Licensing firm R&H serves the educational sector with musical scores and aids for students
It’s a very ancient saying/But a true and honest thought/That if you become a teacher/By your pupils you’ll be taught
So sings Anna in The King and I, and truer words were never spoken (or sung). There is a long tradition of presenting musicals in schools in the UK and the US.
Working with students, as I have heard from teachers so many times, is a two-way street, where the creative team putting on the musical often learns as much from its student performers as the performers learn from their instructors, from the material, and from themselves.
Coming from the US, I am bowled over by the array of curriculums and schools that teach musical theatre craft to students throughout the UK. Musical theatre performance, technique, writing and history are all given their due, and I am now seeing a level of musical theatre performance and energy unprecedented in my many years of coming here.
R&H Theatricals Europe is a brand-new licensing agency based in London and serving the UK and Europe, from schools to amateur dramatic societies to the great receiving houses and regional theatres. Our UK team, headed by Vivien Goodwin (formerly MD of Samuel French Ltd) and Andy Chan, are joined by myself, out of the Rodgers & Hammerstein home office in New York. For many years R&H was looked after by Josef Weinberger Ltd, but as of 2013, we are doing it ourselves. With our sister company, R&H Theatricals of New York, we know the importance of sharing our eclectic catalogue with students of all ages, and training programmes of all sizes.
It is also gratifying to have directors and instructors pore over our catalogue of 100-plus musicals to find projects for their students. We have the tried and trusted to be sure – no school has ever felt let down by doing Oklahoma! or The Sound of Music – but we also feature an array of titles that challenge and inspire in often surprising ways.
As I write this, Michael John LaChiusa’s musical adaptation of Lorca’s fiery play, Bernarda Alba, is getting a staging at the Guildford School of Acting. The exquisite chamber musical A Catered Affair by John Bucchino and Harvey Fierstein is being readied for the Royal Academy of Music. And I am still hearing glowing reports from people who last year caught the London School of Musical Theatre’s staging of a Rodgers and Hammerstein rarity – Allegro.
Providing helpful tools is important to our customers and we seek to oblige. Many of our titles come with study guides, and instructional videos that give history and context. Our website features interviews, audio clips, exchange of ideas, etc, and our Facebook pages keep growing and growing.
The Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals are notable for providing great material for acting students, as reflected in a unique book of R&H songs and scenes, The Musicals Of Rodgers & Hammerstein: Musical Scene Study, edited by Tom Briggs. For younger students, we are proud of our Getting to Know… collection, featuring condensed versions of some of our best known musicals suitable for performance by students up to 16 years in age. This series currently includes Getting to Know… Oklahoma!, State Fair, Cinderella, The King and I and Once Upon a Mattress – and coming soon: The Sound of Music.
From classic novels (Show Boat, Big River) to contemporary settings (In the Heights, Footloose); from Broadway’s Golden Era (Annie Get Your Gun, South Pacific) to the sound of today (Ordinary Days, Things to Ruin); from shows that dance (Swing!, On Your Toes) to shows that sing (A Grand Night for Singing, A Time for Singing), R&H Theatricals Europe is primed and ready to go to school.
Bert Fink, based in London, is the Senior vice president, Europe, for Rodgers and Hammerstein: An Imagem Company.
For more, visit the R&H website or email or follow R&H on Facebook or on Twitter