Jersey Boys

TRW Announces Acquisition of Jersey Boys

Theatrical Rights Worldwide (TRW) President and CEO Steve Spiegel announced today the acquisition of exclusive representation for stage performance rights to Broadway’s Tony Award®-winning Best Musical, JERSEY BOYS. “I’m happy to announce the signing of a long-term agreement for the Stock and Amateur rights to Jersey Boys. I’m proud to be the home of this truly great Broadway show,” Spiegel said, shortly after closing the deal, from his office in TRW’s Times Square headquarters.

JERSEY BOYS joins TRW’s major licensing assets MONTY PYTHON’S SPAMALOT, MEMPHIS, THE ADDAMS FAMILY, THE COLOR PURPLE, ALL SHOOK UP, GHOST THE MUSICAL, BIG FISH, RING OF FIRE, CURTAINS, SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, and a select group of Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) and Off Broadway and Regional Theatre musicals.

Spiegel Takes Full Ownership of Theatrical Rights Worldwide

Musical theatre licensor Theatrical Rights Worldwide (TRW), founded by President & CEO Steve Spiegel in 2006, announces Spiegel’s acquisition of full ownership of the company. The venture was initially a partnership between Spiegel and Northwater Capital, an international IP fund based in Toronto.

Spiegel spoke briefly from TRW’s New York City offices as the deal was signed: “I’m immensely proud of what we’ve created at TRW, first as a start-up, then as a growing business and now as a fully-realized premier Broadway licensing house. Throughout my thirty-five years in this business I’ve enabled theatrical participation and performance for high schools, professional and community theatres, youth groups, national tours and all our customers around the world,” Spiegel said.

Script Changes? Just Ask!

The majority of the musicals in our catalogue were written for the Broadway stage, to be performed by professional actors in front of audiences expecting and accepting of a heightened level of language, nuance, subject matter and presentation. In essence, the Broadway production is a “destination experience” for those who attend.

Your school, community or regional theatre production is a “foundation experience,” and, no two foundations are built the same when factors including the age of the performers, the region of the country or the demography of the audience are considered. No successful theatre program can be built or survive without a solid foundation. We understand this and support it.

So how does the destination experience of the Broadway musical assimilate to the foundation experience at your theatre?

Spiegel’s Spiel, April 2010

I’ve just returned from my energizing, wonderful and successful trip to New Zealand and Australia. As we talked about in my first blog post, I attended the 50th anniversary conference of Musical Theatre New Zealand where over 350 artistic and managing directors representing 80 societies came to Auckland for three days of meetings, workshops and events. The goal of Musical Theatre NZ is to foster and encourage the development of, and commitment to, the highest standards by community theatres, including standards of excellence for production, health and safety, management, governance, community relations and service. Throughout the conference the importance of, and belief in, this mission statement was brilliantly carried out and demonstrated by everyone.

Spiegel’s Spiel: March 2010…The Premier Post

Welcome to the inaugural article here at Spiegel’s Spiel, a place at TheatricalRights.com where I can share my thoughts and plans with you, our valued customers, and you can give feedback to me on your theatre organization’s activities. Through this interaction you can help keep TRW at the forefront of theatrical licensing. I have always very much valued our customers input throughout my many years in the business.

Next week I travel to Auckland, where I will deliver the keynote speech at the New Zealand Musical Theatre Conference. Attended by artistic and managing directors, this year will mark their 50th anniversary as an association serving the needs of community theatres in their territory. It’s a great honor and I’m the first foreigner to have this privilege.

Full Text of Steve Spiegel’s Keynote Address to the NZMT

You’re about to create a new civilization and for your starting point, you want a center of this new town. A town square. To start, you will build an environment where artists can converge. Poets, painters, dancers, storytellers and musicians. And, all will be fine until the government realizes that these artists influence people. So, the artists get rounded up but quickly society realizes that without art, there is no community. And without community, there is no environment for self-expression, interactivity, socialization, mentorship, personal creativity and growth, friendship, knowledge, risk taking, and yes, without community, there is no environment for debate or leadership. So, this new civilization learns the value of community, especially that of its artists.