Good afternoon MTC,
The board appreciates your feedback regarding the Mamma Mia rights situation. We recently met with our club advisor to seek guidance and decided we should further provide clarification and address your concerns.
As many of you likely know, gaining the rights to a show is a very specific process and requires approval from an outside licensing company (MTI for Mamma Mia). We submitted the MTC budget to SABSC on time last semester and it was approved. However, when we received notice from the licensing company about a required $400 security deposit, we could not pay it immediately because the school said they would not cover it. All 6 board members at that time were aware of the fee issue and discussed the possibility of board members personally covering the cost of the deposit during multiple board meetings when everyone was present. Although previous boards have had family members pay fees, each board’s situation is different. None of the 6 board members stated that they or their family were able to pay for the deposit at that time. As much as we would have liked to turn to our club members for help, we could not legally accept money from you for this purpose without risking legal trouble or the club being shut down by SGA.
Along with the security deposit, we also need approval from the licensing company. This is a separate process and not related to whether or not we had the money in hand. MTC’s show selection and our budget for Spring productions were submitted the semester before, but licensing approval happens during the semester of the show. The outside company can then choose to accept or deny our request for rights. We have a representative we work with at the licensing company, MTI. When we contacted him to ask about a possible extension to pay the security deposit, he informed us that we had a very slim chance of receiving the rights due to the restrictions on the show regardless of the money. He added that even if we had applied for the rights much earlier, the approval would still have been unlikely. The show is having an extremely competitive season with its transfer to Broadway and there have many applications for the rights. Our MTI representative recommended that we make a back up plan in case we were denied. We were very upset to learn this information, and as a Board, started to brainstorm back up plans. We came up with the idea of a Spring Showcase that would feature numbers that the cast and crew had already started working on. We brought the idea to the Production Team and we collaborated together on the final plan. We realize that we should have involved the cast on this decision and we apologize for not doing so.
A week after the conversation with the MTI representative on Feb 28th, our application for the rights was officially denied. MTI stated, “This email will serve as official notice that your request for performance rights has been denied due to a national tour or a professional production of the show in your area. Therefore, this title will not be available to you for the dates you have requested.” We were very disappointed, but had to carry on with our Showcase plan.
Each board member has been a part of this club for multiple semesters and we assure you that we care deeply about all of you and for MTC as a community. Our job is to set up an entire show in a small time frame with the rules, guidelines, and limits in place. We are fully aware that it is our responsibility to obtain the rights and that we did not succeed in doing so this semester. We apologize for this major blow and want you all to understand how and why it happened.
The board would like to open up this conversation to everyone. At our GBM on Friday, March 28th 12:00-12:50pm in ILSB237, we will be holding a town hall to discuss the issue. We want you all to know that you can voice your concerns and ask questions. Our club advisor Dr. Braunschweig will be there to offer clarification and additional support. The goal of the club advisor is not to side with the board, but to support all club members so that we can have a successful semester as a community. You may also fill out this form if you cannot make it in person. We thank you all for your continuous support. If you have questions or comments, you can email us or our club advisor at sbraun@umbc.edu. We want to ensure that MTC is a welcoming community where we can all get together and enjoy our shared passion for theatre and performing.
Sincerely,
The MTC Board
