Tams-Witmark

Tams-Witmark

Tams-Witmark is a theatrical licensing company known for renting performance materials and administering rights for musical theatre works associated with historic Broadway and West End repertoires. Established in the early 20th century, the firm has interacted with leading figures and institutions across American and British theatrical traditions, shaping amateur, community, and professional revivals of repertory including works connected to Broadway, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and regional theatres.

History

Founded amid the interwar era, the company developed alongside notable producers and impresarios such as Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Rodgers, Ira Gershwin, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Lorenz Hart, Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe, Kurt Weill, and George M. Cohan. Early relationships connected the firm with venues including Broadway Theatre, Shubert Theatre, New Amsterdam Theatre, and touring circuits like the Keith-Albee-Orpheum chain. During the mid-20th century, interactions involved administrators from institutions such as The Shubert Organization, Nederlander Organization, American Theatre Wing, and producers associated with Martha Graham and Ethel Merman. The company’s catalogue and archival responsibilities intersected with estates and libraries including the Library of Congress, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, and private rights holders represented by firms like ASCAP and BMI. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the business navigated relationships affected by unions and guilds such as Actors' Equity Association, Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, and Dramatists Guild of America while licensing works for festivals including Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Newport Jazz Festival, and university programs at Yale School of Drama and Juilliard School.

Services and Operations

The company provides rental sets of materials and performance licenses for musicals and plays by composers and lyricists like Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Claude-Michel Schönberg, Stephen Schwartz, Jerry Herman, Gershwin family, and Flanders and Swann. Its operational partners have included regional entities such as Arena Stage, Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Old Globe Theatre, and La Jolla Playhouse. The organization handles transactions involving orchestral reductions used by ensembles similar to New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and chamber groups modeled on Philadelphia Orchestra. Administrative functions coordinate with licensing platforms and publishers such as Samuel French, Concord Theatricals, Music Theatre International, Hal Leonard Corporation, Schirmer Books, and rights administrators like The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization.

Notable Productions and Clients

Productions and clients range from community theatres and schools like High School of Performing Arts, Lawrenceville School, Phillips Exeter Academy, and Roxbury Latin School to professional revivals at institutions such as Lincoln Center Theater, Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre (London), Kennedy Center, and Citizens Theatre. Productions have featured performers connected to Julie Andrews, Angela Lansbury, Barbra Streisand, Zero Mostel, Al Jolson, Mary Martin, Ethel Waters, Rita Hayworth, Joel Grey, and directors with credits at Guthrie Theater, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and Public Theater. Tours and licensing engagements linked to producers like Cameron Mackintosh, Harold Prince, Tommy Tune, David Merrick, and Richard Eyre have utilized the company’s rental scores and materials for works associated with awards bodies including the Tony Awards, Olivier Awards, Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and Grammy Awards.

Catalog and Rights Management

The catalog includes classic titles by creators such as Victor Herbert, Rudolf Friml, Sigmund Romberg, Gershwin brothers, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe, and Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht. Management practices involve coordination with estates and executors like the Irving Berlin estate, Cole Porter Trust, Oscar Hammerstein II Hall of Fame, and publishing houses including Boosey & Hawkes. The company negotiates performance rights with amateur and educational producers, interfacing with accreditation bodies and festivals like Highland Park Arts Festival, Shakespeare in the Park, and Fringe Arts Bath. Catalog stewardship requires archival collaboration with repositories such as Museum of the City of New York, Victoria and Albert Museum, Paley Center for Media, and university archives at Harvard Theatre Collection, UCLA Film & Television Archive, and Columbia University Libraries.

Corporate Structure and Ownership

Throughout its history the company’s ownership and management have involved partnerships and transactions among theatrical entrepreneurs and firms like The Shubert Organization, Clear Channel Communications, Viacom, Live Nation, and investment entities affiliated with SFX Entertainment models. Executive leadership has interfaced with legal counsel and business managers from firms akin to Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Sullivan & Cromwell, and accounting firms reminiscent of Deloitte and Ernst & Young. Governance has required compliance with U.S. and U.K. legal frameworks, engaging with agencies such as the United States Copyright Office, British Copyright Service, and trade associations like Theatre Communications Group. The company’s transactions and strategic alliances reflect broader trends among licensors and publishers observed in mergers involving Concord Music, Concord Theatricals, Concord Bicycle Music, and publishers such as Sony/ATV Music Publishing.

Category:Theatre companies in New York City