MTI Acquires Licensing Rights to My Fair Lady, Brigadoon, Camelot, Paint Your Wagon, and The Day Before Spring

Drew Cohen, President of Music Theatre International (MTI), announced today that MTI will represent the secondary stage performance rights to five musicals by the legendary writing team of Lerner & Loewe, including their masterpiece My Fair Lady, the beloved classics Camelot, Brigadoon and Paint Your Wagon, and their newly-restored early work, The Day Before Spring. MTI, from June 1, will begin representing My Fair Lady in the US, the UK, and all English-language territories, and will represent the four other titles on a worldwide basis. (Some restrictions may apply).

The collaboration of librettist-lyricist Alan Jay Lerner (1918-86) and composer Frederick Loewe (1901-88) defined wit and glamour in the golden era of the Broadway and Hollywood musical. Winners of multiple Oscars, Tonys, Golden Globe and Olivier Awards, their timeless and romantic musicals include such songbook standards as: "Almost Like Being in Love" and "The Heather on the Hill" (Brigadoon, 1947); "They Call the Wind Maria," "Wand'rin' Star" (Paint Your Wagon, 1951); "Wouldn't It Be Loverly?," "With a Little Bit of Luck," "I Could Have Danced All Night," "On the Street Where You Live" (My Fair Lady, 1956); and "Camelot," "If I Ever I Would Leave You," "How to Handle a Woman," and "I Loved You Once in Silence" (Camelot, 1960).

The newest addition to the canon is also one of the oldest: The Day Before Spring (1945) had a short Broadway run, and was never recorded or fully revived, but has enjoyed select concert re-appearances at New York's Bandwagon (1990), the York Theatre, New York (2007), Lost Musicals, London (2010), and the University of Sheffield, England (2017). Its representation by MTI will mark the musical's first release in the secondary market.

"We are honored to have been selected by the representatives of Lerner and Loewe to represent their musicals," said Drew Cohen. "These are among the greatest musicals ever written for Broadway and the West End, and we look forward to sharing them with our customers around the world, from high school auditoriums to regional theatres to opera houses." Cohen added, "Not all musicals stand the test of time but these were so exceptional to begin with, and have only become more appreciated over the years."

MTI Chairman and CEO Freddie Gershon offered, "A toast to our new family members, Messrs. Lerner and Loewe: We're so glad you sought to fly.../And we know the reason why.../You're part of MTI/Now we're all on the street where you live/(What a great way to celebrate Eliza Doolittle Day!)

Sir Cameron Mackintosh, co-owner of MTI with Gershon, and himself the producer of two highly acclaimed UK revivals of My Fair Lady (in 1979 and 2001, respectively), said: "I was lucky enough to see the original production of My Fair Lady at London's Theatre Royal Drury Lane several times, including the Last Night on my 16th birthday in 1963, when I gate-crashed the party and danced all night. Two years later I started my career there as a stage hand on Camelot, and shortly after that, thanks to a little bit of luck, I met the legendary lyricist Alan Jay Lerner. We became firm friends and Alan directed my first London production of My Fair Lady in 1979. Like Professor Higgins, he taught me so much about the musical theatre that he and Fritz Loewe created so brilliantly. Personally I am thrilled at the absobloomin' loverly news that their legendary body of work has found a new home with MTI. Bravo Eliza!"

In a joint statement, Loren Plotkin, trustee of the Alan Jay Lerner Testamentary Trust and Emily Altman, President of the Frederick Loewe Foundation said, "We are delighted that five Lerner & Loewe musicals will now be represented by Music Theatre International. MTI's success in bringing musicals to new audiences worldwide, its commitment to arts education, and its ground-breaking achievements in schools across the globe, reflect values that we share. The partnership of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe is recognized as one of the most successful in musical theatre history; on their behalf, we now look forward to a long and fruitful partnership with MTI."

Alan Jay Lerner (book writer and lyricist) and Frederick Loewe (composer) wrote some of the American theater's most enduring musicals, including My Fair Lady, Camelot, Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon and Gigi. Among their most famous songs are ''Almost Like Being in Love,'' ''I Could Have Danced All Night'' and ''Thank Heaven for Little Girls.'' Lerner was born in New York City in 1918 and attended Choate and Harvard. Loewe was born in Berlin in 1901 to Viennese parents, made his piano debut with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra at the age of 13 and came to the United States in 1924.

The two met in 1942 at the Lambs Club in New York City when Loewe approached Lerner about collaborating on a show. In 1947, they had their first Broadway hit, Brigadoon, followed in 1951 by a second success with Paint Your Wagon which included such songs as "I Talk to the Trees" and "Wand'rin' Star." In 1956, My Fair Lady, with Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews, opened on Broadway. Often called the "perfect musical," the show ran for 2,717 performances and the cast album sold more than five million copies. Their 1958 film musical, Gigi, won nine Academy awards and, in 1960, came the last great success of their partnership, Camelot, starring Richard Burton and Julie Andrews. In 1974, Lerner lured Loewe out of retirement to work on their last venture together: a film version of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince.

Lerner went on to collaborate with other composers including Burton Lane, Leonard Bernstein and André Previn. He died in 1986 at the age of 67. Loewe died two years later at the age of 86.

As testament to their musicals' enduring popularity, upcoming milestones include: From Camelot to California: The Worlds of Lerner and Loewe, as part of the New York 92ndStreet Y's "Lyrics & Lyricists" series (June '17); Brigadoon, directed and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, starring Kelli O'Hara, Stephen Pasquale and Robert Fairchild, presented by Encores! as the New York City Center Gala (November '17); and My Fair Lady, returning to Broadway for the first time in a quarter century, with performances beginning at Lincoln Center Theater in April, 2018.

Music Theatre International (MTI) is one of the world's largest theatrical licensing agencies, granting schools, amateur groups, and professional theatres worldwide the rights to perform musicals from a catalogue of more than 400 titles, from Broadway, Off-Broadway, the West End and Hollywood. MTI works directly with composers, lyricists and book writers of these musicals to offer official scripts, musical materials and dynamic theatrical resources to over 70,000 theatrical organizations in the USA and in over 60 countries worldwide. MTI maintains its global headquarters in New York City (mtishows.com), with additional offices in London (MTI Europe: mtishows.co.uk, mtishows.eu), and Melbourne (MTI Australasia: mtishows.com.au).