Concord Theatricals: At the heart of the creative community
Concord Theatricals’ worldwide reach goes beyond simply licensing and publishing theatre’s best-loved plays and musicals. It is also dedicated to playing its part in the creative community by championing the next generation of talent
Think of your favourite show. Whether it’s an old classic or a contemporary gem, chances are it’s a title licensed by Concord Theatricals. From Agatha Christie to August Wilson, JB Priestley to Jeremy O Harris, Show Boat to Six, Concord Theatricals is the world’s most significant theatrical licensing company, providing comprehensive services to the creators and producers of plays and musicals.
There are three main goals for the company: to champion artists, elevate voices and impact culture. “We have a huge amount of expertise here,” says Vivien Goodwin, senior vice president, Europe, “and we care deeply about theatre.”
For producers looking to put on a play or a musical – whether they’re amateur or professional – Concord Theatrical offers every service they could need, from theatrical licensing to music publishing, script publishing, cast recording and first-class production.
“What we provide is not just the systems but a personal touch, too. For example, there’s a huge, brilliant amateur scene in this country. It’s just extraordinary how many groups there are, from tiny community halls to purpose-built theatres. We want to be able to provide them with guidance on titles – what would work for their size and their audience,” says Goodwin.
From its office in central London, Concord Theatricals issues licences and publishes scripts for an extraordinary array of works: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Samuel Beckett, Caryl Churchill, Harold Pinter, Tennessee Williams... the list goes on. “There’s something out there for everyone,” Goodwin says.
Three imprints make up the wider Concord Theatricals catalogue: Rodgers & Hammerstein, Samuel French and Tams-Witmark.
The works of Rodgers & Hammerstein, including The Sound of Music and South Pacific, remain some of the greatest musicals of all time, with near-constant performances by theatres and amateur groups around the world. Recent Rodgers & Hammerstein productions have looked at classic works like Oklahoma! and Carousel in a thrillingly fresh way, too, showing how Concord Theatricals helps to keep great work alive.
Under the Tams-Witmark banner are legendary musicals such as The Wizard of Oz, A Chorus Line, Hello, Dolly! and Gypsy, while the Samuel French imprint covers a vast range of musicals and plays by the likes of Noël Coward, Caryl Churchill, Kevin Murphy and Laurence O’Keefe (Heathers the Musical) and innovative new theatremakers such as Charlie Josephine and Beru Tessema.
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Concord Theatricals also offers Teen and Youth Editions of well-known titles, including the two new additions Six: Teen Edition and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie: Teen Edition. “These Teen and Youth Editions could be the first time young people discover what it’s like to put together a show,” notes Goodwin. These special adaptations ensure all the joy and messaging of the original are presented in a more accessible way for young people. Each Youth or Teen Edition comes with resources enabling teachers to present high-quality productions, despite the time pressures and other constraints often placed on schools and youth groups.
“The catalogue is constantly growing,” says Goodwin. “In addition to promoting our existing catalogue of theatrical greats, we passionately support new writers. We want to make sure that the artists have a voice in terms of where their work gets performed, and how we can help target the right audiences and practitioners, so that it has the best chance of being seen.”
But the mission of Concord Theatricals doesn’t stop at its licensing, publishing and recording services. It is also embedded in the UK theatre community through sponsoring awards and artist development opportunities, celebrating and cultivating theatre.
The organisation cares deeply about lifting up the next generation of theatrical talent. From every licence sold by Concord Theatricals an amount of money is set aside to provide significant annual donations to projects supporting theatre writers and composers and promoting music and drama education.
Recently, it has sought out the boldest new voices in writing by supporting the Women’s Prize for Playwriting, produced by Ellie Keel Productions and Paines Plough, which resulted in the publication of Reasons You Should(n’t) Love Me by Amy Trigg, as well as Theatre503’s International Playwriting Award, won by Pravin Wilkins for his play Moreno.
When it comes to musicals, projects run by Mercury Musical Development and Musical Theatre Network’s BEAM –supported by Concord Theatricals – have discovered great new composers and lyricists.
“As an organisation we want to be proactive – we don’t want to just be reactive,” says Goodwin. “We want to be out there encouraging theatre practitioners to do work they didn’t know they wanted to do.”
More widely than the theatrical arm, Concord is a huge, global company that started as a record label and music publisher and now also encompasses the film and television sphere. Its current recording portfolio boasts more than 275,000 active song recordings, which between them have earned more than 400 gold, platinum, multi-platinum and diamond RIAA certifications. They have also won almost 300 Grammy awards, representing more than 6.5% of all the Grammys ever awarded. Concord’s music publishing catalogue represents more than 600,000 works. Concord Theatricals also produces cast albums, including the recent Broadway revival of Into the Woods and the West End transfer of Amélie the Musical.
And yet, says Goodwin, “The UK team is a small and passionate group of people. We benefit from the support of a larger organisation that enables us to really focus on what we love the most and champion the writers/works in the catalogue. We’re not a big, anonymous company. We’re a business that cares deeply about theatre. Our board members and senior teams could not wait to get back in the theatre after the pandemic. It’s so important that everyone, at every level, is passionate about working in the theatre industry.”
“Ultimately,” Goodwin explains, “the goal for us is to keep theatre going for the future. There are always young people and new people who are discovering the wonder of theatre for the first time. We can help them do that.”
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