MTI Acquires DISASTER! Licensing Rights

Theatrical licensor Music Theatre International (MTI) has secured North American licensing rights to the Broadway comedy hit, DISASTER!

The musical comedy was created and written by three-time Emmy Award nominee and Grammy Award nominee and SiriusXM host Seth Rudetsky and Jack Plotnick. It parodies and pays comedic tribute to the genre of 1970's disaster films.

In the musical, a group of New Yorkers attends the opening of a floating casino and discotheque that quickly succumbs to multiple disasters. These calamities correlate with plots of various disaster films of the 1970's such as earthquakes or killer bee incidents echoing situations from the films Earthquake, Towering Inferno and The Swarm. Additionally, the show keeps with a 1970's theme by being a jukebox musical, using the most recognizable and popular songs of the decade as musical numbers including "Knock On Wood," "Hooked On A Feeling," "Sky High," "I Am Woman," "Hot Stuff" and of course "I Will Survive."

In addition to be being lauded by critics, actress Jennifer Simard, the guitar-playing nun with a penchant for slot machines earned a nomination for best featured actress in a musical at the 2016 Tony Awards.

The musical had a nine show Off-Off-Broadway run before being made into an Off-Broadway production. The Broadway production directed by Plotnick opened in March 2016 at the Nederlander Theatre, with an all-star cast and choreography by JoAnn M. Hunter.

"I did not know what to expect going into the show and what I got was an evening of great music and hilarious fun. Most importantly, it was clear that everyone in the audience would have joined the cast on stage if given the opportunity. Clearly both the audience and the performers were having the time of their lives," stated Drew Cohen, President of MTI Worldwide.

The DISASTER! cast recording will be available by Broadway Records on September 9th and the musical will be available for licensing (with regional restrictions) in the fall.