Legal issues over the authorship of directorial, design, and choreographic aspects of a theatrical production have been gaining considerable attention in past years, but recent developments in the ongoing saga between the original Broadway team of Urinetown and The Mercury Theatre and Carousel Dinner Theatre productions of the show have raised the volume of the discussion to a deafening blare. (Full disclosure: I performed at the Carousel Dinner Theatre in Roger’s and Hammerstein’s Carousel in 2003).
On November 15, 2006, “The creators and designers of the Broadway production of Urinetown, along with their unions, [accused] two 2006 regional productions of the show of plagiarizing their direction, choreography and design,” according to playbill.com.
A letter sent by Ronald H. Shechtman, a lawyer for the Broadway team of Urinetown, to the Mercury Theatre in Chicago and The Carousel Dinner Theatre in Akron, Ohio stated that “significant aspects of the Broadway Team’s original, creative work were used in [the theatres’] recent production[s] of Urinetown.” It further noted that “while [the productions] did license the musical, the license only entitles them to use the script and the music, and not the Broadway direction, choreography or design.”
As might be expected, the letter set off a flurry of activity, beginning with a press conference in which John Rando, director of Broadway’s Urinetown, stated that the Chicago production “replicated” the Broadway incarnation “in great, phenomenal detail.” John Carrafa, the choreographer of the Broadway version of the show, attended the Akron production, which was directed by original Broadway cast member Jennifer Cody, and levelled similar charges, stating that “90% of the dance moves…were exactly the same as those in the Broadway production.”
In a letter to playbill.com dated November 16, Hunter Foster, original star of Broadway’s Urinetown, Tony Award-nominee, and husband of Akron director Jennifer Cody, defended his wife, saying, “The Urinetown experience on and off Broadway was just that, an experience. There was a certain tone that was set and then supported by the choreography, the lighting and the costume design. I know that the production team in Ohio was trying to bring the Urinetown experience to their audiences.”
Foster stated, “There are parts of the original production of Urinetown that will always be a part of the show no matter who directs and choreographs them. A dinner theatre audience might start throwing their food at the stage if the bottle dance in Fiddler wasn’t done in the same spirit as the original…and who can imagine a production of Grease without some version of Pat Birch’s ‘hand jive?’
In response to the firestorm, Joseph P. McDonnell, who directed and choreographed the original 1999 New York International Fringe Festival production of Urinetown, accused John Rando and John Carrafa of stealing aspects of his version’s direction, choreography and design, which pre-dated all other versions.
Although there are clear rulings on design and choreography, whether or not the direction of a production is copyrightable continues to be a topic of great debate.
As Joan Channick asked in an April article in American Theatre magazine, “Does the director create something new? For purposes of the copyright law, ‘original’ means ‘not copied.’ It has also been interpreted by the courts to mean that there must be some small spark of creativity involved.” But “the argument about directors’ copyright seems to be based on fears that one creator’s rights will somehow diminish others,” and “if directors’ work were copyrightable, only those aspects of direction that constitute original works of authorship would be protected. Ideas, concepts and principles are not copyrightable, according to the statute.”
And when an original Broadway production is mounted by a different international team, the legal waters are muddied even more. Although the director and choreographer are often different, the international production itself might not be. But since US laws are not yet distinct on whether or not direction is copyrightable, there is little indication what might happen internationally.
Although there is not a definitive national precedent as of yet, the two courts that have touched on the issue of directorial copyrightability seem to indicate that direction is copyrightable. The first decision involved a divorce proceeding and was unpublished. Thus, it cannot serve as legal precedent. The second involved Joe Mantello and a Florida theatre’s production of Love! Valour! Compassion!, in which Mantello alleged the theatre had copied his original direction. The case was settled with a payment to Mantello (which he donated to charity). As a result, there was never a final ruling on the issue. However, as American Theatre points out, “the court denied a motion to dismiss the case, in part premised on the assumption that the director’s work was copyrightable.”
“It’s no secret,” says one New York City-based actor, originally from Akron, OH, home of The Carousel Dinner Theatre, where she has performed, “that regional and international productions of recent Broadway hits are very often similar in direction, design and choreography to their original counterparts. It’s the only way that many in America’s heartland will ever be able to see any thing remotely close to a Broadway production—to say nothing of people in other nations. The question is, are those aspects of the production a part of the piece itself or are they the property of the designers and directors? And would having to pay royalties for directorial and design aspects in addition to those already charged for the production itself negate a regional or international theatre’s ability to mount the production?”
The question of the copyrightability of direction and whether it and a show’s design and choreography belong to the show itself or to the individual creators might finally be answered in the coming months. On November 22 and December 11, The Carousel Dinner Theatre and Mercury theatres, respectively, each filed individual lawsuits against the Broadway Urinetown team. Each theatre is seeking declaratory judgments stating they did not violate any laws and that their productions are “not substantially similar” to the Broadway production. Representatives of the Broadway production are currently considering their legal options and are expected to respond soon.
Coverage of Story:
American Theatre Magazine: www.tcg.org
Mercury Theatre Lawsuit: www.playbill.com
Carousel Dinner Theatre Lawsuit: www.playbill.com
Hunter Foster’s Defense: www.playbill.com
Fringe Festival Director’s allegations: www.playbill.com
Initial Bway Team accusation: www.playbill.com
Carousel Dinner Theatre: www.carouseldinnertheatre.com
Mercury Theatre: www.centerstage.net/theatre/theatres/mercury-theater.html
