year-old son, Quincy, rises to power, trouble begins. King Quincy leads the Tyrannosauruses on a terrible rampage. Carlotta Devries, a Parasaurolophus singing star, and her thirteen-year-old daughter, Mindy, narrowly escape Quincy’s forces and take refuge at Swifty’s Volcano Café, the clandestine headquarters for the Dinosaur resistance. The café is run by Swifty Levine, a Triceratops comedian, and is staffed with a variety of zany, peaceable Dinosaurs. Can the power of goodwill win out over the forces of evil? It’s a family show…so yes. The Dinosaur Musical is a madcap, jazzy prehistoric musical comedy combining the intrigue and romance of a Hollywood World War II epic with a perky adolescent parent trap. Throw in some Borsht Belt comedy, an erupting volcano and the invention of spaghetti and you’ve got something for everyone of any age.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
The story focuses upon a young farmer, his wife, and a young servant-girl who maliciously causes the wife’s arrest for witchcraft. The farmer brings the girl to court to admit the lie—and it is here that the monstrous course of bigotry and deceit is terrifyingly depicted. The farmer, instead of saving his wife, finds himself also accused of witchcraft and ultimately condemned with a host of others.
Sheepdog by Kevin Artigue
Amina and Ryan are both officers on the Cleveland police force. Amina is black, Ryan is white, and they are falling deeply and passionately in love. When an officer-involved shooting roils the department, small cracks in their relationship widen into a chasm of confusion and self-doubt. A mystery and a love story with high stakes and no easy answers, Sheepdog fearlessly examines police violence, interracial love, and class in the 21st century.
Funny Little Thing Called Love by Jones Hope Wooten
This deliriously funny new Jones Hope Wooten comedy is all about that four-letter word: L-O-V-E. Under a full moon on this unpredictable night of romance, these four rollicking tales take you on an around-the-globe journey of unexpected and hilarious twists and turns: A slick, successful used-car-selling Romeo in Dallas, Texas, believes he’s answering Cupid’s call, only to realize too late that he’s wandered into a life-changing trap set by three fed-up Juliets. On an island getaway, The Hallelujah Girls, a group of fun-loving gals from Georgia, say aloha to their wild sides as they accidentally crash a Hawaiian honeymoon in progress. These five women—and Waikiki—will never be the same! In a rooftop London bistro, sparks fly when two strangers surprisingly start to connect, only to be thwarted by a hyperactive American tourist who’s determined to be the center of attention, and the unpredictable antics of an ancient waitress who wields a wicked sousaphone. And finally, in Manhattan, a man tries to battle his way out of a mid-life crisis with an ill-advised and elaborate marriage proposal. Unfortunately, it all goes wildly off-track when his caterer passes out, a tap-dancing singing telegram girl breaks into sobs rather than song, his ex-wife saunters in wearing nothing but a bathrobe and a smile, and a cowering superhero inches nervously across his twelfth-floor window ledge. So, open your heart to romantic mayhem and come join the fun! By the time the evening is over and the moon works its magic, love will conquer all and your sides will ache from laughter!
The Miss Firecracker Contest by Beth Henley
The place is the small Mississippi town of Brookhaven, the time a few days before the Fourth of July. Carnelle Scott (known locally as “Miss Hot Tamale”) is rehearsing furiously for the Miss Firecracker Contest—hoping that a victory will salvage her tarnished reputation and allow her to leave town in a blaze of glory. The unexpected arrival of her cousin Elain, a former Miss Firecracker winner, (who has walked out on her rich but boring husband and her two small children) complicates matters a bit, as does the repeated threat of Elain’s eccentric brother, Delmount, (recently released from a mental institution) to sell the family homestead and decamp for New Orleans. But, aided by a touchingly awkward seamstress named Popeye (who is hopelessly smitten by Delmount) and several other cheerfully nutty characters, Carnelle perseveres—leading to a denouement of unparalleled hilarity, compassion and moving lyricism as all concerned finally escape their unhappy pasts and turn hopefully toward what must surely be a better future.
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds by Paul Zindel
Frowzy, acid-tongued Beatrice Hunsdorfer, supporting herself and her two daughters by taking in a decrepit old boarder, wreaks a petty vengeance on everybody around her. One daughter, Ruth, is a pretty but highly strung girl subject to convulsions, while the younger daughter, Matilda (“Tillie”), plain and almost pathologically shy, has an intuitive gift for science. Encouraged by her teacher, Tillie undertakes a gamma ray experiment with marigolds that wins a prize at her high school—and also brings on the play’s shattering climax. Proud and yet jealous, too filled with her own hurts to accept her daughter’s success, Beatrice can only maim when she needs to love and deride when she wants to praise. Tortured, acerbic, slatternly, she is as much a victim of her own nature as of the cruel lot that has been hers. And yet, as Tillie’s experiment proves, something beautiful and full of promise can emerge from even the most barren, afflicted soil. This is the timeless lesson of the play and the root of its moving power and truth.
Choir Boy by Tarell Alvin McCraney
The Charles R. Drew Prep School for Boys is dedicated to the creation of strong, ethical black men. Pharus wants nothing more than to take his rightful place as leader of the school’s legendary gospel choir. Can he find his way inside the hallowed halls of this institution if he sings in his own key?
The Wild Bunch Women: A Memory Play by Nelly E. Cuellar-Garcia
The Wild Bunch Women were known throughout the Old West as cattle rustlers, stagecoach bandits, and bank robbers… but to Pearl Hart, they were family. Years later, Pearl revisits her time leading the fiery band of female outlaws, and the fateful day they travel to a small Texas town to cross the border and start fresh. But the past is not so easily outrun, and it’s not long before a group of angry nuns, a local girl with an unlikely connection to the outlaws, and an emissary from Pearl’s old flame Jesse James close in on the Wild Bunch for one final showdown. Joy, sorrow, and the spirit of the old West fill this poignant, award-winning play.
Dinner With the MacGuffins by Chris Sheppard, Jeff Grove
At first glance, this is a typical family comedy: teenage James and girlfriend Karen try to make out one afternoon, only to face repeated interruptions by other members of James’ family. But the ultimate interruption comes when a cell phone goes off in the audience, breaking the “fourth wall” so that James can see the spectators. As James tries to convince his increasingly worried family that a wall is missing from their house, and that people are watching them, the play takes more left turns than Bugs Bunny should have taken at Albuquerque — until it reaches a happy (if twisted) ending.
