Around New England

Amateur Theater Group Has To Yank Play Because It’s Within 25 Miles of Boston – Even Though Broadway Version Is Playing in New York

February 26, 2019

An amateur theater group in Marblehead has cancelled its planned performances of a play based on Harper Lee’s 1960 book To Kill A Mockingbird after a lawyer threatened to sue the group for copyright infringement for $150,000.

Mugford Street Players purchased a license to stage an amateur version of the show for $1,200 for 12 performances, according to the Salem News.

But a lawyer representing the producer of a professional version of the show now playing on Broadway sent a letter to the group saying the contract states that no amateur versions of the show can be performed within 25 miles of any major city if a version of the show is playing on Broadway or is on tour.

The Broadway version is doing well and “is expected to run for years,” the lawyer wrote, according to the Salem News. Yet even though the Broadway version is more than 200 miles away, in New York City, the Marblehead group can’t perform the amateur version in Marblehead.

An amateur group in Hamilton in January put on the same show as the Marblehead group’s, but the Hamilton theater is 25.8 miles from Boston, whereas the Marblehead theater is 16 miles from Boston, according to the Salem News.

The director of the Marblehead show said he’s looking for a theater more than 25 miles from Boston so that the 33 cast members and 10 crew members who have been working on the show for six weeks can perform, according to the Salem News.