Some of you may or may not be aware of how the legality and royalty situation works in the theatre, but in recent years, it’s become more and more of an issue where producing organizations are asking for a percentage of future royalties on a play, in order to capitalize on the success of a play after they’ve produced it. The two producing companies mentioned in this article, The Public Theater and the Roundabout Theatre are two significant stages in new work development, and this is a good step forward to relieve the burden placed on the potential for a playwright to actually see the financial benefit of the success of his or her own work.
Belhaven Theatre
Learning to serve our community through Theatre Arts
A large (2200 seat) midwestern theatre is seriously interested in possible producing my two-act musical play for whict I wrote the book and composed the musical score including music and lyrics. Re: the royalties, what is the average percentage that a first time author like myself can expect to receive? The play will run for 7 performances and will be sold out (they always are per the theatre). According to my calculations of the theatre’s gross income, it will total about $625,000.