Music Theatre International: Licensing Musical Theater Theatrical Performance Rights and Materials to Schools, Community and Professional Theatres since 1952


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Annie Warbucks began life as Annie 2: Miss Hannigan�s Revenge (the marquee had even been put up at the Marquis Theatre in anticipation of the moppet�s return to Broadway).

If you plan to print an MTI bio in your program, please use the three paragraphs below:

Music Theatre International (MTI) is one of the world's leading dramatic licensing agencies, granting schools as well as amateur and professional theatres from around the world the rights to perform the largest selection of great musicals from Broadway and beyond. MTI works directly with the composers, lyricists and book writers of these shows to provide official scripts, musical materials and dynamic theatrical resources to over 60,000 theatrical organizations in the US and in over 60 countries worldwide.

MTI is particularly dedicated to the idea of theatre as education and has created special collections for younger performers. The MTI Broadway Junior Collection® includes “JR.” titles, 60-minute musicals for performance by middle school children; and “KIDS” titles, 30-minute musicals for performance by elementary school children. MTI School Editions™ are musicals that have been annotated for performance by high school students, and the Theatre For Young Audiences (TYA) Collection are 70-minute musicals designed for adults to perform for children.

MTI ShowSpace.com is the theatre world's online community where practitioners and fans from around the world share advice, photos, videos, sets, props, costumes and more, to help bring their next productions to life.

The MTI Logo

MTI’s logo, which features a left-handed conductor, was adapted from an illustration by Al Hirschfeld that was commissioned by Music Theatre International. Mr. Hirschfeld, who would have celebrated his 100th birthday in June 2003, was the leading caricaturist of Broadway, having created illustrations of major shows and stars since the 1920’s! He died on January 20, 2003 at age ninety-nine.

After the birth of his daughter Nina in 1945, Mr. Hirschfeld made a game of hiding her name, often several times, in each of his drawings. The MTI staff has been able to find eight in the original drawing (reproduced above).

Through the years, MTI has had fun in adapting elements of the original art for use in our catalogues, newsletters, flyers, posters and website (like the animated version on our homepage). Although it is assumed by many that the conductor in the illustration is Frank Loesser, one of MTI’s Founders, it is not. Mr. Loesser was right-handed.