MTI's 2011 Shows Include 9 TO 5, XANADU, and More

Music Theatre International (MTI) released the licensing rights to over 20 musicals during 2011 for both amateur and professional productions. The shows range from new selections in the MTI Broadway Junior Collection to Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning musicals straight off of their Broadway run.

A survey done by Dramatics Magazine and the Educational Theatre Association shows that MTI licensed the most popular musicals (a total of 8 out of the Top 10) performed by high schools in the United States this year.

“The 2011 additions to MTI's catalogue represent the best of Broadway and, importantly, are shows that appeal to our broad constituency of licensees. Thanks to MTI's expansive reach within the professional, amateur, and foreign markets, our team is able to provide these newer shows with the highest level of exposure and care in introducing them to the secondary licensing world."” said Drew Cohen, President of MTI.

Among the shows that were introduced by MTI this year were several Tony-Award winning and nominated shows. These shows included Spring Awakening, Avenue Q (as well as an Avenue Q School Edition), Next to Normal, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, 9 to 5, Legally Blonde and Xanadu.
There are also a number of full-length family-friendly releases including The Phantom Tollbooth, Doctor Doolittle, The New Adventures of Pinocchio and Miracle on 34th Street.

In the MTI Broadway Junior Collection® (which features 30- and 60-minute adaptations for performance by elementary and middle school aged children) the new titles were Fame JR., The Phantom Tollbooth JR., The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley JR. , and Disney’s Winnie the Pooh KIDS.

As part of the Theater for Young Audiences Collection (abbreviated shows that adults perform for children), MTI released The Phantom Tollbooth TYA and The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley TYA.

Music Theatre International www.mtishows.com is one of the world’s leading dramatic licensing agencies, protecting the rights and legacies of composers, lyricists and book writers. MTI’s core business is issuing licenses, scripts, musical materials and dynamic theatrical resources to schools as well as amateur and professional theatres across the globe.

With over 300 classic and contemporary show titles from Broadway, Off-Broadway, and London’s West End, MTI shows have been performed by 60,000 theatrical organizations in the US and in over 60 countries worldwide.

MTI is particularly dedicated to the idea of theatre as education and has created special collections for younger audiences. The Broadway Junior Collection® features 70-minute adaptations of major musicals designed for middle school children to perform; the KIDS Collection®, provides 30-minute musicals for performance by elementary school children; School Editions are musicals that have been annotated for performance by high school students; and the Theatre For Young Audiences Collection, 70-minute musicals designed for adults to perform for children.